Emily Passman, Painter
Emily Passman – Artist Statement
Emily (Osman) Passman is a painter of oils and acrylics, exhibiting throughout the greater-Boston area and New England. Emily's still lifes and landscapes maintain realism without losing a sense of the abstract. After earning both a fine arts degree and an M.A. in education, Emily had a successful career as an elementary school teacher, then graphic designer. Since moving to Lexington, MA with her husband and son, she has devoted herself entirely to her painting and teaching art locally. She is involved with many local arts events and is a member of the Lexington Council for the Arts. She currently paints in a studio in a barn behind her home.
There is a moment while I am painting that I can describe as the highest, or most fulfilled. It is the moment when I am fully engaged in seeing my subject. The subject, my eye, my arm, my hand, the paintbrush and the canvas are aligned, synchronized in a spiritual balance. My ego has flown away and I am left painting. It is fully “process versus product.” From this place always comes a product with which I am pleased. Staying in that balanced state of seeing and painting is the goal.
What initially inspires me to paint is quite simple. It can be shapes created by some un-nameable collection of forms, either in a landscape, interior or still life. It is not the “pretty picture” in it’s entirety, but a pleasing composition I may find within it…where a shadow meets the light, interrupted by a mass of color, or the collective shape in a group of forms. My connection is to the process, and to being able to tell the viewer something they don’t already know about the subject. I am not interested in a pretty picture or balanced still life, but in finding passages and pleasing arrangements within. A shape against a shape, a dark against a light, or a color that strains to be captured and presented again through my brush. It is what I do with the subject that matters to me. A painting that is too explicit is a bore. If my paintings have a feeling of a sketchbook I feel successful.
I do a lot of “plein air” sketching, and teach the process to others. Sketching very often heightens my ability to see. My best work done is when I carry the large canvas and easel to the field, use my largest brushes, leaving the little ones in the studio.
Colors, shapes, lines, and values excite me whether I use them loosely or in a more controlled manner. If my canvas has the feel of my sketchbook I feel satisfied. I feel success when my canvas feels as inspiring as the subject.
Emily Passman • Emily@PassmanFamily.com
198 East Street • Lexington , MA 02420 • 781-962-3991
Emily (Osman) Passman is a painter of oils and acrylics, exhibiting throughout the greater-Boston area and New England. Emily's still lifes and landscapes maintain realism without losing a sense of the abstract. After earning both a fine arts degree and an M.A. in education, Emily had a successful career as an elementary school teacher, then graphic designer. Since moving to Lexington, MA with her husband and son, she has devoted herself entirely to her painting and teaching art locally. She is involved with many local arts events and is a member of the Lexington Council for the Arts. She currently paints in a studio in a barn behind her home.
There is a moment while I am painting that I can describe as the highest, or most fulfilled. It is the moment when I am fully engaged in seeing my subject. The subject, my eye, my arm, my hand, the paintbrush and the canvas are aligned, synchronized in a spiritual balance. My ego has flown away and I am left painting. It is fully “process versus product.” From this place always comes a product with which I am pleased. Staying in that balanced state of seeing and painting is the goal.
What initially inspires me to paint is quite simple. It can be shapes created by some un-nameable collection of forms, either in a landscape, interior or still life. It is not the “pretty picture” in it’s entirety, but a pleasing composition I may find within it…where a shadow meets the light, interrupted by a mass of color, or the collective shape in a group of forms. My connection is to the process, and to being able to tell the viewer something they don’t already know about the subject. I am not interested in a pretty picture or balanced still life, but in finding passages and pleasing arrangements within. A shape against a shape, a dark against a light, or a color that strains to be captured and presented again through my brush. It is what I do with the subject that matters to me. A painting that is too explicit is a bore. If my paintings have a feeling of a sketchbook I feel successful.
I do a lot of “plein air” sketching, and teach the process to others. Sketching very often heightens my ability to see. My best work done is when I carry the large canvas and easel to the field, use my largest brushes, leaving the little ones in the studio.
Colors, shapes, lines, and values excite me whether I use them loosely or in a more controlled manner. If my canvas has the feel of my sketchbook I feel satisfied. I feel success when my canvas feels as inspiring as the subject.
Emily Passman • Emily@PassmanFamily.com
198 East Street • Lexington , MA 02420 • 781-962-3991