A BOTTOMLESS RESERVOIR OF JOY | Short Documentary

Every time I go outside, even if it's just a little walk through local woods, I'm looking for something interesting that could potentially be incorporated into an art piece. I really like this way of existing because I will never run out of things to be inspired by. My name is Rosalie Hazlett and I live in Elkins, West Virginia, and I'm a nature illustrator. I grew up with a deep love for drawing and painting from a very early age. It was always just like the thing that made me happiest. Eventually, painting the things that I found outside became most of what I wanted to do. I just find a bottomless reservoir of joy when I'm outside. I'm always keeping an eye out for things that I've never seen depicted in art before, especially the kind of quirkier creatures and plants and lichen and mushrooms that I see along my path. I like to try to see and observe pretty much everything that I depict in my art in person. That's important to me because it helps me to be more excited about my subject matter and also to communicate what I saw more authentically. I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't do watercolor. I really like that with a physical medium you can't tweak endlessly. Even though you can learn to have a lot of control to get fine details, there's still an element of mystery when you put down a little bit of paint. You don't know exactly which direction it'll go or how the paint will dry the texture that you'll end up with, so I really like that intrigue. I've kind of made it part of my mission to show Appalachia in a positive light. I grew up during an era when it seemed like everything was becoming super globalized and placeless. The more placeless the world becomes, the more I want to root down, really get to know the place where I was raised, and really invest in the local community in my town. There are just so many things to love about this place. One of my favorite things about going to a new place is seeing artists at work creating a narrative about their town and beautifying their town. So I started a studio storefront and it's called Neander. The space is where I go to work every day, so I'm actually working on paintings in the shop. It is just a really lovely way to be present in the community. I hope that people feel a sense of delight when they see my work and that they also feel a sense of curiosity about what they're seeing. I just really like creating art that's accessible to people. I have encountered so many people who have said to me, I didn't think I liked art, but this, like I understand this, like painting of a trout. I love that because I think it's cool to to democratize art in that way. Unfortunately, the arts are one of the first programs to go, especially in rural schools that don't have a lot of funding. So whenever I work with kids, I really like to share with them this idea that you don't have to grow out of being curious and finding delight and joy in tiny little strange things in nature. I like to show them that you can continue to have a life that's exciting and interesting and fun. And I also just like to show them that there's a whole beautiful world away from their screens. And hopefully those little nuggets of exposure to the arts stick with them for a long time. I'm about to have my first baby and one of the things that I hope that he takes away from seeing my work and growing up around a mom that does this type of work is that childlike curiosity isn't just for children and that you can maintain that sense of awe and wonder no matter how old you are. Also just enjoying the beauty of the world. I love that that's part of my job because it's it continues to fuel me.