Suzanne Hamilton Update in 2024
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Suzanne Hamilton presents Unseen Landscapes at Xchanges Gallery October 5-20, 2024

​Suzanne’s Opening on October 4 was an excellent preview of her ongoing solo exhibition at Xchanges. Friends and family gathered to celebrate her success with this remarkable collection of large and smaller works. Suzanne welcomes guests each Saturday & Sunday 11:00-4:00, now until October 20. Don’t miss her artist talk on Sunday, October 13, 2PM.

​Suzanne Hamilton presents
Unseen Landscapes at Xchanges Gallery
October 5-20, 2024
Opening Friday Oct 4, 7:00-9:00.
Hours: Saturday & Sunday 11:00-4:00
Artist Talk October 13, 2PM.



Suzanne views her upcoming solo exhibition at Xchanges Gallery, as an opportunity to further expand her body of work. "After I hung the show, she says, “I was struck by how the artwork looks in a larger space. I can see a narrative emerge about how I experience these spaces as I move through them. They are both beautiful and foreboding. I am looking forward to sharing my journey with others." 

Suzanne Hamilton presents
The Unremarkable Landscape, July 9 - Aug 27, 2023
Slide Room Gallery, Vancouver Island School of Art.
Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00

​Suzanne Hamilton is a walker, who strides effortlessly along Victoria’s city streets. You won’t see her driving a car or riding a bike, but you might spot her paused on a sidewalk, cell phone in hand. She is patiently waiting for the absence of people and vehicles, in order to collect visual information about the ordinary landscapes of her everyday journeys. These “unremarkable” urban landscapes often include objects like power boxes, lamp posts and bike racks. “I am interested in how these constructed objects interact with the natural,” she says. “It appears to be an uneasy relationship.”

Spring Trees, Fort & Foul Bay, mixed media on paper, 30x22 in, 2023

Waiting at Clover Point, mixed media on paper, 30x22 in, 2023

Spring Trees, Fairfield Rd, mixed media on paper, 30x22 in, 2023

Hamilton uses a series of photos and her memory to focus on viewpoints of interest. She then explores the nuances of the scene in a drawing. Interesting elements emerge, as she changes the scale and rearranges the composition. Dramatic tonal variations in monochromatic shades, from light to dark, highlight certain features. For example, we catch the graceful silouhette of a lamp post against the sky. Or view the odd juxtaposition of a “no-parking” sign adjacent to a bed of flowers. “My drawings are a way to honour the landscapes I pass by everyday,” she says, “which are always changing.”

​Hamilton uses a combination of charcoal, chalk, conté and pastel on Stonehenge paper for her drawings. She prefers the vellum surface and high fibre content of this 100% cotton, archival paper. She starts by rubbing a stick of charcoal over the entire sheet of paper. This creates a warm and consistent mid-tone for building up a variety of atmospheric hues. She notes the paper’s smooth surface enhances the multi-layered textures and tones in her drawings. “Also,” she adds, “Stonehenge is a strong paper that accepts my vigorous mark making with ease.”

UVic Library, Twilight, mixed media on paper, 30x36 in, 2023

Power Box, Saghalie Rd, mixed media on paper, 20x20 in, 2023

​Hamilton received a Diploma of Fine Arts from the Vancouver Island School of Art in 2021. Her graduating exhibition consisted of an installation of 100, six-inch square drawings arranged in a grid pattern on the wall. While an undergrad, Hamilton took an oil painting class with Neil McClelland and shared her artistic process on social media. Trish Shwart, a well-respected member of Victoria’s artist community, connected with Hamilton. “I was intrigued by Suzanne’s labours and unselfconscious sharing of her evolving journey,” says Shwart. The two artists met in real time and formed a friendship.

​Shwart finds The Unremarkable Landscape series to be quite remarkable.
“These larger-scale drawings are successful,” she says, “with skillful compositions featuring expressive and confident mark-making.” Tonal values are used to engage the viewer and move their eyes around the pictorial space, Shwart notes. This space exists as a complete universe, a fascinating new world with unique and energetic life-forces. “Suzanne is pointing out the moments of magic that surrounds us - if only we’d stop and look,” says Shwart.

View to Juan de Fuca, mixed media on paper, 30x22 in, 2023

Summer Skies on Tyee, mixed media on paper, 30x22 in, 2023

Spring Tree, Sundance School, mixed media on paper, 30x22 in, 2023

​Dark magic lurks in View to Juan de Fuca. The image combines an energetic sky of scuttling clouds and swaying branches with an inert rectangular box and circular metal structure. What an scenic photographer would edit out, Hamilton draws to our attention.The circular structure rivets our attention with its white lid and vertical support post. The infinity of wind-whipped water and turbulent sky is cemented into a stark reality by the box and metal structure.

​In Summer Skies on Tyee, the artist confirms her dexterity at creating depth and volume with textural layering. The “herringbone” cloud patterns are alive with a combination of expressive lines and cross-hatching. Dots and dashes of white chalk enunciate and enliven the swirling cloud banks. The ascending clouds in the cropped sky are dramatic and could read as smoke or a conflagration. As wildfires burn out of control in our changing climate, this image feeds our subconscious fears about danger.

House on Gladstone Ave, mixed media on paper, 20x20 in, 2023

No Parking with Flowers, mixed media on paper, 20x20 in, 2023

​While working full time, Hamilton spent several semesters at VISA earning her Diploma. She credits the skills of the excellent instructors at school for her ongoing success. Hamilton is excited about her first solo show and looks forward to her Artist’s Talk on July 9 @ 1:30. “The drawings have given me a mode of expression and ways to work out ideas,” she says. Her ideas were conceived and expanded while completing her Research Project at VISA. Hamilton relishes the opportunity to communicate what she has learned from studying art history and her artist colleagues.
“I have discovered that one city block can contain an entire universe,” she says, “if you spend the time and pay attention.”

Suzanne Hamilton welcomes your comments and can be reached at [email protected]

Slide Room Gallery is located at Vancouver Island School of Art.
#302, 733 Johnson St Victoria, BC V8W 3C7
Hours: Monday-Friday 9:00-5:00

Suzanne's Artist Talk on July 9 was well-attended by an appreciative audience. See photos below.

Wendy Welch, VISA Director introduces Suzanne.

Kate with Suzanne at Opening.

​​Web Design and Content by Kate Cino
Arts writer published in Focus on Victoria, Yam and Boulevard. 
History in Art degree and Public Relations certificate from 
​the University of Victoria
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