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The Analyst Artist

I dive into the strange overlap between my career in data and my passion for art. It turns out that focusing on the "big picture" while obsessing over the "minutia" is the key to both.

5/16/20262 min read

I love my art. I happily devote hours to every piece, hoping to create work that inspires others in some small way. Beyond "Artist," I wear several other titles with varying degrees of pride: Father, Husband, Designer. The one I want to explore today, however, is Analyst.

By vocation, I am a Senior Data Analyst at Artech Inc. It’s a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it? If you’ve never heard of a data analyst, don’t worry—it’s not exactly a staple of career day. In fact, I only discovered the title four years ago, despite having already done the work for seven. I didn’t know there was a name for what I did; I just knew the work was necessary to meet my goals.

Finding the Story in the Numbers

So, what is a data analyst? To keep everyone awake, I’ll put it simply: we take massive amounts of information and find the story hidden within. Our job is to ensure the data is accurate and then determine what it reveals about a specific project.

If that sounds complicated, that’s because it is. But if we set the technicalities aside, the most important skill I use daily is pattern recognition. It requires a unique ability to focus on the big picture and the minutia simultaneously.

From Data Points to Brushstrokes

As an artist, I find myself doing the exact same thing. I must maintain a vision for the entire piece while focusing intensely on a single section, ensuring every detail contributes to a cohesive whole. Beyond the canvas, I naturally spot patterns in the world around me. These rhythms and repetitions are what fuel my "fantastic reality" style.

The more I practice finding these patterns at my desk, the more easily I spot them everywhere else. It’s as if the world whispers its secrets in a language only those who live in data can hear—and only those dedicated to art can hope to translate.

This is what it means to be an Analyst Artist. I hope that as you look at my work, you’ll try to find the patterns I’ve painted there. More importantly, I hope you take a closer look at your own world to see the patterns that have been surrounding you all along