Yes! Artists and scientists are definitely cut from the same cloth, following a muse Untitled
original sketches full of wonder and getting excited in the element of surprise. As a Visual Arts teacher, I used to tease the Science teacher by saying that I thought the propulsion of an airplane in the sky was "pure magic" and dismiss the logic and physics of it all. Yet, he agreed, flying is magical. We combined our interests one year in the now famous "Bean Blast." He was showing his physics class something about the projection of a can of beans using heat and pressure, and I put a large sheet of paper in behind as the "canvas" and was more interested in the action of the beans splattering on the canvas in a modern Action Art painting. Heck, we even made the newspaper that week. Well, it is a small town......but it was one small idea that allowed for exploration and variance in perspective. Art and science united, yet again.

When I was a student at the San Francisco Art Institute I had a chance to participate in a Unfolding
acrylic painting humanities class called "Art and Science" that took place at the Exploratorium and was taught by Frank Oppenheimer and his assistant. This was in the early 1980's. I remember being very influenced by the curious nature of this class that clearly explored the similarities and connections between art and science and emphasized play and creativity. Frank Oppenheimer was a remarkable teacher and a wise man whose stand against nuclear weapons was unshakable. The Exploratorium was then and remains today a totally fascinating museum unlike any other I have ever frequented. Both of the text books used for the class were written by K. C. Cole: Vision: In the Eye of the Beholder and Facets of Light: Colors, Images, and Things that Glow in the Dark. These books altered my life and I still have them.

In Toronto we also have "The Ontario Science Center" with the same concept where visitors can experience the displays by being able to touch or handle them following instructions that are provided. Children especially enjoy these interactive displays and learn hands-on how things work and operate. They are very exciting and enjoyable. In Ottawa there is the Museum of Civilization. They have the Children's Museum where children are allowed to do things with the displays and are given a chance to make crafts and are provided with the materials and can bring them home. They have all kinds of activities to pretend activities of daily living.

That place has been a favorite of mine since I was a child growing up in the Bay Area. Gaslight memories
original painting
6 x 8 inches We went there often. There is an interesting connection with my father, Edwin McMillan. He went with Frank's brother Robert Oppenheimer to select the spot in New Mexico for the Manhattan Project. Our family moved to Los Alamos when I was eight weeks old. We stayed until the end of the war and then returned to the University of California at Berkeley. Dad was a physicist but he loved art too. He created the first logo for the radiation laboratory at Berkeley and dabbled in other media as well. My brother Stephen McMillan became a print maker after making the choice between mathematics and art. I went the other direction and had a career in computer science before returning to my original love of art to become a painter. I've always known that science and art are closely linked.

I smiled when I opened your letter this morning. My interior design students just completed their Teak House Ginger
watercolour painting
24 x 18 inches first studio project designing interactive displays for the Exploratorium. They based their work on various musical phenomenon detailed on the Exploratorium's website. Their next assignment is to design a children's museum space that houses all the displays created by each team. We are so fortunate to have access to such interesting and creative places!

This is kind of my own Exploratorium. Thought you might like to see it… here .

I have often wondered about the "left brain"-"right brain discussions when trying to capsulize or compartmentalize people of scientific processes or artistic processes. A few years ago I ran into a physics researcher at a art show showing his art. We had a long discussion about the brain concepts and how some feel artists and scientists live in different worlds. As a result of our discussion I came to believe - as time passed - that most of it is pure hype and not true at all . We both reach a conclusion through experimentation. So why is it important which reasoning processes we use to get there? I think it is a vast area where common ground and approaches of both disciplines could help each other out and help mankind .

When I was 18, I wanted to go to art school, but my parents would hear nothing of it. Topsail Dunes
original painting So, I went to college and majored in Chemistry. I did well, and went on to work in an experimental lab for 20 years.

I always thought that taking to art after my career in science to be a bit odd, mainly because other people thought it a bit odd. But after a time, I have realized that creativity is present in many activities and vocations. During my career with a major chemical company, one had to be creative. The success of the company stood on the next latest and greatest product. Even the experimental disasters were fun! I never minded cleaning up the gigantic messes we made, and I loved getting my hands and lab coat dirty.

Now I paint, and I still love to get my hands and apron covered in all sorts of colors. And I don't mind cleaning up the messes - most of the time!

You're absolutely right. Look at Leonardo, Eakins, Peale, etc. I have a masters degree in zoology and am also a free-lance illustrator/painter. I have traveled in both circles, so to speak, and have been amused at what I have seen in both disciplines. There is a "mystique" associated with being a research scientist (hope of being the next Darwin, Einstein, etc.) as well the visual arts (and music as well). Quite honestly, there is a lot of garbage being produced in both disciplines because people simply get caught up in the previously mentioned mystique and like to think of themselves as "scientists" or "artists." Whenever anyone calls me an artist I tell them I prefer the term illustrator or painter because I can't stand all of the associations that tend to come with the label (i.e., the pompous beret-wearing egomaniac smoking cheap French cigarettes who very likely couldn't draw water for his or her bath). Many accept what they do as "art" in the hope of being perceived as cerebral and open-minded.

I love the concept of the Exploratorium - I may just re-name my studio! It's the Soul dance
original painting excitement of playing with different mediums, the mouth-watering juiciness of colour, and the pushing of known boundaries that fuels my passion for the artistic life. Without the pull of infinite possibilities, I'd be snoozing in front of the television. Let's hear it for the Exploratorium that generates the energy for artists everywhere!

The Exploratorium is that wonderful hands-on place where my curious son was able to observe the Untitled
watercolour painting dissection of a cow's eye among other hands-on experiences when he was a kid. Now a successful businessman/scientist he does much to give his own children the same kinds of experiences. When curiosity is allowed to explore and expand, it continues down through the generations to give all that follow the "aha" moment of joy at discovery.

Such eye-opening, mind-expanding experiences are monumentally important in school classrooms, as well, and that is where I fear the public schools have been bereft. Discovery is not allowed, being too hard to control, too messy, too open to abuse. Science is reading an experiment, possibly watching a teacher do an experiment, and being tested on results.

Even art lessons have been either erased or diminished to a lecture on dead artists' work. In too many classrooms, Art is the process of following a teacher's directive, with a model displayed of the expected outcome. If only children could truly find their own expression by being given supplies and a minimum of direction to Discover something new in the possibilities! The discovery in art, as with discovery in science, opens the mind to all possibilities and leads to creativity of thought in reading, math, and basic understanding. The process of Discovery is mind-opening and leads from "aha" into "WOW!"

My studio is filled with boxes left over from my years as an elementary school teacher (private schools, where I was free to develop my own curricula and methods). I seldom use all the supplies, as I'm caught up in the desire to develop my craft of painting to a place I can admire. As I work to perfect my skills as a painter, I've left all the supplies for "free exploration" as wonderful possibilities for another day.