From Art to Astrophysics – and Back Again
Submitted by chandra on Thu, 2017-03-02 12:49Melissa Weiss Walter (Photo: Brin Deuk Morris)
We are thrilled to welcome Melissa Weiss Walter as a guest blogger. As Mel describes below, she served as the graphic designer, illustrator and social media developer for Chandra's publicity and outreach efforts for many years. Recently, she has scaled back her Chandra time to focus on her personal artistic endeavors. Thankfully, she remains part of the Chandra family and continues to contribute to Chandra releases.
I have been working with the Chandra team in various capacities for close to two decades. I began creating illustrations of black holes after graduating from the University of Rhode Island. Soon after Chandra launched, I was brought on board to continue as their science illustrator and also as their graphic designer. When MySpace took off like a rocket and we realized that social media was here to stay, I also took on the role as a social media administrator.
In 2015, after working with the team full-time for fourteen years, I made the decision to take a step back. I was able to continue just with my duties in science illustration so that I could pursue a career in fine art. Though I may have discontinued my time with Chandra on a full-time basis, I took with me the inspiration of many years looking at the wonders of our Universe through Chandra's eyes.
Before making the change, I had always loved the work I did with the Chandra team. However, I was so busy creating materials that I didn't have a lot of time to reflect on the content I was using. I knew what we did was important but I never realized how influenced I was becoming by the wonders we communicated with the public on a daily basis.