A kiwi in the wild

Hello from New Zealand!

I’m an artist, a collector of art and a lover of the digital world. Combine these things and the growing world of NFT collections and you have yourself a new NFT enthusiast.

The Mr had been trying to get me interested in the Crypto world for a long time. I was one of those people that didn’t understand the draw of the CryptoPunks or the Coolcats or the wild ride that the NFT / Cryptocoins markets brings.

You might be thinking….

What changed?

Art. Art is what changed the game for me. Back in August 2021 the Mr helped me setup a MetaMask wallet and gave me a little bit of ETH to test out the waters (0.01 to be exact). He showed me Opensea and let me browse the collections. I stumbled upon some really cute pieces although nothing much I could grab with gas (back then a shocking 20gwei). I found a cute little CryptoHamster for 0.0014 ETH, paid my 0.005 gas fee and joined their discord.

The discord was fun, it was a planned game but for now the OG hammies were up on opensea and they loved hamsters. Great for me, as I still get the Hamtaro theme song stuck in my head!

My next couple of purchases didn’t go so well. One was a !rug and got removed from opensea and the other has gone quiet but my NFT is cute haha.

Then Mr sent me a link to a discord called Cosmic Cowgirls. One of the things I hadn’t liked about the projects Mr had talked about previously was that I didn’t feel a connection to the art. It wasn’t what I was interested in, not cute, fun, girly etc.

This was different!

I immediately joined the discord and jumped into the chats and AMAs. Taywee and Brittany were fantastic, friendly and open to talk to. The project was about women empowerment and anime and space and cowgirls. The art was cute and fun. They featured other artists in the space, and through them I found Rurus and PatterNFT (and so many other wonderful artists!). We participated in Collab Charity Auctions for Girls who Code and Code to Inspire, and it’s opened a new world of artists to me.

From there I’ve dived into many servers and followed / favourited pieces that I love. Purchased a few more NFTs, some I LOVE and will treasure forever. Others… well…

I made a few missteps jumping into cute projects that weren’t quite what I thought they were (so DYOR!) and I’ve learnt a LOT about what I like and don’t like about the space.

For me; the value in the space isn’t the rise in the floor or the utility of a project but rather the Artwork on the NFT itself and the community that comes from like minded people enjoying their pieces. I see the value in having security that you are the owner of the Artwork by way of the blockchain transaction, of supporting the artists and founders of the projects and contributing to sharing their art globally.

I see the excitement in the buzzwords of utility and moon, but remember…

This space is so early!

Instant Gratification seems to be expected in the NFT space and it’s unrealistic. PFP projects that have just launched can’t immediately dole out merch or a game. That takes time, expertise and MONEY. Find projects you love which can continue to build on the initial investment from their launch. Don’t nose dive it into the ground. Show them love and they will grow. If you have expertise, share it with them. Help them build this space too.

I like the idea of a Metaverse full of galleries of artists and their work all over the world, of projects being able to be tied together and interactive in some online world. But again all these things need time, money and investment in them.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are these projects. Think months and years not hours or days. Foster the community and watch what happens.

Until then, I’ll be looking out for the next cute, fun and relatable piece of art to add to my own little gallery and supporting the projects I love as much as I can.

I hope you do the same.

xoxo