"Women of Space: Cool Careers on the Final Frontier"
by Laura S. Woodmansee
Published by Apogee Books
Page 141 excerpt
Julie Rodriguez-Jones
Artist
Mission: To create space art that speaks to the soul Earth Coordinates: San Pablo, California. USA
Personal Background
First Interest in Space: I began my interest in art as a child and pursued it casually through college. My interest in science began in the 7th grade. I was fascinated with astronomy and built a large telescope as a young teen.’’
Who Encouraged Her:
“My father was instrumental in encouraging me and transporting me to Astronomical Society meetings and telescope making sessions.
‘‘I never would have even attempted to draw astronomical images if it weren’t for my son, Ross. One day, my son was drawing (he loves art too) and showed me a pencil drawing he had done of a waning Saturn-like planet with a large, elaborate sword overlaid on it. I was awe inspired. From this one picture I realized that the thing I loved most, astronomical art, was within my reach. I saw this picture of his as a path forward. I saw the artistic possibilities. It allowed me to dream, and a child led me.”
Julie also thanks her friends who encouraged her as an artist, and the Period Gallery in Omaha, which was open to new ways of artistic expression.
Professional Background
Education / Degree: After studying physics and math at
the University of California at Berkeley Julie completed a
Bachelor of Science in Business from the University of
San Francisco.
Career Path: While still a senior in school, Julie stared
working at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
She started off in optics shop, grinding lenses, prisms and
mirrors. After she earned her degree, she became a
contract specialist, authoring research and development,
contracts for collaborative research that is done between
the Berkeley lab and institutions throughout the world. She
worked on [several contracts for] a program called the
Super Nova Acceleration Probe (SNAP), a proposed
telescope to examine dark energy in the universe.
“My bent toward science meant that my art was
languishing. Though contracting was a fascinating career, I
missed the creativity I discovered in art during high school
Julie's "Ringed Planet" when I took my first art class,”
Julie began taking art classes again at the Monart School of the Arts in Berkeley. She explains, “I learned a variety of techniques in a variety of media along with many skills, but fell in love something that was totally different, digital illustration and painting. I discovered digital illustration from a person at Berkeley Lab who was in the technical illustration department. The flexibility fascinated me.”
By 1999, Julie had put together a portfolio of art and displayed it on the web (www.ArtFromTheSoul.com). I am fortunate that my first career has allowed me financially to pursue my ant, she says.
Current Job
Job Title: Artist.
Explanation: “I am an artist with an emphasis in astronomical / space art. My medium is digital airbrush which means that I create art using a software package called Adobe Photoshop that has brushes, which are controlled by the mouse. I often research recent Hubble Space Telescope and terrestrial-based imagery and have a great appreciation what amateur astronomers are doing in the area of CCD photography. However, I do not produce artistic renderings of existing astronomical phenomena, only imaginary ones.”
Julie works long hours because she enjoys her work so much. She says, “It seems that most days I start about 4:3O-5:00 a.m. and end about 10:00 p.m. Some days I will draw all day for several days, but other days I work on the business aspects of art, or even marketing. It is good to have a broad educational background. I have found math and business skills, in addition to art, to be very useful.”
Best Part: ‘The act of creating is a fascinating process. I am excited by color. It is a profound every time I create. It allows me to be transported to a place that is unlike any other. Many artists express this same feeling. It is a joy to create,” As she says in her artist’s statement: “it is an experience of God’s presence and sings when I create.”
‘The second part that is the best, is that I am involved with people who are either enjoying creating art or who enjoy looking at the artwork that has been created. People in this field are often very happy.”
Challenges
“The biggest obstacle for art was only myself, and allowing myself the time to do what I loved and believing in myself. Two things happened that forced me to take a long look at what I was doing.” Julie says that the first was a leadership and management program which “allowed me to look at how I make decisions and why, or more to the point, how I let circumstances dictate direction. The second eye opener was a comment, around this same time, made by our family physician Dr. Schiffman, who’s simple question, “How are you?” resulted in my realizing — after she pointed it out — that when I spoke of myself, I always related how my family was doing. It was time that I got a life.’
Insights
Space Dreams: “First contact!! Warp speed. Deep space exploration; Okay, I’ll say it, a ‘Star Trek.’ Yes I’m a fan and yes, it has inspired me.
“It is essential that we continue to explore space. The discoveries that have been made in pursuit of space exploration have so improved life on Earth that the benefits are too numerous to name. The need to know what lies beyond is one of the deepest desires of humankind. We witness creation in process in space. We will one day find that we are not the only sentient beings in the universe.
The beauty of space alone is for me an essential reason that we must continue to explore. It provides us with creative ideas for exploring the arts in new ways, dimensions and forms — all of the arts: literary, visual, performing and creative.”
Advice: Julie has a web page featuring young artists under age 18. (http://www.artsoul.homestead com/FYA.html). If you are young enough, she will post your artwork along with information about your interests.
