Gonzaga Law Magazine's Artist: Kathy Gale

Painting since 2008, Kathy Gale’s work is best described as “Impressionism with a strong abstract quality.” Her current pieces are rooted in the landscape and inspired by the photos she takes while traveling throughout Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and Montana. Her specific collection of paintings featured in her residency at Gonzaga Law are “a response to my first viewing of the Skagit Valley tulip fields in spring 2015.”

“Instead, I snapped as many photos as I could in a four-hour time span and came home to start working on just as many paintings. I was captured, not by the tulips, but by the field workers themselves. They have compelled me toward my easel more than any other subject I’ve approached. I hope that my work pays adequate homage to these tenacious field workers of The Skagit Valley. Whether a migrant worker or day laborer, their physical resilience and emotional grit are the qualities that keep agriculture productive every day, throughout the world.”

Gale and the Art Spirit Gallery will be donating a portion of the artist-in-residence stipend to the Immigrant Resources and Immediate Support Foundation in the Skagit Valley. IRIS serves immigrants in immediate need of health, residential, and clothing assistance. Additionally, both Gale and the gallery are donating a portion of the sales to the School of Law’s student emergency fund, which gives students resources and assistance during unexpected and unavoidable life emergencies.