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Dixie wears the Waikiki Necklace, House Top, and Crop Wide Leg in Sage.
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How does Hawaii feel to you?
Hawaii to me feels to me the most grounded. It's family and community and you know when you are home when you step off that plane and the warm sun greets you.
Can you describe the process of finding your shells? How much does it feel like luck and how much does it feel like expertise?
Finding shells is the most rewarding and cathartic experience. You'll never feel richer than going home with a bag of shells you found from an epic beach day. I see my daughter's face every time she finds a shell she finds beautiful (it can sometimes even be a remnant of what it used to be but she loves the texture or color) and runs up to me saying "MAMA!!! Mama!! LOOK!" We can go for hours and are often there til sunset looking for shells on a good day. I mostly beach comb and stay in the shallow parts and use my hands to pick them but we have used pasta strainers and nets and goggles too. The fun is using both of your hands to dig into the sand in a massive pile of coral and shells and see what surfaces above the waterline in your hands. It's like this big mystery and you do a happy dance with every shell intact. It's just like opening your kiln after a glaze firing so many ohhhhs and ahhhhs.
We live really close to the beach so on a good day, usually after a swell, my friends and family down at the beach will text me saying "IT'S SO GOOD" and I know they are not talking about the waves because I only surf small waves and usually good to them is firing big waves haha so they are talking about a long stretch of sand with shells just ready to be picked. I also support local divers who dive for shells when my beach is empty. I am so grateful to have a community that supports what I do and get just as excited. I name my necklaces after them and make them special pieces which just keeps all of us winning. When we pick shells, there's a memory from that stays with you from that day and a certain energy that you gain. I find new design ideas while finding shells for sure. I dream up what glaze and beads match and what that design will evoke in the person it ends up with. Will this person feel empowered? Will this person feel confident?
How has motherhood shifted or informed your vision of yourself and/or your work?
Motherhood has taught me that you can make time for everything if you can work smarter and not necessarily harder. I started Studio Dixie on top of many other things because it was an outlet to stay creative while maximizing my time with kids.
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Dixie wears the Tasi Crop, Waikiki Necklace, and Camp Short (coming soon!).
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Your pieces combine the tactile art of making with the somewhat mystical art of finding. How do these two practices speak to you?
Oh I love that. It speaks to me everyday and to be honest, every piece I make is really really hard to give up because you can trace the history of it. I combine ceramics with shells in my necklaces—two earthen materials and both thousand year old traditions—I take pride in keeping that alive.
How do you want to feel in your clothes?
Confident and comfortable and ready to go day to night.
What brings you joy in the present? What are you dreaming of for the future?
I recently read a book by Maggie Smith where she talks about "beauty emergencies" and it changed my perspective on everything. It's about making a big deal about everything that is beautiful that happens…that it's an emergency and you have to stop what you are doing and pay close attention because it can be over in a second. It could be a beautiful sunset, a colorful caterpillar eating your plants, or a breakdance move your kid lands for the first time. Simplest joys are infinite. I try not to look too far into the future but I am excited for more travels because the Sagittarius in me has really missed it, so that's on my list this year.
Follow Dixie Rose on Instagram here, and more of her work on her website here. Photos by Sam Feyen.
Shop Dixie's Waikiki Necklace for OZMA here.
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