Juleez Gallery moves to First Street

After three years on Baltimore Avenue in Rehoboth Beach, Juleez Gallery has moved to First Street, across from Nicola Pizza.

Juleez sells and showcases the diverse and eclectic artwork of Julie Borden.

“I’ve been an artist my whole life, basically. There’s nothing else I’d rather do,” she said.

Borden works in everything from sculpture to canvas to musical instruments.

The instruments are the most notable pieces, as Juleez sells paintings Borden has done on acoustic guitars, saxophones, violins and cellos that she has used to create her art.

“I was building a furniture set about 10 years ago, and I had designed a dining room table that looked like a baby grand piano and four musician chairs to go with it. Each chair looked like a musician was sitting at the table.” Borden said.  “I had looked at the cello chair one day and wondered, ‘What would it be like to paint a cello?’ I had a gallery in Rhode Island at the time, I ordered a cello, and I painted it up and put it in the window. It sold.”

“Ten years later I have not stopped painting instruments. I have no musical talent whatsoever. I can’t play anything. What I loved was the shape of the instruments – and I think they are a great piece of work/sculpture as is – but to transform it with the art. I was able to paint music even though I don’t play music,” she said.

Borden moved from painting cellos and violins to brass instruments such as trumpets and saxophones. Her latest instrument project is painting an upright bass, on display at Juleez.

“There’s a ton of people who buy them, mostly for décor, and then I’ll have some musicians that actually buy them to play,” she said.

Borden said violins take two to four weeks to paint. All the instruments sold at Juleez are new and real.

In addition to instrument art, Juleez also has Borden’s pop art-style paintings. She said she is most known for round canvas paintings, which can be special ordered. Besides painting, Borden also works on T-shirts, ceramics, handbags and gifts. She also designs cell phone skins that are sold by DecalGirl in Milton.

“I’m interested in different things and being able to provide my art on a variety of things. I just like working in different mediums. Always have. To be able to bring my art to life on everything is really interesting to me, and I hope is interesting to other people,” Borden said.

She said she loves working all the time at her home studio in Rehoboth. Borden said the fun about art is “the only rule is what works.”

Borden and business partner/gallery manager Guy Peluso started Juleez three years ago at the Celebration Mall, 20 Baltimore Ave. The duo was running a gallery in Philadelphia before taking a day trip to Rehoboth.

“Within a month we were living here,” Borden said.

The opportunity to move to 1 N. First Street, in the old Internet Café building, was too good to pass up, she said.

“We’d been looking,” Borden said. “It’s been really great over there for the past 3 1/2 years but we’ve outgrown the space and this is obviously a higher traffic pattern for walking traffic in Rehoboth. More exposure. We’re going to be able to show more work. It’s going to open up a lot more avenues that were not possible.”

Juleez Gallery is open Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment. Once spring and summer roll around, the gallery will be open seven days a week.

For more information on Borden’s artwork and Juleez Gallery, visit www.juleez.com.