When I woke up this morning it was 5*F. There is still ice and snow on the ground from the other day’s little cloudburst of wintery mix. I don’t want to start another painting because it’s tax season and I’ll soon be working on that headache. But all the papers aren’t received yet, so that’s on hold too. It’s too cold to sit at my desk very long periods at a time, because there’s no insulation underneath the house and the little heater under my desk isn’t quite keeping up. So I decided to work on preparing some of my Fine Art NFT’s, and do some cleaning in my office/studio.
Making and Minting NFT’s
Now that I’ve made a few NFT’s, I’m beginning to get a better feel for how it all works. If you’re curious about what this involves, here’s the first post I made on the topic when I was still just trying to wrap my head around it. When I started out, I minted them on the Ethereum platforms. But that currency is getting too expensive to use. The gas fees add too much to the cost. You can think of ‘gas fees’ like postage to ship an item. Real life USPS postage has also gotten pretty expensive.
When I first started doing them, I decided I would invest a certain small amount of money into the project and not put any more new money into it. I’ll have to make it earn itself the way to making more of them. Or I can trade one type of coin back to dollars and buy a different type of coin. Still, not putting new dollars into it. I did manage to get one work sold, and that funded the fun I’m having in NFT-world right now. Anyway, I’ve begun exploring some of the other blockchains before I start minting a series of what I’m calling Fine Art NFT’s.
Is Fine Art viable as NFT?
I’m not sure fine art is going to be a viable project. Much of what you see that’s so popular are little character illustrations. Cute things. Some of them not so cute. Most of these are popular because there’s an entire culture behind them. Collectors buy them to be a part of something larger. Not necessarily just because they want the little picture. It’s what that picture represents. There are actually some of these that I like and would like to be a part of. For example, I’d love to own a WOW token (World of Women, not World of Warcraft, lol) so I could be part of that #nftcommunity.
But my art collection doesn’t have a community to go with it. Building communities is not my strong point, and the nft’s I see associated with the very successful communities, aren’t the types of art I make. Maybe there’s no market in the NFT community for fine art.
Tezos NFT’s
On the TEZOS chain, I can experiment without spending a lot of money. So that’s where I’m taking my efforts. I’m using the Objkt.com platform for my multiple editions on Tezos.
Solana NFT’s
At Exchange.art, I am minting 1/1 fine arts. These are not multiple editions and are priced higher than the ones at Objkt.com. Some of them are paired with the original paintings. However, I’m not sure I’ll continue with the pairing. It doesn’t seem to be helping my sales and so far, no one who has purchased IRL has wanted the NFT that went with it.
Clean NFT’s
What is a clean nft? Anything minted on the Ethereum blockchain is not ‘clean’. Ethereum uses a tremendous amount of energy to mint. I’m not sure why, because I don’t understand the process behind it. It’s based on a ‘proof of work’ system. But Tezos, Solana, and ADA/Cardano are different because they use what’s called a ‘proof of stake’ system. Ethereum is working toward that end, too, but it’s not there yet. The Cardano platform (ADA is the currency) is even doing things to offset carbon footprint, and have recently completed the goal of planting a million trees. I like the move toward more environmental concern and responsibility.
The First Wild Ozark Fine Art NFT Collection
So as I am getting the first painting ready to mint as a fine art NFT, I wondered how I should present it? The three ideas I had are below. I don’t know which would be best, or if any of this will work at all. I am leaning toward the simply Framed option, but adding the Pal on it, a chameleon in this case, adds a bit of whimsy that brings the art back into the ordinary NFT realm.
But is that what I want to do? Maybe not. I think I’d like to create a space for the NFT version of fine art. And once I get enough of them ready to hang in a metaverse gallery, I’ll create a virtual gallery exhibition. One day it might be a ‘thing’ or one day it might not. But at least with Tezos, I won’t waste a lot of money on an idea that was not going to fly. If I want to burn them all later (the NFT’s, not the real paintings, lol), to erase my mark upon the NFT world, I can do so without crying so hard over wasted dollars. I’ve always like blazing new trails, anyway. And sometimes they just lead to the edge of the bluff and I have to find a new way. So I’m looking at this as an adventure. No one knows at this point whether it’s going to lead anywhere or not.
Cute Things NFT’s
I like to dream up cute things, too, just not big communities to support them. But maybe a collection of cute things will naturally build some sort of following. Or maybe I’ll collaborate with someone else who is good at the community building. Here’s one I’ll probably mint soon. Maybe sooner than the fine art nft’s I have in mind. When I do mint it, I’ll do so in Tezos at Objkt.com and come back here to put a live link to it.
Parallel Works
Some of the Fine Art NFT’s will have real life paintings available for pairing. If someone buys the real life work, then they’ll have the option to own the NFT associated with it. Or if someone buys the NFT, that owner will have the option to have me ship them the real life painting. I wrote about my ideas surrounding this in a previous post.
Back to Work for Me
Anyway, that’s it for my time to sit at the desk. My feet are getting cold and I’m going to warm them up by the fire for a little while. Then I’ll get back to work cleaning up my extremely cluttered office. When the tax papers all get here, I hope I’ll have an easier time thinking in here without all the physical clutter to add to my ever-present mental clutter! Let me know what you’re up to, or if you’re working on your own NFT projects. I’m @wildozark at Twitter and pretty much everywhere online, if you’d like to connect. Or just leave a comment here (if the comment form is working. It’s always unpredictable).
Contact Mad Rox: (479) 409-3429 or madison@madisonwoods and let me know which hat I need to put on 🙂 Madison for art, Roxann for real estate, lol. Or call me Mad Rox and have them both covered!
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Author/Artist Info
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Roxann Riedel is a salesperson for Montgomery Whiteley Realty, artist, owner of the only ginseng nursery in Arkansas, and the author of books and this website. Madison Woods is the pen-name she uses for her creative works. She’s a self-taught artist who moved to the Ozarks from south Louisiana in 2005. Her paintings of the Ozark-inspired scenes feature lightfast pigments from Madison county, Arkansas. Her inspiration is nature – the beauty, and the inherent cycle of life and death, destruction and regeneration. Wild Ozark is also the only licensed ginseng nursery in Arkansas. Here’s the link for more information on the nursery
There’s always a discount for paintings on the easel 😉
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