Reach for the Sky by Laura Alonso. Owned by curating_bits. Link
“Right now we associate NFTs with art but in 10 years I think NFTs will be more than art. We will find many other applications for the real world and many companies implementing them in their business model.” — Laura Alonso
Hardly a day goes by where NFTs don’t show up in the news, and NFT markets are continuing to heat up.
One metric that illustrates this activity is the $3.7 billion in trading volume that Ethereum-based NFT marketplace had over the last 30 days. This amount is greater than the entire worldwide NFT market during the first half of 2021.
First off, here is a quick explainer on NFTs:
What are NFTs?
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are not cryptocurrencies, but NFTs are an innovation brought to us by blockchain, the technology that powers many cryptocurrencies.
Definition: Non-fungible: adjective, meaning not fungible, as in not easily replaced, not mutually interchangeable; unique.
This technology embraces many fields: digital art, collectibles, gaming, certifications and personal licenses, IDs, domain names, music, fashion, finance and insurance.
NFTs online are often associated with JPEGs (a kind of image file). The NFT technology is attached to, for example, a JPEG file, and grants that file its uniqueness and proof of ownership. You could download the JPEG file but not have an NFT, because the NFT attributes would not be attached, and the file would not be unique or provide any proof of ownership.
The market for digital art NFTs has reached a fever pitch, with some artists selling JPEG NFTs for tens of thousands of dollars. This intense enthusiasm helps make this market stand out.
Tens of thousands of traditional corporations, influencers, entrepreneurs and artists have entered the space so far in 2021.
Bitcoin harnessed the first blockchain, and then Ethereum made NFTs possible. Ethereum was the first major blockchain that provided a second layer on top of the blockchain, where applications could be easily built. This includes other cryptocurrency tokens (called ERC-20 tokens) as well as non-fungible tokens (called ERC-721 tokens).
Now there are dozens, if not hundreds, of blockchains, including Bitcoin, providing support for NFTs. Some notable ones include Solana, Tezos,Chiliz, Theta, Harmony and Kusama.
In this blog series, I have had the honor of featuring some incredibly talented artists. We focus on these amazing artists and take a look at their personal experiences and views.
Who is Laura Alonso?
Portrait of Laura Alonso
“With my art I try to translate the feeling and mood I get when experiencing the magic of sunsets. I create artworks that evoke a feeling of calmness, tranquility and positivity.” — Laura Alonso
Alonso is a 33-year-old Mexican surreal visual artist based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She works as marketing coordinator for an IT company, and in her free time, she likes to create digital art.
You can find her on Twitter, Foundation and Makersplace.
An Inside Look
I reached out to this artist to get a closer look into her heart and her mind to find out about her personal views. Here is what she had to say:
1. How and when did you get into art?
I’ve been passionate about art since I was a kid, I took painting, piano and ballet classes. I discovered I had a passion for digital art after I graduated from marketing. In my first jobs I often had to do flyers, digital designs, branding and animations. This gave me the opportunity to improve my design skills. I was also passionate about photography so I started manipulating my own photos to create surreal dreamy scenes. It was in 2019 when I took this seriously and made an Instagram account to start sharing my work and then my journey began.
2. Where do you find inspiration to create your art?
Most of my inspiration comes from the sky, nature, minimalism, Lo-Fi, classical music and architecture. I love to incorporate elements like stars, clouds, the moon, I feel these add a very delicate and aesthetic touch. The color palette I use is inspired by sunsets, that’s why you will see a lot of pink, purple and pastel tones in my work
With my art I try to translate the feeling and mood I get when experiencing the magic of sunsets. I create artworks that evoke a feeling of calmness, tranquility and positivity.
3. What is your biggest barrier as an artist?
Good question. I’m so passionate about creating that I often forget to take rest! Having a day job plus doing art is challenging because the only time I get to create is at night and on weekends. So I often sleep so late because I get so inspired that I don’t want to stop. But I’m trying to change that to improve my work-life balance! Also I tend to be very perfectionist and I create many versions of one piece till I find the perfect one so this makes my process take longer!
4. What was your greatest personal achievement as an artist?
The moment when people started recognizing my work in social media was the best achievement because since then I started to get many great opportunities such as collaborating with musicians, being able to sell prints and merch of my work, wallpapers and now NFTs! I never thought all these would happen because it all started as a hobby, I had no intention to make this a business.
5. How and when did you get into NFTs?
I got into NFTs in February 2021. I first heard about crypto art mid last year and in February one of my friends invited me to join Foundation and with little knowledge about NFTs, I decided to give a try and minted my genesis.
I wasn’t expecting anything really and I was so surprised that my got a bid the next day. As soon as that happened, I started to learn more about NFTs and connecting with the amazing community and also began my journey as collector.
6. How and when did you get into cryptocurrency? What was the first cryptocurrency you bought?
It happened at the same time as when I got into NFTs. Well, actually a friend helped me with my first mint because I had no idea how to buy Ether! At first my intention wasn’t to buy crypto, only to get ETH from NFT sales but then that I did more research and decided to invest in Ether, Bitcoin and Tezos.
7. What is your advice to an artist who is thinking of jumping into the NFT space for the first time?
The NFT space is full of opportunities for artists but you have to be mentally prepared. I’ve seen so many artists give up so fast for not getting sales so my advice is to be patient!
Don’t focus on selling, focus on creating. If you create good art your art will do the marketing by itself. And the most important is to connect with the community, make friends, share your story, support others by liking, commenting, retweeting.
8. If you could meet any artist in history, who would it be?
Vincent van Gogh, I find his story fascinating and “The starry night” is one of the pieces that inspires me the most and that influence my art.
9. What is one situation in the world you wish you could make better?
If I could change anything in the world It would be to make it more peaceful, with no hate, no bullying, more acceptance and respect.
10. Ten years from now, what do you predict will be the role of NFTs in our world?
It’s a hard question because one month in the NFT space feels like a year, many thigs are happening so fast! Right now we associate NFTs with art but in 10 years I think NFTs will be more than art. We will find many other applications for the real world and many companies implementing them in their business model. It’s exciting. Can’t wait to see what happens!
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This content is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute trading advice. Past performance does not indicate future results. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose. The author of this article may hold assets mentioned in the piece.
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