Illustrating Nature
We are excited to partner with CSU Monterey Bay’s Science Illustration Program and the Arts Council for Monterey County to bring Illustrating Nature back for another incredible year at the Museum!
Join us for a special opening on 5/17 from 6-9pm, and see the show on display from May 17-June 16. Check back here on May 1 to see a sneak peek of this year’s incredible work, and come to the Museum in the meantime to explore Beyond Illustrating Nature, a rotating exhibit of program alumni work!
Jonthan Broberg
The last time I lied to my mom, it was because I didn’t want to explain why I’d woken up early to crash a trigonometry class (instead, I told her I needed to pick up books). I grew up dreaming of an art career, and was on the brink of transferring to art school when scientific curiosity got the better of me and I abruptly switched majors to biology. Science communication quickly became my favorite field, thanks to college opportunities to participate in student research conferences. I loved exploring animal science, anthropology, and microbiology, and strategizing for how to share what I’d learned with a varied audience. Soon after, I became aware of the Science Illustration program, and everything clicked into place. As I told my mentor, “I’ve found a compromise, by which I mean a way to have everything I’m looking for without sacrificing any of my interests.”
Adara Koivula
Ever since I can remember, I was an entertainer. I loved to make my mom and my friends—really anyone I spoke to—laugh. It always seemed like if you were laughing, you were happy, and I loved making people happy. So it made sense that when I went to art school, I fell in love with entertainment design. There’s something magical about being immersed in a fantasy world of whimsy and joy. Even the scary ones are exciting. When I realized it would also make me happy to pursue science, I jumped at the chance to apply to this program. If I can make science communication a fun and engaging experience for others, then that feels like a win for all.
Andreah Pierre
The last time I touched a paintbrush was sophomore year in high school, when I took an AP art course and focused on how our pollution affects sea turtles. While completing my undergrad degree I had no idea what I'd do next. Thankfully, I found out about scientific illustrations, during an internship at the Whale Museum on San Juan Island. It was then I decided I wanted to spend the rest of my life dedicated to conservation and marine biology while using art to educate others on the importance of our oceans and its organisms. Being from Miami, Florida I have always been surrounded by a variety of flora and fauna that have piqued my interests for years. I've studied them for over a decade now and have learned so much more about them in detail using scientific illustrations. I have learned so much this past year and I can't wait to take my passion and talents to teach others how amazing and beautiful our world is.
Nathan Michaelson
I majored in neuroscience in college, but my interest in languages and linguistics brought me to France and China to teach English for 3 years after college.
When I came back to the US to work at a study abroad company, I decided to finally take drawing classes, since I never had time in college to take art and science labs. Most recently, I worked in customer support at a tech company while taking science and art classes on the side. I recently discovered I have deuteranomaly red-green colorblindness, so I enjoy investigating ways that art and visual communication can be more accessible. I also brushed up on my anatomy and physiology during the pandemic, and am really into (extant and extinct) mammalian comparative anatomy. I am excited about combining art, science, technology, and education in as a scientific illustrator.
Julia Ditto
juliaditto.com
@julia_ditto_illustration
Creating visuals help me process, remember and share information. From a young age, I’ve been inspired by scientific infographics— drawings and diagrams often freckled my school assignments. In college, I learned that science and art could be combined in one career, and I used illustration to communicate field research. I studied glaciers, flora and climate change in remote areas of Alaska. I joined a series of expeditions across the Brooks Range, where I carried a watercolor kit over 1,500 miles to illustrate the climate-driven changes occurring in the Arctic. These experiences allowed me to meld my passions in art, wilderness travel and scientific inquiry. Field sketching became an integral part of my scientific process, providing an opportunity to observe and connect with the natural world. I believe art and science are more compelling together rather than separate; art can be precise, just as science can be beautiful.
Audrey Sauble
As a kid, I was always interested in stories and in trying to write my own stories. Those attempts never went very far, though. Then, a few years ago, I started reading nonfiction picture books and informational picture books to my children. I hadn’t paid much attention to nature or science topics before that point. As we read more and more picture books, however, I discovered a passion for learning about the world. Eventually, my oldest and I had a conversation that turned into a picture book of its own. Ever since, I’ve been exploring different science questions through art and stories. When I discovered the Science Illustration program at California State University, Monterey Bay, it fit what I wanted to do, and I’m looking forward to learning how to use art to communicate science more clearly and more effectively.
Emily C. Mitchell
emilycmitchell.com
@emily_c_mitchell
My lifelong fascination with nature is what combines my love of science and art together. To accurately depict a bird, fossil, or natural phenomenon I am interested in, I turn to science. I find the research addicting! Every species I want to capture, be it common or rare, from the past or present, requires solving a mystery. Once my questions are answered, I’ve acquired new knowledge I get to carry with me. More importantly, I can share this experience with others. I studied illustration as an undergraduate and kept finding my way back to science. The continual process of discovering and learning about the natural world led me to pursue a career in science illustration.
Mason Schratter
As a child, I filled many thick albums full of drawings of parrots, dinosaurs, snakes, and countless other animals that captured my imagination. As I got older, my art continued to focus on what I found most beautiful, the diversity of species in our world. I poured over field guides and books of nature photography and wanted to capture it all with my pencil. Indecisive about a future in art or science, I eventually landed on art, getting a degree in graphic communication. However, after graduating I had determined my love was for illustration and science over design and this program was an exciting endeavor to enhance my knowledge of both.
