Meet Suzanne Dix Kaliko

We were lucky to catch up with Suzanne Dix Kaliko recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Suzanne, so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?

I had a great mentor in my father. He believed in me despite the social norms at the time that would have put a woman at a disadvantage, especially in any male dominated field – like art. He was also an excellent gambler. Through his view of life, regardless of how hard a situation may seem, there was “juice” to be gleaned from difficulty. There was lemonade to be made of lemons.
To have a smooth, unchallenged life doesn’t make one’s character grow. Rising to challenges makes one stronger. There is far more satisfaction and better stories to tell from overcoming adversity.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’ve been painting over 50 years now. As a single mom my studio was in the kitchen and I dreamed of one day having a designated space to create in. Today ‘the studio’ is my retreat space. When I go there the images on the easels and the words prompt me to access my imagination and elaborate on those stories.
For many years I was focused on the business side of art – hence the Hawai`iana body of work. I painted plein aire, capturing the gorgeous seascapes, mountains and flowers of Hawai`i. For ten years I was fortunate to have a position at the 4 Seasons resort on Hawai`i Island where I could sell my work and teach as the resident artist.
Today my focus is back to Social Commentary and the Goddesses. I am fascinated by the journeys women and men are making in today’s world. We are reshaping our culture, melding our experiences into what I hope is leading all of us to a better understanding of who we are and the great things we are capable of.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Resilience, resistance, focus.
Resilience comes from our life source – whatever one’s true belief in Divinity is. If one has a connection to nature one witnesses resilience through observation. How does that plant/animal recover from illness or propagate itself? There is no question in my mind that a divine spirit supports and governs nature. To witness that is to see how resilience manifests and can be our guide to developing our own resilience.
Resistance. If I am told I cannot achieve a goal that’s when I laugh. I would have to say most of my greatest achievements have come to life for having been resisted to begin with.
Focus. Nothing gets done without defining an end result and then focusing on it.
Our journeys begin in serendipitous/mysterious ways. We’re adventuring into creativity to learn who we are and what we came here to achieve. All is unknown until we unearth it for ourselves, hence the need for resilience, resistance and focus. They enable our creativity to flourish.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

“Women Who Run With The Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.
Stories gathered by Estes and her evaluation of their impact on us has made this a lifelong reference manual for my journey as a woman. She describes how our feminine ‘wildness’ has been harnessed, altered, rerouted (with our consent!) over the centuries.

“For a modern woman, the ulu, her knife, symbolizes her insight, her willingness and ability to cut away the superfluous, making clear her endings and carving new beginnings. Her fire-making declares her ability to rise from failure, to create passion on her own behalf, to burn something to the ground if necessary. Her stone carvings embody her memory of her own wild consciousness, her union with the natural instinctual life.” C.P. Estes

My goal is to be connected with the true feminine and express that beingness with beauty.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dixstudios.com
• Facebook: Suzanne Kaliko
• Other: suzanne@dixstudios.com