There is Art in Science, and There is Science in Art (Do What You Love - Part 3)

“If you’re having a good time in your own company, it’s a good sign that you’re happy and you enjoy what you do.” -Shubhada 

By Phoebe Pineda

Point to Ponder:  “Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking about it differently.” –Albert Szent-Györgyi

Storyline: From majestic landscapes to portraits of renowned historical figures, Shubhada Sahasrabudhe’s art captures beauty in all sorts of places.

An engineer by trade, working at one of the world’s largest tech companies, Shubhada grew up in two worlds: art and science.  “I lived in an engineering town that manufactured pumps, and my dad worked in research and development,” she says.  “But art was in the house all the time.  My dad did outstanding sketches and paintings, and we spent our evenings sitting side-by-side with him and watching him work, doing random art projects-Even his engineering drawings.”  Growing up close to the process of creation, both at the pump factory and at home, instilled a strong sense of curiosity in Shubhada–“We were told to always be curious, not to stop at what but to ask why”–as well as a strong creative drive: “There was this push to be original,” she says.  “My parents told me, ‘You have to create something that belongs to you.  You're not an artist or a scientist unless you have contributed.’”

With limited supplies around the house, Shubhada often spent her childhood drawing in dirt roads with a stick which interestingly and unknowingly connected her to sand as a medium which she used years later.  “It was like an unlimited canvas,” she says.  Though she now has access to more traditional mediums, such as oil and acrylic, she still enjoys working with less conventional materials.  “I’ve always been an experimentalist, so I always try a new technique–anything that stains with a pigment is my medium,” she says.  “If I finish my coffee and I have a little left at the bottom, I will use it.” Her sand art in particular has garnered much attention, including a guest appearance on the Nickelodeon show Ryan’s Mystery Playdate.

Despite coming up in a workplace culture where hobbies and leisure time were challenging, Shubhada takes both her engineering and artistic career equally seriously.  “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like art and science are distinct things,” she says.  “To me they are so blurry and so similar. Yes, there is more system to science, but you see both elements–system and random–in different ways.  When I begin a painting, I don’t start with the details: I do the big strokes first to get the basic form and values together, and that defines my painting.  That’s exactly how I think of engineering: whenever I look at a problem statement, I look at the broad strokes and ask myself, What am I trying to do?  Once I have those pieces, I know how to fill in the minor details.  Knowing the end point helps guide your next steps.” Science and engineering also played a major role in Shubhada’s sand art, from constructing the worktable (which Shubhada designed and built herself) to finding the right type of sand: “I went to twenty different beaches to get as many sand samples as possible,” she says.

Though balancing work and life can be challenging, Shubhada says making time to do what she loves is worth every minute.  “Painting for hours is meditative,” she explains.  “It’s the most neutral feeling you can have, which is so rare in this day and age: not happy, not sad, just neutral and satisfied.”  She’s made it a priority to share that feeling with others, whether it’s teaching three and a half hours of back-to-back weekly classes through her art academy or finishing and posting a charcoal portrait every day for 140 days during quarantine. Sketch a Day  “I tried to use my art to combat the negativity and sadness,” she says.  “If you’re having a good time in your own company, it’s a good sign that you’re happy and you enjoy what you do.”

*For her contributions in the field of science, Shubhada recently received an esteem award "Women Engineer of the Year"  by American Sociery of Mechanical Engineers. Being recognized in the areas of her profession as well passion demonstrates her commitment to excellence in whatever she takes up.*

Reflection: I’ve always envied creatives who work in math and science: my physics and bio major friends who draw, write, and paint, who can navigate these two seemingly opposing fields, one world as foreign to me as the other is familiar.  Talking with Shubhada gave me insight into that fluidity: it’s about having a certain mentality, an approach that combines order and creativity and, most of all, an eagerness to learn.

At the end of the day, though the work may be different, the processes are more similar than we think, and the ultimate goal is the same: both science and art attempt to make sense of how the world works.  Science tells its own kind of story, the histories of who we are and how we got here, how the world moves around us and how we move within it.  And art is its own kind of science, an ongoing process of trial and error and building on the ideas of those that came before you, expanding our view of the world, defining and redefining truth.

For Anand, the son of two artists, interviewing Shubhada brought back a lot of memories of his own childhood, and how drawing on those creative experiences influenced his approach to problem-solving, enabling him to look at things differently and formulate solutions.

Our community of readers consists of people with a variety of different passions.  Though these may seem different on the surface, all have similarities in terms of process and approach, and all have valuable lessons that can be applied to different contexts.  But most importantly, no matter your line of work, putting your heart, enthusiasm, and soul into your endeavors will help you succeed.

 You can support Shubhada’s work by visiting her  WEBSITE or following her on Facebook.

Attachments: Versatility of the artist.

 

 

 

*late addition paragraph by Anand*

Originally from the SF Bay Area, Phoebe Pineda currently studies Writing and Literature at the University of California Santa Barbara's College of Creative Studies.  In addition to storytelling, she enjoys sunset-watching, road trips, and making art.

Anand and Phoebe first met at a Kid-to-Work Day over two decades ago. Once a week, they meet to discuss the various stories, experiences, memories, and lessons he's collected over the years. They approach each conversation from two different stages in life, one looking forward, the other looking back.

Comments

[Shardamandir Friend]

Very inspiring life of mrs Shubhada
And superb creation

[SP]

Wow simply outstanding

[Elizabeth Wu]

Shubhada’s Sand Art is Genius!

[Work Colleague]

She's brilliant. I've seen her do a live sand art display. She is incredibly talented. Great story.

