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Julien @ Rose Acolyte

@roseacolyte

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Magical dirtbag illustrator in Maine. I draw needlepoint designs with @saturnaliastitching, on handbuilt pottery, quilts, & stationery.
🏳️‍🌈🐯🍂✨❄️

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A little introduction post since I don’t post my face on here very often!! I’m Julien of Rose Acolyte, and you might know me as a needlepoint designer with @saturnaliastitching, or you might know me as a local potter and crafty person in Portland, Maine. I am both those things! (Or you might just be a friend or family member in which case hi you already know me.)

Here I am as my “local craftsperson” persona vending at @fetemarket here in Portland (just earlier today), and as I was looking at this picture I realized it’s been just over five years since I did my first ever market in September 2021. Swipe for a blast from the past photo of me from that market!! I have been anything but diligent with my craft market presence over the years, but I have been slowly building my art practice into the somewhat cohesive thing that it is today, and I’m proud of the things I’ve done from then until now even though I don’t really know how to sum them up!

A month or two ago I changed my Instagram bio from “needlepoint designer, potter, [etc etc]” to “illustrator”. I design needlepoint and make pottery and sew quilts and design stationery and paint and do printmaking and a handful of other things, but really the core of what I like to do is draw pictures. Even though it’s a little misleading to call myself an illustrator (I’m not out here trying to do commissioned illustrations for projects), there’s not really another good thing to call myself. Just a draw-er, I guess.

So if you like my needlepoint, or my pottery, or anything else, know that any particular art form of mine is just one way to slice my brain. Overall I just want to draw pictures of the things I imagine and turn them into little objects and have them bring some kind of meaning to other people. So the thing I’m really proud of is that my imagined pictures in their many forms have actually managed to be bring whimsy into a lot of people’s lives over the years. And I hope they continue to!! by @roseacolyte

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13 days ago

I’m in the airport after @letters.and.thread, still kind of stunned at how wonderful everyone was and what a nice time I had. Eternal thank you to @saturnaliastitching for putting together the best retreat ever, with a group of the kindest people I could imagine.

I am definitely a weird girl of the needlepoint world (reserved, socially awkward, video game nerd, etc etc), but I felt so warm and welcomed and just really a part of this magical weekend. When @marysmanyhobbies picked me up from the airport and pointed out the gorgeous project bags she had made by hand, when I spotted @skeintilysad the first evening and bombarded her with 1000 questions about silksong, when @ninelivesneedlepoint and I geeked out about all the designs we wanted to do just so we could stitch them ourselves (lol) (also Marie gave me some genius ideas for new designs so stay tuned…….), I knew I was with my people!! Thank you thank you thank you and I hope I can see all of you again next year!!!!!!!

And again, I am SO SO SO grateful to Abbey for taking me on as a designer and creating such a supportive and amazing environment, having me stay at her house after the retreat and giving me a tour of all her needlepoint and putting up with me never having seen any TV (haha……) and showing me around Grosse Pointe. She is truly a shining light!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!! by @roseacolyte

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a year ago

Finished stitching this axolotl from my recent needlepoint market releases! This canvas is my highest released SKU number (77)! This year my goal was to have enough designs so my SKUs got to the triple digits… which I think I have accomplished by now although most of the rest of the canvases won’t be out until next year (which is fine of course).

In some ways I feel a little bit bad cracking the whip on myself so much and wanting to come up with a ton of new designs, because I’m really not a fan of fomo/hype culture and constant product releases and all that. At the same time I guess I am trying to speedrun this phase of being an “emerging artist” (or whatever you want to call me) because the vibes of having a day job in the current iteration of the world are not so amazing. So please forgive me for having a lot of new canvases out this year and probably next year.

