Freelance Expat

I am excited to announce that I have taken the plunge and become a full time freelance illustrator from my new home in Zurich, Switzerland. Earlier this month, my husband and I moved to Zurich, beginning our new adventure as expats in Europe. This move is a great opportunity to expand my business and pour more time and effort into art and illustration. 

Move to Switzerland in November!? Who would be that crazy? I thought this would be a terrible time to move. Cold, snowy, dark, rainy. The start of winter would surely make me miss California too much. It turns out, however, that I moved here during peak mushroom season and at the start of the festive Christmas markets. The city is sparkling with lights and the forest is loaded with fungi! Bundled in enough layers, this Californian can enjoy it all without freezing. 

Before leaving the states, I decided to make my business an LLC, mainly for legal protection and to build it as its own entity, separate from myself as an individual. This was easier to do than I thought it would be. Naming the business was probably the hardest part. I changed my name from Himes to Johnson, and it turns out there are a lot of Johnsons out there. Finding a business name using my new name was tough. I spent a lot of time thinking about the name, coming up with many duds, and asking friends for suggestions. Having worked as a biologist and lab manager in Life Science departments throughout school and career, I decided this was a fitting title and encompassed the type of work that I do. I was able to then register the business as an LLC by simply filling out the forms online, and then I changed the URL of my website. Next task: new business cards.

As I start on this new chapter, I am aiming to build Life Science Studios, LLC into something meaningful, artistic, and valuable for biologists and their audiences. I believe illustration can be an important tool for communicating science, and I hope to do that from my new art studio in beautiful Switzerland. Be prepared for more frequent blog posts, lots of mushroom paintings, and pictures of Alps thrown in every once in awhile!