“My journey to RISD CE began when I was taking an anatomical portrait class at RISD CE and someone had mentioned being in the Natural Science Illustration certificate program; I felt that it was the perfect unification of my career, my education and my interests.
Adjusting to the pandemic was tough, but to be honest, Covid-19 began while I was taking “Digital Design Techniques” and I think it was a good thing for me. It was all online and I got much more out of it because everything was on video. I personally loved working on a more individual level for some courses.
The “Collage” course with Suzi Cozzens was very impactful for me, as was Suzi. I loved the feel of that course; it was just so fun. Also, Jeffrey Cates was fantastic; he really gave us freedom in “Painting from Nature” to practice different styles and make it our own – it was very effective for me. Douglas Breault and Bryan Rodrigues were my “Adobe Photoshop” and “Digital Design Techniques” instructors; they did a great job helping me gain the tools to change the way I create. I can’t thank them enough for that.
My desire to share concepts such as natural selection, epigenetics, decomposition and nucleosynthesis through collage is what keeps me inspired. I am so thankful that I have an educational background in science and I have spent so many years teaching it, because it has and will continue to act as a catalyst for my creating art that tells a story of our place in the natural world.
You really never know where life or these courses are going to take you. When you set out on a journey like this, it’s ok to do it just for the sake of learning; everything else will fall into place.”
—Amy Salomone, RISD CE 2022 Natural Science Illustration certificate graduate
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Gallery of Amy’s artwork
