Louise Gale – “Mixed Media”

August 7 - September 18, 2011.

www.louisegale.com/art/

As a child growing up in South London, Louise Gale was encouraged to be creative, spending hours after school and during the summer drawing, painting, and creating patterns with her beloved Spirograph. She loved making decorations for Christmas, Easter, and birthdays. Gale was accepted to art school at 16, studying drawing, photography, sculpture, and design, then spent two years in the “potteries” in Stoke on Trent, England, learning ceramic design and how to make surface patterns.

Her practical side led her to pursue a corporate career in training and development, however, and she decided to keep up with her art as a hobby. Her career brought her Hoboken in 2004, which she loves because it reminds her of an English village with a “high street” through the center of town, and people say hello on the street. After struggling to find the time to truly nurture her creative side—even pulling the plug on her TV set—she finally found the courage to take the plunge and become a full-time artist.

Gale participated in several creative retreats to sharpen her focus on certain projects and materials. She started a blog and networked online to find other creative people, whom she found to be a very supportive global community. “They help you celebrate successes and support you through hard struggles,” she says, “and we give each other feedback through blog comments.” She joined the local hob’art artists group for mutual support.

“I like to dabble in all sorts of things,” Gale says. “Lately, I’ve been experimenting with sewing.” Several of her mixed-media works will go on display in the Upper Gallery of the Museum on Sunday, Aug. 7, with a free opening reception from 2 – 5 p.m. The show is titled Sew Hoboken: Mixed Media Works by Louise Gale, reflecting her recent interest in working with needle and thread. There’s a collage piece featuring flora and fauna of Hoboken; another piece depicts the waiting room sign from the Hoboken train station, with sequins sewn into the image. The works on display will each have a sewn element, and incorporate other media, such as plasterwork, acrylic paints, photography, and book craft.

Her career as a corporate trainer continues to be useful: She has developed online courses to help other artists achieve their goals, and is currently in training to be a creative coach. She also works part-time as a co-manager for an expatriate community, planning events. She’s very active online, with a website and blog at www.louisegale.com, as well as a Facebook page, a Twitter account and an Etsy presence. She also sells her work, which has been exhibited in solo and group shows at galleries in New York City and Hoboken. Recently, her work was featured in Somerset Studio Magazine, on the cover of a book by Patti Digh, and in an article on Etsy in Inc. magazine.

Louise will return to the Museum on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 4 p.m. for a meet-the-artist reception, where she’ll discuss her work and answer visitors’ questions. The exhibit is supported by a block grant from the State/County Partnership program for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs.