Suzanne HazlettUniversal Solvent

I am inspired by the nuances of texture and light found in nature and in urban environments. All the media I work with come from nature: ground marble, wax, and crystals from the sap of fir trees. The natural ingredients are more appealing to me than synthetics – I love that they come from the earth. I love the luminous quality of encaustic paintings. Some have an obfuscation to them, like that experienced when enveloped by the mystique of fog.

The layering protocol I undergo to create my paintings is both laborious and blissful. I welcome the solemnity of the process and the subsequent articulation of my vision. I intend the resulting pieces to convey a sense of depth and to offer evidence of their evolution.

Following the ritual of adding and subtracting what may be twenty or thirty layers of color and material, and when I have captured and expressed the essence of that which has inspired me, my paintings arrive at the eventual visual and tactile end of their journey as I arrive at the end of my personal path to convey the evocative quality of water in all its myriad iterations.

In its liquid, vapor or solid form – water is extraordinary. Water holds us in awe with its transformative powers from atmospheric haze to initial droplets of a downpour to

glaciated masses. No matter who we are, the same recipe of two atoms of hydrogen to one atom of oxygen is the ratio that makes up the primary component of tears. Regardless of our gender, color, spiritual convictions or political leanings, water is the universal solvent we all share in common.

Water is the source of life, and, as such, holds all of nature in its thrall. It has the power to create, destroy, soothe and inspire. It is the most prosaic and poetic of substances. In my body of work, Universal Solvent, I embrace the serenity and solace offered by ponds, oceans, lagoons and summer rain and the aqueous appeal that invites us to sigh and drift away. Its power and potentially destructive force equally hold me in awe. The flow of water and the evanescence of shifting light and reflection on its surface, have informed both the theme and the creative process in this body of work.

In Universal Solvent, I have sought to capture the translucence of watercolor and the fluidity of tides, currents and ripples. I have also been influenced by water in its frozen forms of ice and snow and by the glaciers I have climbed with my husband. Water figures prominently in the memories and imaginations of all cultures, and my paintings invite the viewers to bring their own narratives.

Suzanne HazlettUniversal Solvent

WhirlpoolEncaustic and mixed media on panel48” x 48” x 2”

VortexEncaustic and mixed media on panel

48” x 48” x 2”

MaelstromEncaustic and mixed media on panel48” x 48” x 2”

UndertowEncaustic and mixed media on panel

48” x 48” x 2”

ExhaleEncaustic and mixed media on panel30” x 60” x 2”

Summer Rain (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel

72 x 60 x 2”

Sea FoamEncaustic and mixed media on panel24” x 24” x 2” Each Set of 10

Cloudburst (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel

72” x 60”

Sailor’s Delight (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel72” x 60” x 2”

Estuary (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel

72” x 60”

Rock SaltEncaustic and mixed media on panel4” x 4” x 4” on 9 panels

Frozen I & II (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel

24” x 24” Each 24” x 48” Total

CascadeEncaustic and mixed media on panel80” x 44” x 2”

Benevolence (triptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel

120.5” x 96” x 2”

Skipping Stones I-VEncaustic and mixed media on panel12” x 16” x 3” each

I II III

IV V

Darker DepthsEncaustic and mixed media on panel

80” x 44” x 2”

Immersed (diptych)Mixed media on 2 panels48” x 35” Each

Across the PondEncaustic and mixed media on panel

48” x 48” x 2”

Dock of the Bay (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel72” x 60” x 2.25”

Beyond the Fog Lies Clarity (triptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel

8” x 8” each panel

Lagoon (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel36” x 24” Each

Sea Glass (diptych)Encaustic and mixed media on panel

72” x 60” x 2”

ACADEMIC EDUCATIONBachelor of Arts, Biology and Art History, University of Puget SoundMaster of Business Administration, Seattle UniversityCertified Financial Planner™ (CFP®)Certified Investment Management Analyst™ (CIMA®), The Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania

FINE ART EDUCATIONMontserrat College of Art, Beverly, MAPratt Fine Arts Center, Seattle, WASun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, ID

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2017 Universal Solvent, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID2016 Southern Exposure, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID2015 Material Possibilities, Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum, ID

GROUP EXHIBITIONS2016 Seattle Art Fair, Seattle, WA, Gail Severn Gallery Art Market San Francisco, CA, Gail Severn Gallery2015 Seattle Art Fair, Gail Severn Gallery, Seattle, WA Art Market San Francisco, CA, Gail Severn Gallery Americans for the Arts Juried Collection Exhibition, Sun Valley, ID Juror: Kirsten Furlong, Director; Visual Arts Center, Boise State University, Boise, ID Wood River Valley Studio Tour, group exhibition, Ketchum, ID 2014 Americans for the Arts Juried Collection Exhibition, Sun Valley, ID Juror: Roger Rowley, Director, Prichard Art Gallery, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID AUROBORA Gallery, group exhibition, Ketchum, ID2013 Wood River Fine Arts Gallery, group exhibition, Ketchum ID2012 Roaring Fork Studio Tour, group exhibition, Carbondale, CO2011 Roaring Fork Studio Tour, group exhibition, Carbondale, CO2009 Lane Mercantile Building, solo exhibition, Ketchum, ID2007 University of Washington Medical Center, group exhibition, Seattle, WA

MEDIAYoumans, Elizabeth, “Universal Solvent: Suzanne Hazlett at Gail Severn Gallery”, SVPN Magazine, February, 2017Youmans, Elizabeth, “Celebrating the Feminine Spirit at Gail Severn Gallery”, SVPN Magazine, September, 2016Kerstetter, Andy, “Peeking behind the screen”, Idaho Mountain Express, August 17, 2016McGuinness, Martha, “Transforming Communities: Americans for the Arts Leadership Roundtable Meets in Sun Valley”, SVPN Magazine, August, 2015Bossick, Karen, “Turning Formulas Into Art: Local Artist Gets Solo Exhibition”, Eye on Sun Valley, March 11, 2015Haas, Cheryl, “The Leading Edge: Where Art and Technology Intersect”, Sun Valley Magazine, Winter, 2015Bossick, Karen, “A prelude to something bigger?”, Eye On Sun Valley, November 27, 2014Doll, Maryland, “Two Art Tours, One Night”, The Weekly Sun, November 26, 2014Lantz, Yanna, “Join the Art of Winter Studio Stroll”, Idaho Mountain Express, November 26, 2014Bossick, Karen, “Where the Art Is”, The Weekly Sun, October 1, 2014Bossick, Karen, “Art for the Heart”, The Weekly Sun, October 1, 2014“Inside the Artist’s Studio”, SVPN Magazine, August 2014Hazlett, Suzanne, “Art Gurus Talk Tech at the Americans for the Arts Conference in Sun Valley”, The Weekly Sun, July 2, 2014Bossick, Karen, “Wood River Studio Tour Draws Artists and Art Lovers to Idaho”, Times News, March 21, 2014

Studio Visit, volume thirty-six 2017Studio Visit, volume twenty-five 2014Studio Visit, volume twenty-four 2013Studio Visit, volume twenty-one 2012

OTHER AFFILIATIONSCo-Chair, Bellevue Arts CommissionPresident & Co-Founder of the Wood River Valley Studio Tour, nonprofit organization celebrating the artistic talent of the Sun Valley, Idaho community by connecting artists, art lovers, and those new to art, through an annual exploration of local artist studios.

SUZANNE HAZLETT

Gail Severn Gallery400 First Avenue North, PO Box 1679Ketchum, Idaho 83340 • 208.726.5079www.gailseverngallery.com • info@gailseverngallery.com

Catalog produced by Gail Severn Gallery Graphic design by Colin McCauley Jr.

Photographs by Chuck Rumpf

Copyright © 2017 Gail Severn Gallery, Ketchum Idaho. All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.All images of Suzanne Hazlett’s artwork are courtesy of the artist. Copyright © Suzanne Hazlett 2017. All rights reserved.

Suzanne HazlettUniversal Solvent