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Shorewood’s
Suzi Dixon sells her exclusive jewelry pieces at Vieux et
Nouveau boutique on Brady Street.
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Suzi Dixon doesn’t know where the
inspiration comes from for her handmade, one-of-a-kind pieces of
jewelry.
"Honestly, they just come to
me," says Dixon, Shorewood, of her jewelry sold under the Dixon
Designs name.
Dixon, however, says she is moved by
the materials she uses — the vintage crystals she tracks down at
flea markets and through the Internet, and the large, colorful beads
with their interesting shapes and sizes that she finds anywhere and
everywhere, including bead shows. "Just the beads themselves
inspire, and the color, touching and feeling of the beads," she
says. "This is something I just must have been born with. I’ve
never even taken a bead class."
Despite her passion for her art, Dixon
didn’t try her hand at jewelry making in a serious way until 10
years ago. "I used to be a quilter, and my wrists gave out on
me," she says. "I’ve always been a crafter. I always have
to work with my hands. I can never imagine not making things."
Once she started making the jewelry —
earrings, bracelets, necklaces — nothing could stop her. "You
can’t sit at my coffee table in the living room because it’s just
covered in beads," says Dixon, who sells at art fairs and a few
boutiques, including Vieux et Nouveau boutique on Brady Street.
"I have a lot of steady customers. At Vieux et Nouveau, a
customer comes in just to buy my jewelry."
That’s satisfying for Dixon, who
loves wearing jewelry as much as making it. Some of her more popular
pieces are multi-strand necklaces and matching bracelets that combine
vintage crystals with freshwater pearls. That said, Dixon doesn’t
have a favorite style or piece herself. "I love all the jewelry I
make. If I don’t, I rip it up and start over again," she says.
Dixon, whose day job is running the
computer lab at Shorewood Elementary School, also makes custom pieces.
Prices vary, depending on the materials, but a single-strand bracelet
can start around $50; a multi-strand would start at about $100.
"I’m pretty stuck on jewelry," she says. "It’s not
just beads on a string. It really is my ideas."
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