[Fr Intel Veteran]

Hi Anand
1st of all excellent articles on FR. Not only the topic but how well she has articulated. It is very impressive - kudos to Phoebe.

Noticeably, each week her reporting is increasingly getting more interesting, engaging, and thought provoking. She indeed has given new life to this FR 2.0. You are lucky to have her as your next editor to keep your FR legacy alive. Keep it up Phoebe. 👍 Please share this feedback with her. Thanks.

[OS]

Another Steve Jobs in the making..👍

[Sujat]

Truly a savant. Only a prodigy can do this. She is nothing short of a genius. She is blessed by Maa Saarada! 🙏🏼

[Murli]

Thank you Anand. You might as well add that science proves its theories by observation and records where as art speculates the possibilities to explore. Thanks again

[Denise]

A goal and a blessing to do what you love..
Yes, no matter what we do, we try and make sense of all of it.
Your reflections are wonderful.
Happy Friday/weekend, Anand.

[Madhuri]

I know Shubhada and love and admire her for so many things. Not just her intelligence and creativity but for how down to earth she is with no airs.
Over the years my respect for her has grown almost to awe 🙂

Those early days of Covid I looked for her sketches each day and marveled at how she even got the idea!!

Thank you for sharing her with so many others who may not know her

Now about the reflection - Phoebe does a fine fine job of melding the art of science and the science of art. I like the connection back to Anand’s experiences and the underlying message of putting our heart and soul in everything we do

I am glad you ‘found’Phoebe 🧡

[microCEO]

Thank you for an inspiring essay. I have great respect for Shubhada's accomplishments in physics/reliability modeling. Her ASME award is very well deserved. Congratulations! I also once had a chance to see her sand-art performance live, and it was astounding.

I fully agree with the Forbes article that is linked here. I have always felt that the separation between fine arts and sciences is a false one. Yes, there are certainly differences in the general approach to different fields: e.g. analytical vs. creative. The two are like the old TV show, The Odd Couple. One seems sloppy and clever. The other is usually neat and methodical, yet stiff.

But for experienced artists, there must be a keen understanding of the media, the materials, the joining of heterogenous things, dynamic interactions, causes and effects, and so on.
Meanwhile, even the strictest of scientific experiments must be founded upon creative ideas to intuit new hypotheses to be tested or or to discover solutions to apparently conflicting data. Both arts and sciences must seek to describe and express relationships; equations and musical compositions are nothing less than statements about relationships.

From prehistoric times, arts and sciences shared a common ancestor. It is the idea of "quality".

Quality is a mysterious, ancient thing that flourished before quantity became the king of modern society (quality cannot be counted easily). Quality also predates contemporary aesthetics (quality is not necessarily beautiful or obvious to see, though it often has underlying elegance in its structure or method). That is why quality is so hard to describe. Some say simply, "I know it when I see it."
But when done well, with attention and heart, both science and art are a manifestation of quality, and the doer will feel pride in the work.

Robert Pirsig wrote: "I've noticed that people who have never worked with steel have trouble seeing this—that the motorcycle is primarily a mental phenomenon. They associate metal with given shapes—pipes, rods, girders, tools, parts—all of them fixed and inviolable, and think of it as primarily physical. But a person who does machining or foundry work or forger work or welding sees "steel" as having no shape at all. Steel can be any shape you want if you are skilled enough, and any shape but the one you want if you are not."

[xiomara cedillo]

Wow, this is oustanding, awesome story Kuddos to You and Phoebe.
Shubhada's talent is one of a kind, very inspiring, what a great story.
happy friday and enjoy the weekend.:)

[FE-Japan]

What a gifted artist! What she did for Intel’s 50th anniversary was awesome!

[Prasad Vepa]

I enjoyed the YT clips of Shubhada's sand art as well as your FR post very much. She is a very inspiring and multitalented woman who seamlessly and beautifully integrates art and science. A joy to see her sand art and great landscape photos. She is a great role model of an integral, renaissance person and has a great future. BTW, I'm unable to see any of the reader comments or the original FR post other than what you send me. I know I'm not doing something right on my iPhone. Perhaps you can show me my error when we meet next.
Take care!

[Sam]

Great to read and learn about Shubhada's multi faceted skills. It is truly rare to have both skillsets in 1 person and then to develop them to the level of being remarkable. Am sure this is inspiring for all of us to bring our non work skills to life. Great time to be an artist in this interconnected world and giving people happiness and hope amid the pandemic. Thanks to Phoebe and Anand to bring this to light for us all.

[SH Wong]

Wonderful 👍👍👍
Many scientists, doctors & engineers are talented in music, singing, dancing & painting too…well balanced… my neighbour who is a surgeon paints birds which he took photo of during bird watching trips, etc…

[Milan]

Leonardo da Vinci was the first to amalgamate science and art beautifully. Probably Shubhada is following the same path and so wonderfully. Yea

[Anand]

From One Reader: Nice article. Congrats on getting the CEO of Micron to your subscriber base. :).

To Reader: No this guy is not Micron CEO. He is microCEO with mega capabilities, resourcefulness and knowledge. He has been valuable contributor to Friday Reflections from Day 1 in the year 2004 by providing great insights and feedback. Dedicated reader and contributor for 17 years.

Thanks.

[Fr- Intel Friend]

I don’t know her personally, but I have seen her sand art before, it is so good, I’m totally in awe in the detail and how swiftly she goes from one perfectly sketched scene to another perfect scene all the while reusing pieces of the previous picture as a primer.