Meet Suzanne Frazier | Contemplative Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Suzanne Frazier and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzanne, what are you inspired by?
As a Contemplative Artist, I am inspired by “Life”…..
……………with a capital “L”!

I am inspired by the world we live in:
The Earth in all her beauty.
The Night Sky filled with wonder.
The Seasons that bring change to our lives.
The Community of Artists surrounding all of us.
The Community of Friends who share their thoughts, fears and love of life.
The Neighborhood filled with trees and gardens of flowers.
The Spiritual Community I meditate with.
The Community Garden I grow my veggies in.

As an artist, I live in a world of unique colors:
Shadows are not grey, they are filled with subtle color.
Clouds are not just “white”, they are filled with color. And sometimes we are blessed with seeing Sun Dog Clouds!
Trees are not all the same color of “green”. Each species’ leaves express unique hues of green and each have a unique shape.
Flowers are Nature’s dance of color. (One can learn color theory from flowers!)
No two people’s skin tone are the same color. Everyone has a unique hue to their face.
And…everyone has a special smile

We are living in a cornucopia of colors, sound, smells and shapes.

For me, Art is a vehicle for exploring the exterior and interior landscape of our existence on this planet.

All of these experiences inspire my artwork, with different paintings presenting different inspirations.

That is why I call myself a “Contemplative Artist”.

My definition of ‘contemplative art” is:
“The product of creative expression rising from the pure joy of creating,
grounded in a meditative connection to the radiance and perfection of spirit
known only through one’s experience of being fully human.”

With each painting, I invited you into my shared contemplation.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I enjoy employing a unique perspective in my creative work, by calling myself a “contemplative artist”.

In 2000, after ten years of creating oil paintings and teaching, I realized that I couldn’t continue calling myself a “beginning artist”. After that realization, I took time to analyze my painting style and perspective to discover, much to my surprise, that my approach to art is from a contemplative point of view. I meditate before I begin my work day in the studio.

After searching for a definition for Contemplative Art and not finding any, I was forced to formulate my own definition: “Contemplative Art is the product of creative expression rising from the pure joy of creating, grounded in a meditative connection to the radiance and perfection of spirit known only through one’s experience of being fully human.”

My process for creating my paintings arises from my meditative experiences. During a contemplative experience one does not observe anything specific but rather a feeling emerges from the meditation. Likewise, I choose to create work that does not refer to any specific location or time but rather the work is the time and location. I choose instead to invite the viewer into my meditation of my collected emotional responses from residing in Colorado since 1972.

Between 2005 – 2022, I have written articles for magazines, regarding my perspective and process. The nine articles are posted on my website at: https://www.suzannefrazierartist.com/articles

In 2015, I extended my writing about my process with the publication of a book, Contemplative Art, describing my meditative painting process and definition for contemplative art. It is available online at: https://www.blurb.com/b/8621173-c-o-n-t-e-m-p-l-a-t-i-v-e-a-r-t.

My work is in private collections in the United States, Canada, Japan and Europe.

Art Collections of my oil paintings can be viewed at https://suzannefrazierartist.com

I perceive each painting as “sharing my contemplation”.

As for how I arrived at living my life as a full time artist for the past 34 years, it’s a long story.

I spent my college years from 1965-1969 at a “women’s only” college: Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. I graduated in 1969 with Honors in Philosophy. At the “women’s only college” discrimination did not exist. There were no men. The women students held all the responsible leadership positions at the college.

In 1969, I continued my education pursuing a Masters Degree in Philosophy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia. In the 1969 graduate school class, I was only one of two women accepted into the Masters Program. I was treated as an equal until I began attending philosophy conferences where I experienced prejudice as a woman pursuing a degree in Philosophy. I was bluntly told that I would never attain a position as a Philosophy Professor because no one would hire a woman. After a while, the prejudice became too much to persevere. I left before finishing my degree.

