Featured Artists: Suzanne Dix-Kaliko and Tim Wright
Featured Cover Artist: Suzanne Dix-Kaliko
Suzanne Dix-Kaliko was 18 when her high school art teacher gifted her a set of oils and she began to paint. Raised in a small town in western New York, Suzanne was always an artist. She graduated from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn in 1974 with a BFA, majoring in painting and drawing. Suzanne has exhibited all across the US and her work is collected internationally.
Suzanne moved to Hawai‘i in 1994 and her first years exhibiting on Hawai‘i Island were at the Mauna Lani Resort. In 1999 she became artist-in-residence at Four Seasons Hualalai. For 10 years her booth was outside their cultural center, where she was privileged to learn from kūpuna who came to teach Hawaiian culture.
Pictured on Ke Ola’s cover, Aunty Harriet Soong was master quilter at Hualalai. Her quilts take from three to ten years to create, as they are all hand sewn. The quilt she exhibits in the cover image is a Maui wedding quilt. Aunty Harriet has quilts hanging in the Smithsonian in Washington, DC as examples of Hawaiian quilt mastery.
Suzanne reflects, “Since my interests are culturally oriented, I flourished at Hualalai. I cherished my interactions with kūpuna, and appreciated their opinions of my work. I’m inspired by nature so I paint ‘plein aire’ (on site, out-of-doors) to capture the essence of the place before me. Working outside is challenging and I use acrylic paint to start the image, make notes and then finish in the studio with oils. Sometimes I pick up pastels or watercolors to change the tone of the art.”
Suzanne moved to Ka‘ū in 2000. Marvin Keith commissioned her to paint a mural at the Pāhala Senior Center. She says, “The seniors in Pāhala are amazing. The mural features them—Taka Fukunaga on the south wall; the line dancing gals as well as the cultural dancers (Hawaiian, Filipino, Japanese) on the east wall. Taka is still alive at 97 and tends his own garden in Pāhala to this day.
“Now a senior myself, I appreciate the Pāhala Senior Center more than ever. During this past year it’s become clear Hawai‘i takes care of their elders. The Pāhala center has reached out to check on how I am doing weekly all throughout the crisis we’re living with. I taught there (before COVID hit) and had the pleasure to know the folks and hear their stories firsthand.”
Suzanneʻs work can be found in Nā‘ālehu at the Ka‘ū Gallery and Gift Shop and she also offers studio tours by appointment.
For more information:
dixstudios.com
hawaiikinemarket.com
Table of Contents Photographer: Tim Wright
Tim Wright is a fourth generation Hawai‘i Islander who covers Hawai‘i as a part-time freelance news and sports photojournalist. From 1994 to 2001, Tim worked as a part-time stringer photographer for American Media and the National Enquirer, covering “off-beat” stories and celebrities in Hawai‘i and Las Vegas. He also provided many news images to the Associated Press, including Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush in Hawai‘i. His photos and short stories have been published in Hawai‘i and newspapers worldwide.
Timʻs image, featured in Ke Olaʻs table of contents, of Paul Neves and Jonathan Naone was taken at a Royal Order of Kamehameha blessing of the Naha stone at the Hilo Public Library in 2003.
The TV show Hawaiian Moving Company did a segment on Timʻs photography in 2001, and he has also appeared on The History Channel.
Tim is also a licensed electrical security contractor who advises companies in Hawai‘i and on the West Coast to sell or buy security companies. He was the former owner of Argent Security, LLC.
He grew up in Kamaoa, Ka‘ū and currently resides in Hilo with his wife Terry and two dogs, Coconut and Mason.
For more information:
newsphotoshawaii.com
