LITTLE ROCK — Emily Galusha simply can't sit still.
The 30-year-old Little Rock native shifts between freelance graphic design, mixed media artwork and the occasional modeling gig.
Before all of that, she spent years in ballet. She very nearly became a dancer, spending one year at Oklahoma University in Norman before switching to study graphic design at the University of Arkansas.
She came close to choosing a degree in art, but her mother, an artist herself with a piece hanging in the Governor's Mansion, wisely suggested that the more marketable graphic design should be her major.
Galusha graduated, managed to spend more than four years behind the desk at a local ad agency, and then worked up the courage to start her own business.
She now divides her time between paying gigs and her own artistic pursuits.
Freelancing gives her the freedom to pursue and develop her own aesthetic.
When you're working for someone else, "It's hard to get a look at what you want to convey and being honest about the visual, and not just making what you think people want to see," she said.
The influence of pop artist Wayne Thiebaud is evident in her vibrant, lively, yet somewhat cartoonish, illustration style.
"[His] colors and cityscapes have been an inspiration since I studied art in college," she said.
As of late, that influence is less noticeable. The theme that permeates Galusha' most recent work is decidedly cowboys, and oddly enough, guns - the old-fashioned sort.
"I started drawing guns with a lot of detail," she said, showing me a pencil sketch of a handgun with an ornately etched handle.
But Galusha wanted to take the idea a step further, attempting to make guns a bit more : playful. She's even stenciled a handgun onto one-piece baby outfits that she calls "gunsies."
Another pencil sketch in her studio shows a shotgun with a few bees flying around and into the barrel, an effect that makes the gun seem less threatening, assuming you're unafraid of bees like Galusha.
"I really like bees, I don't know why," she said. "I like insects."
For this new cowboy phase, most of Galusha's brightly-colored work takes a sepia tone, like the stained white outfit of a little girl, on a brownish background overlaid with rusty barbed wire and a horseshoe.
"It's kind of creepy-looking," she admitted, adding that the background has small animals to add a lighthearted feel. But you have to get pretty close to notice them.
It's a multi-layered effect that's often used in Galusha's work.
"I love using mixed media elements because it's a good way to work via stream of consciousness," she said. "It's also fun to get messy."
Little Rock seems to be taking notice of her work. She was named a runner-up in the Arkansas Times "Best Arkansas Artist" category. She's had artwork featured in the Arkansas Arts Center's Delta Show and won third place in 2008's South Arkansas Arts Center juried competition.
After all that, Galusha still considers herself an "underground artist." But that doesn't get her down.
"I feel lucky to be able to make a living doing what I love to do."
Third degree
With Emily Galusha
1. What one piece of artwork should everyone see in person?
Their favorite. Seeing it in a book is nothing compared to seeing it in person.
2. What color would you use to describe your personality?
Someone who knows me well said "turquoise." I think I agree. Although, what came to mind at first is one of those crayons you'd make when you were younger. You know, the ones where you'd break up a bunch of different colored crayons and let them melt in a Dixie cup in the sun, let it cool, tear off the cup and have your own multi-colored crayon.
3. If you knew your next meal would be your last, what would you eat?
Honestly, I'd probably be too nervous to eat.
4. What would your superpower be?
Time travel and being invisible have always sounded pretty interesting.
5. What historical era would you pick to live in?
You ever seen the movie Caveman?