Artist Bio
Emily Glass is a Pittsburgh-based visual artist whose work blends realism and abstraction, using bold color, dynamic movement, and expressive texture to explore emotion, nature, and human experience. Her paintings often reflect joy, positivity, or resilience.
A lifelong artist, Emily has pursued both formal and informal study across a wide range of media. She works primarily in acrylic painting, and her practice also includes oil, mixed media, murals, and drawing. While her early work focused on realism, her practice has evolved toward more expressive abstraction, shaped by personal and artistic growth in recent years.
Before committing fully to her art practice, Emily spent twenty years working in information technology. In 2020, she made a decisive shift to focus fully on her art practice and founded Feel the Rain Studio.
Emily’s work has been exhibited in galleries and art events throughout the Pittsburgh area. Three years in a row (2024 - 2026) she was awarded Pittsburgh Magazine’s Best of the ’Burgh for Best Artist. She was also the recipient of second place in Pittsburgh City Paper’s Best of PGH for Best Visual Artist (Fine Art) in 2024 & 2025.
She works from her home studio in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, and is a resident artist at Aluminum City Arts in New Kenzington, PA. Outside the studio, Emily enjoys gardening, traveling, and spending time with her husband and their very demanding cats.
Artist Statement
My work explores emotion, nature, and human experience in the space between realism and abstraction. Bold color and movement help me communicate feelings directly, often conveying joy, hope, strength, and resilience.
Working mostly in acrylic, I allow intuition and the visual response of paint on canvas to guide each piece as it unfolds. I may begin with a particular idea, but as layers develop, the work could take an unplanned direction. I embrace this process, adjusting and reworking the painting in response to what feels visually and emotionally true.
I aim to create paintings that feel inviting and emotionally resonant, giving viewers space to connect, reflect, and bring their own experiences to the work.