Seabreeze Jazz Festival selects Rehoboth's Julie Borden as 2016 visual artist

Renee and Mark Carter, owners of WSBZ, The Seabreeze Smooth Jazz Radio Station and producers of the Seabreeze Jazz Festival located in Panama City Beach, Fla., have selected this year’s Jazz Festival Visual Artist, Julie Borden, owner of Juleez, located in Rehoboth Beach.

“Wow! We are all very excited about this truly unique piece! Smooth Jazz stirs a passion inside of each listener - and Julie's artwork exemplifies the fun, passion, and funk of smooth jazz and the energy and vibe of Seabreeze Jazz Festival. Look for her design on Seabreeze Jazz Festival T-shirts and posters on sale at the event,” Mark Carter announced.  "We’ve also asked Julie to attend the four-day festival, and she will be showing her painted musical instruments and paintings for sale at this year’s event."

Borden’s piece, titled “Jazzy By The Sea,” is a colorful mix of musicians and colors, blending her musical themes with patterns and bold graphics. Her painted musical instruments - including cellos, upright basses, violins, trumpets, guitars and saxophones - have found an audience with musicians and music loving art collectors alike.

“I love painting on canvas,” says Borden, “But I also love the challenge of painting a 3-D object that looks like several paintings that work together, yet each side is an individual painting in its own right. I enjoy blurring the lines between an object, a sculpture and a painting.”

Learning to tap into a sculptural sensibility is key for painters looking to bring dimensional work into their practice, and doing so involves considering how viewers will physically engage with their pieces.

2016 celebrates the 18th year of Seabreeze Jazz Festival. Platinum-selling and multi-Grammy winning Michael McDonald, top-charting saxophonist Boney James, vocalist Peabo Bryson, guitarist Peter White, RB/Jazz Pianist Brian Culbertson, Gerald Albright, Jonathan Butler, Mindi Abair, Marc Antoine, Josh Vietti, The Family Stone and Nick Colionne are just some top-notched talent set to perform at the “Ultimate Weekend of Smooth Jazz set for April 20-24.

The event has become an annual celebration for jazz-minded adults where the allure of great beaches, exciting shopping, world-class restaurants along with a plethora of activities all combine for a true vacation getaway.

For more information on the event, go to SeabreezJazzFest.com and for more information on the artwork of Julie Borden and Juleez, go to www.juleez.com