Science helped me to realize I am an Artist

Who would have guessed that? Not me :)

Science and art are two opposites, and they are not combineable.

You are either a Scientist or an Artist. Done. No merger.

That’s what they say ;), but that’s wrong!

Funny enough, this used to be me. I needed to study science, do a PhD, and start my own company to finally realize and call myself an Artist.

Does that sound weird? It is a bit of a stretch and a longer story, which I will share with you today.

I sincerely believe every human being born is a Scientist & an Artist at the same time:

• If Science is the endeavour to explore, be curious, learn, and understand, toddlers are the best examples of Scientists.

• If Art is creativity, creation, play, and free-flowing, trying without limits, then young human beings are the epitome of Artists.

We all are both; we just get educated out of it.

Back to myself:

I have always loved nature, biology, and art. I have always painted and drawn and been curious about my surroundings. In high school, I picked Biology and art as majors, and when I finished high school, I was convinced I needed to choose one of those.

I could not imagine being a “starving artist.” Having witnessed the emergence of technology, computers, the internet, and all that came with it, I surely thought digital art was not something I ever wanted to learn. I was not a technology freak.

So, I studied biology.

Another thing was that I never saw the point of making art “just because”. It always needed to have a purpose somehow. Either it was homework at school or a present I made for someone: doing Art required to have a reason for me.

Plus, I would constantly compare myself to my exceptionally talented dad, being well aware that I would never be able to reach his skill level. Hello, imposter-syndrome ;-)

Fast-forward to my PhD I realized that the academic system was not for me. I didn’t fit into it, but at the same time, I saw that it needed Art!

As a Scientist, I needed Art to communicate my Science! BOOM!

My little artsy heart started glowing; I found a REAL purpose! I then started to illustrate all my scientific projects, and therefore, I gave them the ultimate purpose of communicating and sharing knowledge! What could be better than that? Science and art together, spreading knowledge to the world and humanity!

This passion of mine was so strong that I decided to start my own company and become a scientific illustrator. With no business background, no MBA, and a dislike of money, as an Expat in a country I have lived in for five years, why not?

Fast-forward:

I started this venture almost six years ago, and I have made many purposeful scientific illustrations, sharing knowledge by combining Science and art.

With that, I slowly started to realize that I am an Artist. But very slowly.

It still felt weird for me to label myself an Artist. After all, coming from a super-specialized scientific education system where other interests or skills are not nurtured, it felt very off. But only with my mind, not with my heart.

My heart might have been a bit faster realizing that I am an artist, even though it still was hurt & shy with the dad-comparison I grew up with.

Nevertheless, the more I illustrated scientific concepts, the better I got. I became more daring to try different styles, more confident in my artistic abilities, and more willing to sometimes say, “I am an Artist.”

Others always told me exactly that, that they saw me as an Artist, but this usually does not help. We need to go through some developments in our way to conclude a certain aspect about ourselves.

Having my own business catapulted me into a deep dive of personal development, all kinds of practices and tryouts, and connecting more and more to myself. I have to say that entrepreneurship was a big jump for me in the sense of getting to know myself even better than I thought—or at least to get back to my core inner being.

I mean, if you think about it, I always loved both Science and art. I just “thought” I can’t combine them until my life path led me to the realization that I could and should combine them! Coming back to my little Daria-self, loving both!

Somewhere along the line, I also finally managed to meditate (another longer story about how I got there :D), and suddenly, after one of our Mantra group sessions, I emerged with this huge urge to paint!

Not a digital illustration, nothing scientific! No. An actual painting! Abstract Art! Just for myself because I felt like it at that moment. It was such a strong, impulsive decision that I bought new paints at the art store. Even though I had all the art supplies possible at home already, I felt I needed something special and new.

And I started to paint—to play—to emerge myself in my colors, brushes, tools, pens, pencils, media, papers, canvases, you name it, just like that. And I painted hundreds of small paintings.

For the first time in my life, I felt like it was okay to paint for the sake of painting, to just love the process, and to feel that I was an Artist at my core.

Science brought me back to my artistic core, and I am endlessly grateful for my scientific path!

My painting endeavors continued & I will share with you the following lessons I learned in another post in the future :-)

I would love to hear your experiences with science, art, or any similar supposedly not-combinable subject couple!

Love,
Daria