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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: I have an online store (infrequently open) here. You can find out when the shop is open via my newsletter. Needlepoint charts and canvases are available online from Saturnalia Stitching as well as many local needlepoint stores. You can get digital chart tickets and patterns from my Ko-fi shop anytime.
If you're in the Portland, Maine area I make very occasional appearances at local craft markets, which will be announced on the newsletter mentioned above as well as on instagram.
My non-needlepoint work is also for sale at the following places:
If you own a store and would like to stock my products, or you would like to let a local store know that you would like them to stock my products, wholesale inquiries can be submitted here.
Q: Where else can I find you online?
A: I am on Instagram @roseacolyte, and in addition to the shop newsletter above, I have a monthly-ish diary-newsletter called Why Am I Making This.
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 them 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.
