What do Artists and Scientists Have in Common?

A better question is what don’t they have in common!

Math immediately came to mind, but that’s not true. Artists do use math, just not in the same way scientists use math.

Both scientists and artists use the scientific method of experimentation regularly.

Every time we begin a painting, a sculpture, a story, a dance, or a piece of music, we are experimenting.

We continually change our variables: color, tone, volume, temperature, meter, structure, etc. and we eagerly watch while creating to see what more we need to add, subtract, or change.

Artists are the constant variable in the equation of art.

Curiosity is a driver, a motivator of both science and art … What will happen if … How does X affect Y? (Math!)

I took my first art class in college (Art for Non-art Majors, while in the Nursing program) as a Pass/Fail course.

I had NO, I mean ZERO confidence in my abilities.

The real problem with the idea of pass/fail is that I no longer believe in failure.

The common, oft-repeated phrase is that Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before discovering the tungsten light bulb.

Thomas Edison didn’t see it that way. He knew that he had discovered 10,000 things that didn’t work before discovering the thing that did work.

Imagination is not an option; it can’t be turned off. We all have one and we all use it daily.

Imagination is a tool we can use to help us or to hinder us.

We decide how we’re using our imagination with every option we weigh and with every decision we make.

Are you looking at your painting/sculpture/music/dance/life through the lens of possibilities or through the lens of pass/fail? You decide, every time!

Since we have the ability to learn from everything, failure isn’t really an option either.

There were myriad small changes made to this painting during the month that I painted it. Subtle yet important changes. My intention for this painting was to paint the energy of the ever-expanding universe.