Artful Science

As much as I love science, I also love art. When I think back to my younger days, I was always making something with my hands, whether it was a still-life drawing, cross-stitching, embroidery or silk screening.

My favourite artist is Vincent Van Gogh. That's his self-portrait above. I love his impressionist style of painting and the colours he used in his masterpieces. One of my favourite quotes is by Van Gogh himself who said:

"I dream of painting and then I paint my dream."

I've been so fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit some beautiful art galleries in Europe where I saw original art works from famous artists. Here is Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône from Musée d'Orsay in Paris, France. Those shades of blue are just so magnificent.

Another familiar impressionist painting I saw at Musée D'Orsay was titled Bal du Moulin de la Galette by artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

I love science and I also have an appreciation for fine art. So, I really wanted to design something that represented the intersection of both science + art.

THE ARTIEST SCIENCE THING I'VE EVER DESIGNED

Two enamel pins in The Chemist Tree Shop are influenced by famous art masterpieces. The designs are scientific in that they feature chemical structures but they are artistic in the colours of the design. I chose cyclic molecules because they have a beautiful geometry in the way that their atoms are arranged in space. I then coloured the molecules with colours inspired by famous works of art.

Adamantane is a molecule made up of four connected hexagon carbon rings, where the spatial arrangement of atoms resembles what a diamond looks like. Derivatives of adamantane are used to make many medicines, particularly antivirals. The colour palette for this enamel pin was inspired by the artist Piet Mondrian, a Dutch painter from the early 1900s most famous for his compositions using red, blue, white and yellow rectangles and squares in a grid of black lines. Doesn't this Adamantane Enamel Pin really remind you of those paintings?

Twistane is a molecule made up for four connected hexagon carbon rings, in a configuration where each resembles a twisted boat. The colour palette for this enamel pin was inspired by Andy Warhol, an American artist popular in the 1960s in the genre of pop art. One of his famous works includes a painting of Marilyn Monroe, in the colours pink, red, yellow, and mint. You can see these colours in the Twistane Enamel Pin below.

Who is your favourite artist? What's the title of your favourite piece of artwork? Maybe you have many favourites? Tell me in the comments below because I would love to talk art with you.