While Long Beach Island is best known for surfing and beach culture, LBI has also produced its share of surf artists and designers, creating beautiful surf wall art.

Julie Goldstein is passionate about both surfing and art. Her love for surfing translates into her wood blocking art form and the clothing line she launched last year.

Julie Goldstein discovered her love of art in LBI

Julie Goldstein grew up spending summers on the beaches of LBI. She became very passionate about surfing and began applying nautical inspirations to her art.

Julie Goldstein embraced the surf culture of LBI, taking the hobby and developing it as a lifestyle. Easygoing nautical vibes differentiated her as an artist and eventually drove her to make a career out of her passion.

Surfer-Artist Julie Goldstein’s background

In her early days, Julie was inspired by a group of iconic female swimmers who lived in New York in the early 1900s. These women were called The Women’s Lifesaving League and they worked to rescue people from drowning. These women were pioneers and raced against men in swimming competitions that were many miles long.

Julie felt connected to these women in sharing a mutual love for the sea. She wanted to honor them through her art. Julie Goldstein’s Women’s Lifesaving League series and other artworks can be viewed online and her surf wall art pieces are featured in various galleries and magazines.

Julie Goldstein pursued art at Columbia University in New York. She moved back to LBI following her graduation in the early 2000’s. Her next steps included teaching at LBIF- Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences. She participated in art exhibitions and festivals and displayed her artwork internationally.

Read more about the history of surfing in Long Beach Island.

Julie Goldstein blends art and surfing together with fashion

Julie Goldstein has a unique style and creative process. The mediums that Julie uses most in her art include woodcut printmaking, embroidery and application of fabrics. She launched a line of clothing called “Perfect” to represent her easygoing surfer style.

Julie Goldstein was very close with other artists and photographers on Long Beach Island. She collaborated with the other artists and supported the others in their work.

Julie Goldstein and her husband open PINE

When Julie Goldstein married graphic artist, Mark Tesi, they set their sights on developing LBI’s growing art scene. In 2008, Julie and her husband opened PINE Surf Shop and Gallery. The shop was connected to one of the biggest surf shops in LBI, called Farias.

PINE was a place where surfers and families could hang out and view surfing photography along with as cutting edge artistic creations, and surf wall art. Vintage surfboards were displayed there, surf wall art was made there, and Julie Goldstein’s two clothing lines PINE and Perfect were sold there. Locals considered PINE to be an extension of their homes.

Loss and Relocation open new doors for Julie Goldstein

Tragedy struck only eight months later when a fire destroyed PINE and everything in it. Julie Goldstein and her husband were shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of their new surf shop and gallery.

Julie Goldstein relocates to California

The fire started the night before New Year’s Eve, and they chose to take it as an opportunity to start over. A friend convinced them to relocate to California. Mark and Julie Goldstein packed their remaining possessions and moved out to the west coast.

LBI’s beach town culture is still alive in Julie Goldstein’s surf wall art

The phrase “Don’t forget where you came from” is said to artists on their way to becoming famous. Since moving to California, Julie Goldstein’s success has multiplied but she humbly credits it to her time spent in Long Island Beach, New Jersey.

Still heavily involved with art and surfing, Julie Goldstein recently launched a new line of clothing called SWM, which stands for Swim With Me. She’s also lending her artistic style to a line of wetsuits for surfer chicks. Last summer, she returned to Surf City, LBI for a feature at a gallery owned by her good friend Ann Coen.

The east coast still has a huge influence over Julie Goldstein’s art. During a recent interview, Julie Goldstein was asked about her south Jersey roots, and her answer shows humility and loyalty to her hometown in LBI. Here is Julie’s response:

“I love the East coast and am proud to say that I am from New Jersey. The East has a different energy; It’s fast, it’s opinionated, it’s loud and it knows what it wants! The East coast has seasons, which always affected my creativity, color palette and subject matter. We lived on Long Beach Island; it hustled in the summer and was desolate in the winter. The winter months were quiet, cold, and helped me to focus on my studio work. I was and still am very inspired by the East coast. My friends and family are all apart of my work, storytelling and memories. As much as I love living on the West coast, I do miss the East.”