We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emily Burrowes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’ve always love drawing significant spots for my clients, whether that be the place they got engaged, a childhood memory, etc. I also love making maps of places that people grew up in and the memories they get when they see certain streets. For my parents one Christmas I made maps of their hometowns. My parents are both not from the United States and have not been back to their home country for a long time, so it brought so much joy to them!

Emily, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I first moved to Denver, there were two things I did not have: any knowledge about how to get around the city and no artwork to hang on my walls. So, to create a solution for both problems, I painted a large canvas map, where I visually learned about the streets and connectivity throughout Mile High. I posted the map painting on my social media, which my friends loved and started inquiring about if they could get one of their city. From there, Big Ass Maps was born. It was not a huge business, as the maps took a while to create and my clients were my friends and family, but I loved the idea of making my hobby into a side business. Then COVID happened and during that time, I turned to art as an outlet. I fell in love with drawing again, particularly drawing buildings. During October 2020, I wanted to challenge myself, so I participated in Inktober. Inktober is a national drawing month, where artists given a word and they can make a drawing based on their interpretation of the word. While I did not participate in that form of Inktober, I created my own and drew a building around Denver every day that month. I posted these drawings on my social media, and they started getting reposted by organizations, business, etc. It was the first time the public eye was engaging in my work!! People and businesses started reaching out after, asking about custom work and my business grew. Today, while I do still create maps, my focus is building drawings. I make custom drawings for clients, along with creating my own series every other month to feature different local businesses around Denver.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Having my work recognized by others. It’s super cool when I am drawing or taking photos of my work having someone recognize me or my drawing off the street! I love that I can share my passion for creativity with others!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

For me, by tagging businesses that I have drawn once I post it has been the best. I am still learning how to market myself, but so far that has worked well for me to for presence. Some businesses will repost it, some businesses will invite me to do a collaboration, etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BigAssMapsbyEmily
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigassmaps/