Finding Beauty and Light explores Gayle’s love of painting and her search for the common thread of beauty in everyday moments. Whether in a sun-dappled face, a flapping clothesline, sparkles on a wave, or simple nudes, she finds a way to hold the moment in paint.
Many of the works arise from quiet observation—moments glimpsed in daily life, at home, or while traveling. Women resting in striped bedding, figures caught in unguarded poses, and intimate scenes invite the viewer into moments of stillness and intimacy.
Water and landscape also weave through the exhibition. Paintings inspired by travels—including views of Leland, Michigan, where the exhibition takes place—reflect the shifting beauty of light on water and the everyday scenes of coastal life.
Across the exhibition, ordinary moments become luminous: sunlight on fabric, reflections on water, a resting figure, a fleeting view remembered from a journey. Finding Beauty and Light invites viewers to slow down and rediscover the quiet beauty present in everyday life.
Meet Gayle
Gayle Kabaker is an award-winning painter, writer, teacher, and visual storyteller whose work explores beauty in all its forms through a distinctly feminine lens. After graduating from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, she began her career as a freelance fashion illustrator.
In 2012, Gayle created her first New Yorker cover, June Brides, celebrating marriage equality. Since then, she has illustrated a total of ten covers for the magazine. She is especially known for her painted portraits of women, including Vital Voices: 100 Women Using Their Power to Empower, a series of 100 portraits created for the book and its companion exhibition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
During the pandemic Gayle authored an ongoing illustrated column for The Washington Post titled Sketching My Way Through Crisis, which explored the therapeutic power of maintaining a sketchbook practice—whether or not one identifies as an artist. Her own sketchbooks serve as visual diaries, documenting daily life, travel, and emotional landscapes. She teaches sketchbook painting workshops internationally and online.
She was selected for a life-changing collaboration with Condé Nast and The New Yorker, painting her personal experience of traveling through Australia, resulting in a series of short films that you can see HERE.
Her work has been featured in advertising and editorial commissions worldwide, including a special Maker’s Mark label created to celebrate Women’s History Month.
In addition to commissioned projects, Gayle sells original paintings, prints, and scarves through her online shop and accepts private commissions.
Register today for these workshops with Gayle!
August 10: Anyone Can Sketch
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM | Cost: $20
A 1-hour drawing workshop before the artist talk.
A series of fun, low-pressure warm-up exercises designed to train the eye to really see what you want to draw. The workshop continues with drawing from a simple still life, focusing on interpretation rather than accuracy—encouraging each participant to draw in a way that feels natural, playful, and enjoyable.
REGISTER HERE
August 10: Artist Talk
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Cost: FREE (Must register)
Join us for a discussion with Gayle about her process, her work, and her inspiration! From sun dappled water to the intimacy of home, the nude female figure and views from her travels, Gayle captures the shifting dance of light and beauty in her paintings. Explore a collection that turns the ordinary into the extraordinary and invites you to find stillness in the everyday.
REGISTER HERE
August 12: Family Workshop: Let's Draw Monsters
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM | Cost: $15 per person
This joyful, hands-on workshop is designed for families to draw together. Inspired by the sketchbook practice Gayle shares with her five-year-old granddaughter—whose favorite subject is monsters—participants will explore imaginative drawing of monsters or whatever else they are inspired to draw.
REGISTER HERE
August 16: Perfectly Imperfect: A Full-Day Painting & Drawing Workshop
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM | Cost: $468
Participants will draw and paint from a still life and from what’s around them, learning to observe the world with fresh eyes. Gayle will guide you in developing a fun and sustainable sketchbook practice, showing how to draw and paint not only what you see, but how to interpret it.
REGISTER HERE