When Dixie’s owner, Jennifer Hunt, first inquired with Holly Hollon in late 2014 to design her Christmas card and Holly was unavailable, Jennifer was inspired to create Dogwood Hill Collective. She approached Holly to help her with branding and card designs, but Holly’s role in Dixie soon became Creative Director, helping Jennifer with selecting artists and building a design team to execute Dixie’s beautiful collections of stationery. Holly also contributes her own calligraphy and artwork to Dixie’s card designs.
Holly has invited us inside her studio through the lens of Mary Margaret Smith. Scroll down to see her color filled space and read more about her creative process.
When do you work on your artwork? I am naturally a night owl, I love the creative juices that flow at 2 o’clock in the morning, but now being a mother of two little ones, I have learned to be creative when the babysitter arrives. That has really taken some discipline in my work habits to just get to work when I have the time and not necessarily when I “feel” creative. I have become a lot more efficient at my work now being more limited in time, but interesting enough, these past two years I have created some of my best work, even though more limited on time.
Do you have a particular morning [or nightly] routine you follow to get ready to work? Music is key to working. When I am not feeling creative or in the mood to work, if I can get some music going and an iced coffee drink, that jives me to work. Some of my favorites are Louis Armstrong, Dustin O’Halloran, Andrew Bird and For King and Country.
What is your favorite part of your studio space? The light!!! The light in my studio is amazing and is so key to creativity! I also love to have art by art friends in my environment. I recently added fellow Dixie artist, Willa Heart’s “Kitty and the Cats” print above my desk and I just love it.
Where do you turn when you need to be creatively refreshed? Outings really creatively refresh me. When I am in a rut with a project, getting out of the house and not looking at the house really help! I love a trip to Continental Bakery for iced tea and a macaron or visiting an antique shop for some refreshment.
Favorite Instagram account for artistic inspiration? I love following The Frances Flair (@ragancain). She takes fantastic, dreamy trips and it is so fun to travel the world through her Instagram account. I also just got the opportunity to work with her and create a crest for her account. A few other favorite are @mrsalice, @willaheart, @santambroeus, @tulipinadesign, @theglampad, @sommersruthie, @matchbookdiaries and @twissmanor.
Favorite Dixie product you have created? Koi Fish and Foo Dogs are some of my favorites! I love anything chinoiserie. My favorite wedding suite is Naples, I just love birds and all things coastal. I have some mid century modern inspired designs coming out this Holiday season that I am pretty excited about too!
