I'm glad you're here. It's nice to meet you.
I grew up active and independent in a world full of chaos and color, with beauty tangled up in the messy, jagged edges. When I was a teenager, the world finally slowed just enough for art to slip in. I picked up a brush and felt a quiet settle over me that I had never known before. For the first time, I found something steady.
The path here wasn’t traditional. I took the long way around. The military taught me discipline and grit. Face and body painting taught me how to work with people in real time, catching stories as they moved. Graphic design sharpened my eye for structure and storytelling. Each chapter pointed me back to creation in its own way until I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
My work carries pieces of where I have been. Long roads across the West. Waterfalls tucked in places you only find when you are willing to get a little muddy. Oceans that remind you there is always something bigger than whatever you are facing. I paint to hold on to the moments that teach me something. I paint to let go of the ones that hurt. Sometimes both happen in the same piece.
Mixed media leaves room for instinct, accident, and life. Acrylic, oil pastels, watercolor, ink, and glow pigments. Layers on layers. Light and dark. Day and night. A painting that shifts depending on when you look at it. My art and my story are built the same way.
I’ve carried my share of difficult seasons, and they left me with a mind that feels everything a little louder. Art is where I learned to put that weight down. Color helps me say what I can’t speak. Those emotional undercurrents shape my work, giving it depth, stillness, and honesty.
I run Michelle Passey Studio from my little corner of the world, painting between mountain drives with my husband, soda refills, and the constant background noise of six pets, grown kids, and a life full of color. If my art finds you at the right time, then we met in the moment we were supposed to. It's nice to meet you.
