Spotlight on Rosalie Haizlett
/BY CARA SCHAEFER
When it comes to exploring the outdoors, details can make a difference. We spoke with nature illustrator Rosalie Haizlett about art, observation, and growing to appreciate familiar places.
Rosalie Haizlett is a nature illustrator (Photo courtesy Rosalie Haizlett)
OUT THERE: What was your relationship with nature like, growing up in West Virginia?
ROSALIE HAIZLETT: Nature has always been an inspiration for me and a big part of my life growing up on a farm in rural West Virginia. I spent lots of time playing outside and had lots of freedom to explore, which was amazing because it helped me to feel safe outside. It gave me a positive association with the woods from an early age. I think for a lot of people that don’t grow up with that access, there’s a little bit more fear of the unknown.
When I got to middle school I, like most other kids that age, wanted to play on the computer and not go outside as much. My interest in nature was reignited as a high-school student when I started enjoying backpacking and exploring on my own. It became something that I wanted for myself, instead of just something that I did with my family.
OT: How did you come to see what you call “the amazing intricacy of our planet”?
RH: I am a migraine sufferer, and one of the main things that is healing for me when I have a migraine is spending time outside. It doesn’t cure it every single time, but it gives me a lot of relief. When I realized that nature had a healing effect on me, I started spending more time walking and going outside every day. You don’t always have access to epic hikes, so you’re often walking the same places over and over again. Maybe it’s just around your block or a path through a park.
I started noticing more and more as I was taking these walks, and I was like, “Oh wow! I could walk the same path, and every single time I’m going to see something new.” It made me want to pay attention to those things.
Then, when I started painting more from nature, I started noticing more on these hikes. The two keep feeding into each other. The more I hike, the more I want to paint nature. The more I paint nature, the more I want to go outside and explore.
(Photo courtesy Rosalie Haizlett)
OT: Can you describe a project that changed the way you approach your art or the natural world?
RH: This past winter, I spent four months preparing for a solo exhibition at a gallery. I had been enjoying taking pictures of textures and patterns that I see in nature and then zooming in on them really far so I could see all of these crazy details. I really liked how, when you look at something really closely, it abstracts it and causes you to interpret something that you might be familiar with in a new way, like tree bark.
So for this project, I decided to focus on the bogs of the region in West Virginia where I was living at the time. It was in the West Virginia Highlands, and there are a lot of really beautiful cranberry bogs around that have pitcher plants and sphagnum moss and carnivorous sundew and all of these beautiful plants that are really small. You have to get down on your hands and knees to find them. I decided for this show I was going to take photos of interesting botanicals that I found there and then paint them on a huge scale. I wanted to show a close-up of these different plants and remind people what’s out there. I think we’re just so used to seeing things from afar. It was fun to bring people into my world of stooping down in the bogs and seeing all these fun things.
OT: How do you find a balance between personal projects, interests, and work?
RH: When I started out in illustration, I couldn’t be very picky about the projects that I did. Sometimes I did things that felt more like client work. I was like, “You got to make money somehow. I’ll do fun projects on the side.” I feel really lucky that my work has been well received in the past couple years, and now I don’t have to accept any projects that I wouldn’t be passionate about.
OT: If you painted one thing over and over again, what would it be?
RH: I paint a lot of mushrooms, because I think they’re so weird looking and awesome, and they’re also everywhere. I love that you can find them year-round. Mosses also really captivate me. They’re all pretty much green, but they just have such cool individual shapes. The structure of each kind of moss is really different.
Rosalie Haizlett (Photo courtesy Rosalie Haizlett)
OT: What advice would you give to someone who wants to become more observant in nature?
RH: I would suggest finding a place that you enjoy, even if it’s just a park in your neighborhood, and try going back to that place regularly. Maybe once a week, or maybe you go every day for a week. Try to find one new thing each time you go. Spend some time looking at that thing or maybe sketch it, if you like art, or take a picture and use the iNaturalist app to try to identify it. Just try to engage with one new thing every time.
That sets the tone for understanding that, no matter how many times you go back, you’re always going to find something new. I think that’s so exciting, because it gives us a new sense of gratitude for the natural spaces that we have right around us. You don’t have to always be seeking out new places to entertain or inspire you. You can go back to the same place if you just change the way that you look at the place.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
You can find Rosalie online at her website, on Skillshare, or on Instagram @rosaliehaizlett.