If you are a needlepointer who is a fan of my designs (thanks if you are btw) and are ever feeling fomo surrounding them, either from there being too many new releases or from the general needlepoint supply shortages, PLEASE know that I never want you to feel that “I GOTTA have the new thing now or else it’ll be gone” feeling. I started my needlepoint journey as a 100% DIYer doodling my early designs on canvas with paint markers, and I fully encourage you to make your own canvases of any of my designs to stitch yourself. You can buy a “chart ticket” from me and I’ll send you the chart of anything you want! Just a little PSA since I’m not sure I’ve posted this on the grid before. I’ll try to keep reminding you all of this option for my designs to help you ward off fomo.

Ok that’s it thanks for reading my rambles! by @roseacolyte

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9 days ago

brought all of my decorative tiles to @c_word.shop this afternoon (two of the ones in this picture are there now, not the one on the left which I think @studyinmud bought at fete market this past weekend, or the one on the right which @thebearandchickadee bought also at fete market) so if you want one of the other two they will be available in there soon! by @roseacolyte

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11 days ago

Fun new pottery for @fetemarket tomorrow - collabs with @julimichaelpottery! She threw these cute bud vases and I painted and drew on them :) it’s been a minute since I did any vertical forms, they’re fun! by @roseacolyte

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15 days ago

Current plans for markets now through the holidays! I’ll be at @fetemarket this coming weekend, @letters.and.thread in November (atypical Julien vending experience, if you’re going and want something specific send me a message so I make sure to bring it), @confetti.bazaar in December and of course the usual Portland Pottery holiday sale. I’ll probably edit this post (or repost with additional dates if there are any) with more details as we get closer to the times… but thought I had better make some kind of post so you can come see me at Fete this weekend if you’re around. Usually I’m such a cryptid and don’t announce that I’m going to be at markets at all… but I really need to stop doing that…

This also means that I won’t be at fall needlepoint market this go-around! Needlepoint pals, I’ll see some of you at Letters and Thread and hopefully I’ll make it to a needlepoint market again next year! by @roseacolyte

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19 days ago

turned my fairy houses illustration collab with @ninelivesneedlepoint & @saturnaliastitching into some faux risograph illustrations :) lmk if you are interested in the process behind these and I’ll try and talk about it sometime! by @roseacolyte

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a month ago

🪐we are OBSESSED with how this Nine Lives x Rose Acolyte collab turned out!!!!!

🪐Five fairy village houses are now needleminders! They will flutter to your doorstep on this incredible print from Julien, and when you take the minder off its drawn counterpart is underneath! Keep the print, use it as a card, do whatever you want! It’s yours to keep!

🪐don’t worry, none of the ones that had a photo shoot in the dirt will be mailed out 🤣 abbeys keeping those!

🪐see you at 7pm ET tonight!!!

#needlepoint #needleminder #needlepointdesigner #ndlpt #ndlptnation by @roseacolyte

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a month ago

I have been hard at work in the pottery studio (although not hard at work enough 🫠) over the last few weeks but really haven’t been posting much about it because it’s kind of hard to wrap my head around what the heck I’m doing and what I have actually made, what’s finished, what’s in progress, what I’ve sold and what I still have on hand… here’s some of it, anyway! Tonight at the studio I made four big (well, big for me… not that big in actuality…) long plates that I’ll illustrate (not pictured here I forgot to photograph them)… I have so much stuff I want to make and like 5% of the energy I need to make it lol. Send help by @roseacolyte

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a month ago

Making + finishing bootleg canvases of my own designs over the past 36 hours by @roseacolyte

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2 months ago

prototypes from January of some needlepoint bag charms, some of which were released as canvases at @saturnaliastitching today! :) by @roseacolyte

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2 months ago

🪐new bag charms from @roseacolyte !!! (And a new round!) all these critters are waiting to be adopted now 🦊🦊🦊

🪐every order will have a beautifully printed postcard with a handwritten note from Julien, while supplies last!!

#needlepoint #smallbusiness #ndlpt #needlepointnation by @roseacolyte

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2 months ago