
Hi! I'm Emily Passman.
My life as a small child was in a home with 3 other siblings. Art, music and creativity were intertwined in most of all our activities. My parents luckily gave us the message that creativity as well as academics were highly approved of and more than that, encouraged. As well as an obstetrician/gynecologist, my maternal grandfather was also a sculptor and his 2nd wife (after my mother’s mother died very young) was a painter. He wanted to sculpt when he wasn’t working as a doctor, so they went to Martha’s Vineyard for 6 months of the year. She painted and he sculpted. My mother’s sister was a fine artist who spent most of her adult life, beginning in her early twenties, in Paris with her husband, a Swiss sculptor.
My life as a small child was in a home with 3 other siblings. Art, music and creativity were intertwined in most of all our activities. My parents luckily gave us the message that creativity as well as academics were highly approved of and more than that, encouraged. As well as an obstetrician/gynecologist, my maternal grandfather was also a sculptor and his 2nd wife (after my mother’s mother died very young) was a painter. He wanted to sculpt when he wasn’t working as a doctor, so they went to Martha’s Vineyard for 6 months of the year. She painted and he sculpted. My mother’s sister was a fine artist who spent most of her adult life, beginning in her early twenties, in Paris with her husband, a Swiss sculptor.

Her son,, is a sculptor and printmaker living in Switzerland. Both my parents had quite a talent for painting also. My mother's work was as a Russian teacher and my father was a physicist. Though my father is now blind, I would say he’s one of the most visual people I have ever known! I like to describe my work to him and he gets pleasure from hearing about it. My siblings are also creative people, and though I am the only sibling who has chosen an artistic career path, it has always been not only accepted, but encouraged. I feel this is so important to folks like me who do choose a path that may not be the wisest in terms of a glamorous life! I do have a full, rich and colorful life. Following one's heart can only lead to good. My husband, Bill (an alternative energy engineer) agrees!

Today, I still live in a suburb of Boston with my husband and teenage son, Leo. My two professional passions are for teaching and painting My studio is in a barn behind the house and I recently got insulation in the ceiling so I can be found there even on frigid days. I hold private and small group painting lessons there. My students range in ages from teens through seniors, and the ability level is from the very beginner through advanced painters. I'll meet a painter wherever they are! I love what I do. One time I spoke with a woman who was so excited to learn to paint outdoors and she bought the outdoor easel, all the paints, and drove around with it in her car all spring...I took her by the hand and took the fear away. We went to the countryside, not far from her home, and within an hour she stood painting at her easel. I can help you take the fear away from painting!