Susan Gale is a Toronto-based painter and member of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation. Born in Stephenville, Newfoundland, she studied painting at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD), graduating with her BFA in 2004. Gale moved to Toronto the following year, where she has continued to develop a painting practice shaped by her observation of light, place, and the rhythms of everyday life.
Working in acrylic on cradled wood panel, Gale captures fleeting moments when familiar surroundings seem to shift through light and atmosphere. City streets, gathering places, and scenes drawn from daily life become the starting point for paintings that move between representation and abstraction. Over more than two decades, she has developed a distinctive language of mark-making that builds the image through color, texture, and repeated touches of paint. Rather than describing a place literally, Gale allows certain elements to intensify, giving an ordinary scene a heightened sense of presence and inviting the viewer into the feeling of being there.
Gale has exhibited across Canada and the United States for more than fifteen years, with solo exhibitions in Toronto, Ottawa, Waterloo, and Los Angeles. She is a two-time recipient of the Mayor’s Purchase Award at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition, and her work is held in private and corporate collections throughout North America. Her paintings have also appeared on HGTV’s Property Brothers, Income Property, and House & Home.