Rowan Weir
Rowan Weir is an artist and scientific illustrator who creates evocative, conceptual artwork using both digital and traditional media. Placing a special focus on the changing earth, Rowan makes striking pieces that explore competing existential threats, mysteries of the larger universe, and the various products of a perpetually shifting planet. Her work aims to illuminate the fundamental patterns of nature and the forces that shape our world.
Charin Park
My first love was shorebirds – bright carnelian beaks and stilted feet that first filled me with wonder. Then, in high school, I got busy measuring nematodes every summer, in hopes of gaining insight into marine body-size evolution. Majoring in biology at UCSB took me to a remote oil rig—Platform Harmony—to study the rockfish flourishing in its cold, nutritious waters. And then it took me to the Canadian arctic. Studying ecology has brought me on amazing adventures. It has pounded humility into me, made me aware of my intimate connections to places, creatures, people I’ve never seen. But behind the scenes, I was always painting and drawing. Choosing just one field to specialize in was a confusing experience when the world offered so much beauty, so my advisor recommended a different path for me. Now, one month before beginning Science Illustration, I am ready for a new journey.
Mica Carr
Art has always played an important role in my education as a lifelong visual learner. I find nature to be a source of endless inspiration and I often feel comfort in thinking about the diversity of life on earth. I believe that holding a broader view of oneself within larger systems can lead to personal, social, and environmental healing. I enjoy using a variety of media to bring stories to life in an engaging way. As a science communicator I hope to extoll the value of creative expression while facilitating learning and wonder for the natural world.
Olivia Raster
Art has always been integral to who I am. As a child, I was diagnosed with selective mutism. Consequently, my lack of verbal communication led me to explore art as a tool for expressing emotions. I discovered early on that I can better grasp information when connecting it to visual imagery. Although I have long since grown out of my mutism, expressing myself through art has remained. Growing up in Juneau, Alaska, I have drawn endless inspiration from my natural surroundings. Being immersed in such wilderness has fueled my passion for learning about the environment. I am thrilled to pursue a career which allows me to explore the relationship between science and art. This program will allow me to marry my fascination with science and the natural world with my artistic ability. In this way I believe I can best use my skills to educate and inspire others.
Lindsay Newey
https://lnewey6105.myportfolio.com/
Art and science are often portrayed as opposites and enemies, but they are not. They improve each other and should be viewed as to parts of a whole. As many often do, I struggled a lot to pick between these two, the main interests in life, as it felt like I could only be devoted to one. However, the truth is that I do not need to choose. There is no divide between these two except the artificial one we create. I want to use art to close the communicate and imagination gap in the sciences.
Erin Ellis
erinellis.com
@leavesandletterforms
As a farm kid in New Jersey I was surrounded by nature and always loved art. I studied illustration in college, then typography and the lettering arts, moving on to create illustrations for publishing, packaging, entertainment, editorial, and advertising. I became interested in plants on a trip to New Zealand in 2013 and began to draw them. A bit later, still working as an illustrator and seeking more meaning in my professional life, I began teaching courses in botanical art and typography, realizing that I myself missed learning. Last summer while poring over a book of Redouté engravings in Paris I had the wild idea to combine art and nature and voilá! Science Illustration. I am here at CSUMB to create art in the service of nature and conservation, helping others understand, care for, and protect the precious natural world I was lucky to grow up immersed in.
Emily Fries
Envious of my peers who knew exactly what they wanted to do “when they grew up”, I regularly felt unsure. Although I was successful in art, I pushed it off as a hobby. A high school education class introduced me to the excitement of seeing learning transpire in the classroom, and I finally felt I had found my path. While pursuing my education degree, I discovered my love for science. Prior, I had written off science due to my challenges in math, but through the lens of an educator I realized that the sciences are more creative than often perceived. I cherish my time as a science educator but facing the systemic issues in education made me explore other ways that I could make science concepts accessible the way I had in my classroom. Stumbling upon science illustration, I had never felt so sure that a path was for me.
Kaelin O’Hare
kaelinohare.com
@kaelinohare_illustration
I used to hold science at arm’s length. I thought I was doing just that when I went to university for illustration. There, I focused my practice on landscape. Site visits drew me towards natural history, and I found myself intrigued with any and all interpretive media telling the story of an environment. For the last few years, I worked at a park, where I further reconciled my relationship with science, and had the opportunity to develop interpretive panels. This experience made me keenly aware of where my skills need development, while simultaneously strengthening my enthusiasm for the field. My practice has landed here, at the intersection between art, science, and education, and I could not be more excited to be part of a program where I can grow my skill set.
Julia Kawai
During my undergraduate studies in Studio Art, I learned how to let go of the way I believed things appeared in order to see how they actually are. Over time, I developed a lens through which I could confidently observe the world and think critically about my role within it. However, though I declared myself an Artist, I also clung to the identity as protection while cowering from more technical fields.
With time, I’ve begun to shed the preconceived notion that I don’t belong in technical fields. I’ve learned that science and art are united in their interrogation of our beliefs in pursuit of greater truths. Through scientific illustration, I hope to spark people’s curiosity, and enrich their understanding of the world around them. In doing so, I hope to break down some of the barriers that lead many, like myself, to believe that science is not for them.