Ep. 047 - Emily Balsley - Murals, Community Art, and Making the World Weirder in Public

Emily Balsley makes art feel like something that should spill out of your sketchbook and into the neighborhood.

In this episode, we talk with illustrator, muralist, and community art instigator Emily Balsley about building a creative life around color, curiosity, local projects, and the kind of ideas that make people stop on a walk and think, “Wait, who made this?”

Emily gets into her path from graphic design to illustration, why she stopped calling herself a designer, how neighborhood art projects became a natural part of her work, and what it feels like to keep making physical, human art in a world increasingly full of AI-generated everything.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Emily went from designing Schwinn bikes to freelancing, rediscovering illustration, and finally feeling like she could call herself an illustrator
• Why self-initiated projects, fake briefs, and portfolio experiments can help you build the work you want to be hired for
• How Emily turns neighborhood block parties, fences, manhole covers, Halloween displays, and murals into real community art
• What it feels like when a client uses AI to generate an “Emily Balsley style” mural mockup before hiring the actual Emily Balsley
• Why baseball scorebooks, horror movies, local traditions, and tiny creative obsessions all feed the same bigger creative life

ABOUT THE CREATIVE

Emily Balsley is an illustrator and muralist based in Madison, Wisconsin. Her work is colorful, playful, bold, and full of personality, showing up across murals, editorial work, products, community projects, and the occasional neighborhood Halloween spectacle.

She is also deeply involved in local creative projects, from collaborative fence murals to block party art activities to the now infamous Haunting of Commonwealth.

Website
https://emilybalsley.com

Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/emilybluestar

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Brad Woodard

Brad is an illustrator and designer behind Brave the Woods, a full-service studio working with clients like PBS Kids, Ford, Target, and USPS. His bold, playful style and heart-led storytelling shine through everything from brand campaigns to children’s books.

View Brave the Woods

Dustin Lee

Dustin is the founder of RetroSupply, a shop for retro-inspired brushes, textures, and digital tools used by tens of thousands of creatives from indie artists to major studios. He shares what it’s really like to run a creative business while keeping it small, weird, and intentional.

View RetroSupply

Credits

Audio/video editing: Clara Wright
Cover art: Brad Woodard
Intro animation: Seth Austin
Intro music: “Snakes and Fire” (Instrumental) by Pär Hagström