Fantom Community Spotlight - Zoey
How did you first get into the NFT space?
I have a background in traditional painting (mainly acrylic) and illustration. I also worked in design and learned to use a wide range of graphic design software as a digital artist. I first got into the NFT space directly on Fantom, in 2021. I didn't have any preconceptions about NFTs.
I was curious and really open about the concept. I loved some of the art I had seen in the FTM NFT space, so I asked myself "why not?" There was certainly a learning curve when it came to the technical side of smart contracts and social media promotion, but it was a very enriching and exciting experience!
What led you to the Fantom ecosystem?
I discovered Fantom back in summer 2021 after joining a Discord community that really liked the ecosystem. I chose Fantom for multiple reasons:
- I wanted to use a green chain. This was a non-negotiable given my personal convictions, and Fantom was perfect in this regard.
- I also loved the artists I was seeing in the Fantom NFT space: Uman for example is one of my favorite artists. I love the art and the lore of her collections.
- The community was very welcoming, and there is the grassroots excitement around building something together.
- Fantom was also perfect budget-wise. Launching a project on Ethereum would have been prohibitively expensive as it relies more heavily on influencers and marketing. On Fantom, it's easier to get noticed without a large marketing budget. Also, back in November, gas fees were prohibitive on Ethereum. Fantom was more accessible for a self-starter.
What are some of your artistic inspirations?
I love a wide range of artists. I'm really inspired by art that has meaning and is full of symbolism and life.
One of my favorite digital artists is Erik Johansson, a visual artist from Sweden. He mainly uses photo composition and digital image manipulation. His pieces are full of beauty and express some of his own convictions on topics such as ecology and the environment.
As an illustrator, I love the art of Bastien Deharme. He works as an illustrator for Magic the Gathering. I'm very inspired by the expressive women in his paintings, the complex backgrounds, and the light & dark contrasts. I often use his set of brushes for digital painting.
I also love mystical art. Pablo Amaringo, a Peruvian shaman turned painter, is one of my favorite artists. I love his color palette and the compositions of his paintings, full of life and symbolic meanings.
I have my own creation process combining my experience in both traditional and digital art: I combine painting layer by layer in PS, using oil, charcoal, and various brushes for my characters, with digital composition, rendering and manipulation for the backgrounds. For the finishing, I repaint the details, colors, lights/shadows etc. with my brushes. This process gives the colorful look that I'm after: full of light and contrasts, painted but still realistic looking, combined with vivid expressions.
What projects are you working on right now?
I released my first collection in November 2021 with a friend. He did most of the background & composition work. This collection is an ode to wild spaces and to the beauty of nature. Each NFT is an Oracle card with its own prediction, and holders can draw card readings on our website.
I worked alone on my second collection which was released in March 2022. The "Witches Oracle" is made of 168 1/1 NFTs. I've created each one of them, and they come with their lore and inspiration.
I've always loved the esoteric and the mythical. I loved the story of the three Fates in Plato's Republic. I loved the legends of the Valkyries collecting the bones and blood of the fallen warriors in the Eddas poems. The myths’ visions, colors, intensity, and primordial expressions of greed, love, and human nature stuck with me. I see these myths as an inner landscape with mirrors and archetypes that reflect back to us, our human nature, and our inner journey. At times gruesome and at times awe-inspiring, the myths never fail to make us feel something. They challenge us and inspire us.
The "Witches Oracle" reflects all those primordial archetypes and emotions through intense colors and light along with an intimate imagery full of women, wild animals, trees, and rivers. I wanted to show the aspects of the myths and of the Feminine: wild, wise and free… living forever on the Fantom blockchain.
More recently, I launched Bitwitches: Banners, an exclusive free mint for the holders of my two previous collections. This banner collection of 333 NFTs comes with 18 color palettes, matching most pfps. The Bitwitches are inspired by the lore from my previous collections.
In working with blockchain technology and NFTs in particular, what are some of the opportunities you've found as an artist?
In the physical world, it's time consuming to network and expensive to rent gallery space. There are also physical limitations linked to where we live. Whereas in the NFT world, all I needed was to create my social media account to show my work and find people who resonated with it.
I was blown away by the reception from the Fantom community. The NFT space erases walls and borders, allowing artists—even those with a more niche style—to find their audience. And it also allows collectors to find art they truly resonate with. It works both ways and it's wonderful.
Why do you think there is still some hesitation from artists to enter the space and engage?
I think that established artists may be worried about the perception of NFTs by their existing audience. Up-&-coming artists may have concerns with finding an audience or with the technical requirements of creating a NFT collection.
I would say that the NFT space—especially on Fantom—is open and supportive. There are now technical solutions available to help artists self-launch, and we have lots of different artists and styles.
For me, art is an expression of our inner landscape and of who we are. Thanks to its growing community of users, Fantom allows me—and other artists—to be unique and still find people who resonate with what we do.
My advice for artists new to the space would be: just be yourself, create art that makes your heart sing, and you'll very likely find people who will love it in the Fantom NFT space.
What kind of community or following do you hope to build?
I hope to gather likeminded people who love art and share interests in the themes of my collections. We have an amazing community on Twitter and Discord.
In addition to making art, my goal is to offer utility and value to our holders:
- We are offering bi-monthly revenue distribution to our holders. The revenue comes from our minting proceeds + royalties from the secondary market. This way, our holders will be able to hold the art they enjoy while earning revenue.
- We just launched an exclusive free mint collection (Bitwitches: Banners) for our holders.
- We also have a dev who's working on exciting new functionalities & utilities: we are now offering raffles in addition to card readings on the Nature Oracle website.
- I'm also working on new art for airdrops and on some really cool collabs.
I have lots of ideas for the long term, and creative projects I'm really excited about. It's truly amazing to have a supportive community behind my back. I'm very grateful.
How might a project build an informed and engaged community from day one?
To be honest, I was new to both Twitter and Discord when I launched my first NFT collection on Fantom. I was lucky because my collection was shared and supported by some amazing Fantom community members like Tinfoil Realist and FTM Ecologist.
Again, the community made everything possible. I became friends with the people who bought my NFTs, and I'm so glad and grateful that they resonate with my art. From there, it was much easier to launch my second collection.
What other Fantom artists or collections are on your radar right now?
Czepta and Limitbreak's BitShadowz collection launched in March, and they will launch their Shadowz collection soon. They are amazing artists and I'm always excited to see what they come up with.
I also love FTMFroqorion. They have very cool art & lore, combined with a truly vibrant community.
_IamErebus & Nova Network are launching their "Life is Hell" Metaverse. I like that the graphics are in 3D and I'm really excited about the roadmap too.
For projects coming further down the road, I'm excited about BBChickens, an innovative project combining DeFi and NFTs, as well as Cosmicfriendnft's incoming generative collection.
Anything else you'd like to share with the Fantom community?
I’d really like to use this opportunity to give a big shout-out to our Fantom community:
- Potluck Labs by Potluck Protocol & TrueVoodoo. They are bringing new artists to Fantom and enriching our NFT ecosystem. They are also launching generative collections for well-known Fantom artists.
- TrippySteve22 and MoonMasterDao. It's a vibrant NFT community built around shared friendship, great NFT giveaways, NFT alpha, and supporting projects on Fantom. The whole community is amazing. Trippy—in addition to being a well-known NFT collector on Fantom—is great at building community and spotting new artists.
- nanofantom from PinkySwear Auction House. He is building a wonderful community and is bringing new artists to Fantom.
- The Genie, who is very supportive of Fantom NFT artists.
- …and all the other wonderful people, friends & NFT enthusiasts I’ve met during my journey in the Fantom NFT space.
