/ART/

Studio Visit: Julie Jilek

Rows of canvas, layers of charcoal drawings, a velvet chaise lounge, and a Fender Jaguar guitar brim the intimate studio where Julie Jilek creates.

Since signing the lease last July, Julie Jilek‘s cradling studio space at the Edison Center in Appleton’s river flats has helped her transition from something that felt like a side hustle into something much more tangible.

“I haven’t had an art space outside of my living space since college,” says the Appleton native. “It made me think differently about what I do for a living – having a separation between work and home. I have felt every area of my life excel because of it.”

With something resembling a renaissance happening in Appleton over the past few years through the linking of local artists and creatives, the support and enthusiasm from the community has been boundless. It may be attributed to Cory Chisel and his pioneering of Mile of Music, Julie notes, allowing herself to get emotional thinking about the different degrees of talent coming out of the woodwork.

Feeling her love of music had reawakened after volunteering at Mile of Music, Julie felt inspired to connect music with visual art and did a charcoal portrait of indie rock duo The Dove & The Wolf, who hail from France and were artists-in-residence at Appleton’s The Refuge.“After working as an artist for so many years, you develop an idea of what people will spend money on,” she says. “Portraits are harder to sell, but I love what a simple art form charcoal is and I gave myself permission to do what I love, versus what people may want. I’d like to continue doing portraits of the musicians who come through The Refuge.”

Something alluring happens when two art forms merge, like when David Aragon came to photograph Julie in her element for this feature – an exciting exchange, considering she usually works in quiet solitude.