Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Passman.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I grew up in a creative and art-filled home. The values instilled were around music, art, nature, travel, friendships. I was a mediocre student academically, but that inner voice we all have, always told me that my strengths would become realized in some creative way. My first college was a 2-year Jr. college where it seems the art teachers there had all just came from the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston.
They seemed ancient. They were probably 25. They were excited about art and it was contagious. From them I learned to draw, to see, to work hard, to imagine and follow a creative path. Mostly I learned to love to paint. After studying at a 4-year school and getting a Master’s degree I went on to become a Graphic Designer and teacher. The combination of teaching and painting has become a force that fuels my creativity. When I teach painting, I am the closest I can to get to what drives me. I am narrating the process and that confirms my love for it. I learn so much about my own painting when I teach. I combine my love for travel with painting by bringing artists on adventures to paint in gorgeous places. Last fall I took a group to the island of Skopelos in Greece and this coming fall I will bring a group to the island of Capri in Italy! (still 2 spots available!).
Right here in Boston I can be found on many days sketching with pen and ink. I teach the wonderful art of sketch booking which allows artists to appreciate and record the beauty in the back yard as well as faraway places. I have a studio in a barn behind my house in Lexington, MA where I paint and teach. Come for a visit!
Please tell us about your art.
My paintings, drawings and ink sketches reflect my eye for-and appreciation of-the beauty in the ordinary found in our daily world. As much as I love to travel, I can find beauty in a couple of barrels in an alleyway. As long as there is a lit side, and a shadowed side, I can find the beautiful forms! And I do! If an ordinary scene grabs me it will work as an ink sketch or a 30×40 oil painting. I just sold a large piece of a garage in Cambridge, MA to a collector, He obviously could appreciate the beauty in the grunge as I did! I am working on a series of “early” typewriters right now. (1928 Remington) I do a lot of quick oil-sketch demos when I teach, and they can be found hanging in the studio. They reflect my appreciation for the daily scenes we find around us all the time…I like to think of them as “sketches” as their beauty is about the immediacy and freshness in which they are created.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
Visibility! There are many wonderful artists who are creating their work tucked away in their studios. If they are not represented in a gallery or are not having many shows, they can be invisible. Access to affordable art needs to become more visible and attainable. Artists need more places to show. Collectors need to become aware that their next treasure might be found in a visit to a local artist’s studio.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be seen in local galleries, my studio walls, and Instagram! Sign up for my mailings to hear about many courses I teach and pop-up shows too. I will be one of the featured artists in a summer show at 3-Stones Gallery in W. Concord, MA. I also am one of the artist members of Rockport Art Association. I am also a member of NAWA. National Association of Women Artists. People can support me by following my process, coming to shows, and visiting the studio.
Contact Info:
- Address: 198 East Street
Lexington, MA 02420 - Website: www.emilypassman.com
- Phone: 781-962-3991
- Email: emilypassman5856@gmail.com
- Instagram: EmilyPassman
- Facebook: Emily Passman
Image Credit:
1-my studio 2-Paint Factory 3-Emily giving demo 4-Athens 5-Rockport Sketch 6-Studio Still Life
7-Gloucester 8-Cambridge.
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