Rose Acolyte is E. Julien Coyne's creative project space, established in 2023 and based out of southern Maine.
I have been drawing, painting, and doing all manner of creative things for my whole life, but have always had a hard time pinning down what it is that I do when I say that I am an artist. Rose Acolyte is my attempt to have an umbrella to put everything under, whether that is needlepoint, printmaking, quilting, painting, sewing, pottery, rug-making, or whatever other creative thing I have been seriously interested in for some particular period in time.
It's on me that I chose a confusing brand name, so if you forget my person-name and call me Rose I won't be mad at you.
Photo kindly taken by Coco McCracken in 2022.
Q: How can I buy things from you?
A: Needlepoint charts and canvases are available online from Saturnalia Stitching.
For everything else I make, if you're in the Portland, Maine area you can usually find my pottery for sale at Coveside Coffee. I also make very occasional appearances at local craft markets. If you are elsewhere in the country/world, your best bet is to get in touch with me directly - I am perennially planning to open an online shop, but I haven't managed to do so yet!
Q: Where else can I find you online?
A: I am on Instagram @roseacolyte, and I also have a newsletter called Why Am I Making This. (It has been on hiatus for some time, but I am planning to start it up again soon.)
A list of my ever-changing arts and crafts focuses for the more art-ful years of my life.
2015: I graduate from university (major: physics and philosophy) and decide that after spending my school years with art as "just a hobby", I would like to "take art more seriously" (while still being employed at a non-art day job)
2016: Illustration and comics. I take classes from Jerel Dye while living in Boston. I start keeping a sketchbook, which I continue doing until present day - I have 8 or 9 of then now!
2017: Printmaking, photography, and digital art. I am a member of Megalo Print Studio in Canberra, Australia, where I spend a lot of time, working on my own as well as taking classes with John Hart and Julian Laffan (Being a member of Megalo was what made me start seeing myself as a "real artist", so it still holds a special place in my heart). I also start exploring film photography at Manuka PhotoAccess. I finally learn to draw in Photoshop.
2018: Painting. I take classes with Valerie Wallace in Orono, Maine.
2019: Painting and some textiles. I take classes with Mary Brooking and Missy Dunaway in southern Maine. Late in the year, I take a class about punchneedle from S. Jane Craft, and become quite obsessed quite quickly.
2020: Textiles, printmaking, and painting. I try to start printmaking again as a member of Pickwick Independent Press, but am scuppered by the pandemic. I continue with punchneedle and try larger rug-making (see tiger rug above). I follow Cat Graffam's online art lessons to learn to paint portraits. I take up digital art again, drawing in Procreate.
2021: Drawing, pottery and photography. I take an incredibly influential online class in caricature drawing from Steve Brodner, which really changes how I think about drawing. I start photographing weddings with Ruby Jean Photography and Andrew Hager, and start to do film photography more seriously again. I join Portland Pottery as a member (in Chris Cooper's class) after making tiny pottery at home for half the year and bringing it to Portland Pottery to be fired.
2022: Pottery, animation, and photography. I dabble a lot with different pottery styles. I play around with digital animation for tiny video games. I do a lot of film photography.
2023: Pottery and needlepoint. I continue finding my pottery voice (highly influenced by the drawing I have been doing for all these years!) and decide on the name Rose Acolyte Ceramics for my pottery brand. I also discover needlepoint, which I do entirely on my own, drawing my own little homemade canvases and stitching them with DMC cotton.
2024: Pottery, painting, video games, and needlepoint. I try (and fail) to become much more serious about pottery. I try (and fail) to become more serious about painting again. I do more tiny video game coding and animation. I continue doing homemade needlepoint in my own bubble.
2025: Needlepoint, quilting, and pottery. I learn to quilt at the beginning of the year and do my best to regularly attend Travis Clough's quilt club. I do an online workshop with Tara Faughan. I continue with my little illustrated pottery in a casual way (I have maintained my Portland Pottery studio membership all these years). I finally leave my needlepoint bubble and join Saturnalia Stitching as an official designer.