I moved to Denver and was hired at KHOW Radio in 1972. Within months of being hired, i was “promoted” to Continuity Director in charge of the commercials on the station to meet the stations’ EEO requirements. They needed one more woman as a “manager”. I didn’t receive a raise in pay. I just satisfied a governmental regulation. I took advantage of this opportunity and later moved on to a new position in the radio station as Promotion Director. But then in 1978, I hit the “glass ceiling” and was told I couldn’t advance any further in the company. I was told “it just wouldn’t look right to have a woman in charge”.

After “hitting the glass ceiling”, I persevered and found employment at Frontier Airlines. I began my airline career as a Denver Sales Representative. In 1980, the airline needed a “few good women” in management. I took advantage of the situation and was assigned as the Assistant Manager in Provisioning at Frontier Airlines at Stapleton Airport. In 1981 I was promoted to Assistant Ramp Manager/Ramp Supervisor as the first woman Ramp Supervisor at Stapleton Airport, managing 125 men loading bags on Concourse D . Although I was the only employee managing two positions in Ramp Services, I was paid less than the men. I demanded to be paid for both jobs, but was told that as a single woman, I had no family to support and would not receive any additional compensation.

In 1986, at the age of 40, I took a risk and left my full time employment to enroll at Denver University in a summer school art class. After a year at DU, I transferred to the University of Colorado, Boulder, to earn my BFA Degree in Studio Arts. Times had changed. I did not experience any discrimination as a middle aged woman taking classes with 20 year olds. However, some of the younger students “groaned” that having older women students in their classes raised the grade point average for the class. I did experience prejudice by several older art professors who believed “middle aged women couldn’t create good art”. I ignored their opinions and moved forward towards my degree.

In 1988, during a conference on “Art Careers” at the Denver Art Museum, one of the speakers informed the crowd that any woman over the age of 40 would never “make it” in the art world. There just wasn’t room for an older women’s perspective in the competitive world of art. As a 42 year old woman, I didn’t listen and persevered even more to prove the speaker was “misinformed”. This particular experience has spurred me on to work even harder to become a professional artist……and to prove him wrong.

Knowing from a lot of experience, including sexual harassment at each of my jobs, that a woman in her 70’s won’t get the notice of art critiques nor art gallery owners, I persevere with exhibitions and participating in Open Studios.

In September 2024, I will be a Featured Artist in the Lobby of the Hines Building in Downtown Denver, the Featured Artist at the Lafayette Library in Lafayette, CO, and hosting a Solo Exhibition of my “Boketto” series in Niwot, Colorado. I will be exhibiting in a group exhibition, Verdant Southwest: 22 Perspectives, by Boulder Open Studios at D’art Gallery in the Art District on Santa Fe in Denver. and at the 2024 Louisville Art Association National Fine Art Show and Sale in Lousville, CO.

In October 2024, my studio will be open for Boulder County Open Studios the first three weekends in October.

My list of events is located on my website at: https://www.suzannefrazierartist.com/events

Nothing has ever slowed me down and I continue to remain active in the Colorado Art Community ….and…loving every minute!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Colorado has so much to offer anyone visiting the state. I don’t know where to begin.

Since, I live in Longmont, we would spend time at locally owned restaurants, Tangerine, Lucilles, Urban Thai, Blue Corn Tacos, Tortugas and Cavegirl Cafe.

I always take visitors to Estes Park to experience the Colorado Mountains. And as an art lover, we would make a trip to Denver to the Denver Art Museum, Clifford Still Museum and the galleries around town. If we have time and it’s the right season, we would of course take in Red Rocks.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to Shoutout! to the artists at D’art Gallery in the Art District of Santa Fe. I was one of the Founding Members of the gallery in 2019. We all worked hard to establish the gallery, spending countless hours volunteering our time. The support and comradery of the group took my work to another level of expression. I was blessed with four solo exhibitions in four years at the gallery, until I retired in 2022.

And another Shoutout! to the Colorado Women’s Art Museum that is being established in Denver, Colorado. Your donations to find a home for this museum is very important. My work is in their collection. I am proud to be part of the museum dedicated to women artists in Colorado.

Website: https://www.suzannefrazierartist.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/contemplativeart/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/contemplativeartist/

Twitter: https://x.com/ContempArt

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeArt

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ContemplativeArt

Other: https://contemplativeart.blogspot.com