Meet Juniper St. Butcher: Freelance Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Juniper St. Butcher and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Juniper, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I don’t think I ever explicitly planned for this to be my career path, it just kind of happened. I’ve always been inspired by the entrepreneurial life my family pursues, and it somehow ended up working out for me. When I was younger I always dreamed about having my own business or working in film, but something better fell in my hands. I almost avoided this career path because I was told that it would be difficult to get a career like this. Now I’m 21 years old and self-employed, I get to work with basically whatever I want. I can create art and photography and film and keep a roof over my head. Who wouldn’t want that? I proved them wrong.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Most of my freelance work involves social media content creation, whether it’s photography, videography, live-streams, or even simple graphics. It all started in high school when I created a youtube channel, and once I realized it was doing well I decided to pursue more media work. My first job was as an editor at a TV station when I was 17 years old. After moving to college I tried out a few odd jobs, I did video production and started learning tips and tricks to creating content for social media. It took a bit of time after that to get my footing, I transferred schools and got stuck with a low paying serving job for a long time, but I constantly tried to get work done on the side to make ends meet. That’s basically what got me to where I’m at now, my side hustles turned into my full-time gig. I managed to start getting more and more freelance opportunities, and as more time passed I continued to develop my artwork as well. I initially started selling acrylic pours and resin jewelry, however I felt like it wasn’t challenging enough for me. I grew up in a very conservative Christian household and when I left home I felt repressed and stifled. I wasn’t able to live as the openly queer & sex-positive person I was inside until I moved away from home. I wanted to make something against my upbringing, something that would give me a laugh. That’s when I made my first phallic lamp, and to my surprise it was well received! I figured I should embrace the strange novelty that I had created and continued making these “eroditties”. After the dick lamp, I made yonic lamps, pride-themed dick bottle openers, even teeny tiny peen keychains and earrings. I’ve definitely had some hateful remarks here and there about my work, but that just adds to the charm in my opinion. It’s not for everyone, it doesn’t have to be. It’s for me to reclaim my identity, it’s for me to make light of my past. My work is radical, and it’s nude, that’s why I branded my craft as Radically Nude.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Denton is such a lovely little place. I always feel luxurious visiting Miss Angeline’s with their fancy velvet seating, and one thing I miss so dearly is attending Glitterbomb every week. Armadillo Aleworks is always good for getting coffee with a friend, and I’m sad SCRAP closed down or else I’d be there every day getting some second-hand craft supplies.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The person who really helped jump-start my career is Jessica Luther Rummel. I started working for her record label last summer and from there she became almost like a mentor to me. She encouraged me to start selling my work at Doc’s Records, she encouraged me to be creative with my work regarding Triptych Records, and she supported my big life decisions. I’ve always been able to come to her and receive life and business advice, and she has become my second mom.

Website: radicallynude.com and juniperstbutcher.com
Instagram: @saint.butcher and @radicallynude
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juniperstbutcher/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/radicallynude

Image Credits
Lincoln Coleman