Lake Forest Artist Opens Downtown Lake Bluff Art Studio

LAKE BLUFF, IL — The owner of a new art studio is bringing more than three decades of experience in commercial and fine art, a diverse range of skills and her two grown daughters together to help create an artistic destination at her new downtown Lake Bluff storefront.

"It's been a wonderful response, people have been so supportive and so friendly," Julie Whitehead Holdsworth said of Lake Bluff."It’s this whole feeling I have never really felt before that the community – everybody is supporting each other. It’s kind of like a Norman Rockwell painting come to life.”

Holdsworth's Whitehead Studios Lake Bluff location, which opened last month at 36 E. Center Ave., offers a chance to select one-of-a-kind commercial art for your home, while also giving visitors a chance to see a variety of fine art creations.

Before moving to Lake Forest around 24 years ago, Holdsworth lived in Chicago and ran a custom ceramic tile business out of the Merchandise Mart. Working with interior decorators, designers and architects, Holdsworth ran the business she had founded for more than 18 years.

Whitehead Studios had seven full-time employees and 27 distributes throughout the country before she closed the business to focus on raising her two daughters, Holdsworth said.

But she didn't give up on her art.

"I wanted to still do something to keep my foot in the door of business, so I started out with hand-painting ornaments," Holdsworth told Patch she's been creating ornaments for about 26 years now. "I started doing a few shows with my hand-painted ornaments and they really took off." She didn't just create ornaments (which are now up to 14 inches in size) for Christmas, but for Halloween and other holidays as well. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Lake Forest & Lake Bluff — or your Illinois community. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

"I think it also showed my girls that I'm not only a mom, but a businesswoman and an artist," she said. "There is a commercial side of me that loves to design and make one-of-a-kind items commercially, and then there's another side of me that is my fine art, that is an expression of anything that I feel, that I can create. I'm at the age where that's just me, that's what I do."

For years, Holdsworth has been showing her fine art consistently, especially sculpture work, but recently, she said, she has become more interested in oil painting.

“I’ve got this bag of knowledge that has really paid off in the long run on so many different categories of my career," she said.

Holdsworth has operated her showroom in Highwood for about four years. But unlike the new spot, the Sheridan Square location at 772 Sheridan Rd. is located in a strip mall and does not get a lot of foot traffic ambling by. She said the public in the area is well-informed and discerning and she looks forward to offering special experiences for those who attend openings and exhibitions at her new location across from the town's famous gazebo.

"The North Shore is very rich in its culture. There are a lot of artists and artstic people up here, and I hope to be adding something to all that, to bring something to the plate," she said.

Holdsworth said she hopes her new location offers visitors a welcoming atmosphere to engage with fine art without pressure or judgement.

"The best thing you can do is to put it out there for people and to create an enjoyable environment, and once you’ve succeeded in that, then they feel much more comfortable and can ask questions about the piece," she said.

As the Lake Bluff location opened up over the summer, Holdsworth said her two daughters have become increasingly involved in the Whitehead Studios business. Although, she pointed out, they were raised surrounded by art.

As young girls, Holdsworth would bring them to art fairs to help set up and to engage potential customers on the floor.

"You don't have to talk about my artwork right now, you just talk about whatever" she remembers telling them, "If they're interested, they'll start asking questions."

Those experiences, she said, helped instill a philosophy of creative and artistic freedom in her daughters, Holdsworth said.

"I feel like by doing that, it teaches them a lot of things," she said. "It teaches them self-confidence, it teaches them how to be a salesperson, it teaches a young woman a little bit of a sense of a business world, and hopefully the freedom to be able to say, ‘I’ve got an idea, what if I try this.’"

• Our Lady of Perpetual Help Elementary School, Glenview Oct. 19, 1 - 10 p.m. & Oct. 20 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee WI. Oct. 26 & 27 9:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. & Oct. 28 9:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
• Elawa Farm Holiday Market Dec. 1, 2 & 3 Friday & Saturday 10am - 4 p.m. Sunday Noon - 4 p.m.

Whitehead Studios is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 36 E. Center Ave. in Lake Bluff

And open Thursdays in Highwood, 772 Sheridan Rd.

» Find out more at Whitehead Studios website or Facebook page

_{Top photos: Whitehead Studios Lake Bluff location | Courtesy Julie Whitehead Holdsworth}