The interview series (What’s The Story?) will poetically start with PapaBearded who happens to have the accolade of being both an artist and a collector as well. If you’re curious to know more about PapaBearded, if you like reading magazines then this interview would help you learn about him more.
MintedTM:
Hey there PapaBearded, thanks for agreeing to do this interview with us. We heard so many stories about you, we heard you helped a lot of artists start with NFT by investing in them but we’ll get to this story later. First and foremost, we are really honoured to have you in our genesis entry of interviews. For our listeners, readers and viewers. Is it alright if you Introduce yourself using your artworks or collection? It’s sort of a little show and tell.
PapaBearded:
You bet! Thanks for giving us a space to share a bit more about ourselves in more than 280 characters, but you said introduce by artworks so here we go! Spoiler alert, there will be lots of birds haha
“Psychedelic Bluebird” is actually the first image I ever worked up into an NFT. I admit I thought I had to tweak it or make it nostalgic in some form so I added these polaroid frames which I later regretted as a cheap way to try to sell my photography.
Fortunately I got the chance to burn all copies as I didn’t sell any on Rarible. I ditched the frame and the photo was bought by the magnificent egg Aito and is my most popular piece to date on Showtime!
I made a few other pieces on Rarible, before really settling in with the @NFTPhotoArt discord community and leaned into OpenSea a bit more! I did a few more one-offs before I found this polygonal finishing style that I really enjoyed.
I went through 2 different color schemes with the polygonal style, and after the first series garnered some interest in collaborations, and am really proud of the photography collabs with @Bryanminear and then @VisualswithSam
Here’s my favorite pieces from the two sets:
And one from @Bryanminear and @VisualswithSam
I also was super excited to get the chance to mint on Ephimera as it seems a great platform to be a bit more vulnerable and share some of my unmanipulated photography like this Oriole:
I’ve also enjoyed learning how to make gifs and have some birds on Paras which uses $NEAR and most recently on NFT Showroom which uses $HIVE
MintedTM:
With the artworks you made and minted, do you have a favourite? And with the collections you gathered, what was the first piece you bought? What made you buy it? Do you have any favourites among the rest? Why?
PapaBearded:
After wanting to try something different than the polygons, I’m really happy with my latest series Backyard Impressions, that uses a more impressionistic, painted manipulation finish to them. The reds that feature so prominently in the color scheme means the Cardinal is probably my favorite:
As for pieces I’ve collected, the first was from @ClaireSilver12 as she was the first person I really connected with in the NFT space. We actually ended up doing a sale-for-sale swap and were each other’s first sales! Naturally the one I got from her has a bird:
As for the other question, you’re totally trying to get me in trouble with all the amazing artists I’ve been fortunate to collect pieces from! But I won’t dodge the question, only cop-out slightly and pick 2 favorites.
The first was this amazing composite of over 500 images at Mono Lake called “Into the Night” that was the genesis piece from my now #DadFrend4Lyfe @bryanminear with whom I dm just about every day:
The other is a more recent acquisition from my other NFT bestie, @jlindsayfilm. My wife actually picked out this collab with Judy’s brother Marc who was a talented artist that has gone clinically blind but still draws. Apparently the pandemic had really run Marc down, and my falling in love with one of his birds was a bit of a pick-me-up, which just makes you feel so good to know as a collector!
MintedTM:
What do you think would be the effect of NFT in the physical artworld in the long run? Do you think artists would see more value in themselves?
PapaBearded:
I think that NFTs have a huge potential to widen the audience for traditional artists, like the photographers I’m most connected with. It gives you so much more reach than simply being featured in a physical gallery, but even better, the two are not mutually exclusive! I could certainly see a future where most artists in galleries also have links to where you can purchase NFTs of their art, even of pieces hanging on the walls.
As for artists seeing more value in themselves, I’ve already heard how much of an impact this is having for some folks. By being in the awesome position of having gotten to be a first sale for a lot of new artists in the space, I heard time and time again how much it meant to have someone value their art. It certainly helps that the art is being minted on top of a financial vehicle like cryptocurrency. Most of my early purchases for instance, were made possible because I was airdropped Uniswap and 1inch tokens and suddenly had all this crypto that I didn’t really feel I earned, and which felt totally reasonable to reinvest into artists.
MintedTM:
it’s apparent that you feel connected to birds, is there a reason or history behind this? How did this start? Do you have a favourite species that you want to see personally someday?
PapaBearded:
I somehow got really into birds as a young child like 4 or 5. I learned a lot of the species that would come to our feeders, and called myself a junior ornithologist (which was a big word for me back then lol). I fell away from it a bit, but got back into birds in a big way when I moved out of the city after college. I’m back in the city now, but still take every opportunity I get to go out birding, and it’s been a particularly good way to keep in touch with friends during the pandemic, as a safe, outdoor and easily distanced activity.
Lots of birders have what they call a “nemesis bird” or that bird that they really want to see and haven’t managed to spot yet. For me it’s the Scarlet Tanager. In the summer they’re bright red with black wings, and so striking! One of my cousins even saw one at place not far from where I live. I went the next day, but couldn’t find one alas. One of these days it will happen though!
MintedTM:
How did you learn about NFTs?
PapaBearded:
I’ve been really into crypto since about 2011 and read a lot of blogs and email newsletters. I’m pretty sure I heard about NiftyGateway and NBA TopShot around the start of the year and then got more into the weeds from there. I also happened to dabble in Cryptokitties back in 2017 but never fully understood their potential.
MintedTM:
As a collector, what makes you collect something? What are you looking for in an artwork? Do you also read about the artist before buying one? Was there an instance that you liked a certain piece but didn’t push through purchasing it because there was something about the artist?
PapaBearded:
You’ll hear from most collectors that pieces need a good story, or something to connect you with the artist. With Bryan for instance, it was that I had a fond memory of visiting Mono Lake after a backpacking trip in Yosemite and we hit it off from there.
I didn’t always read as much about the authors before buying, but with my having gone through most of my airdropped funds, I now keep a watchlist of artists I’d like to collect from. There’s a common joke with friends that a week feels like a year in NFT space, and actually having a watchlist has helped sort out a few people who thought they might try making an NFT or two, but haven’t really kept up with their social profiles or haven’t kept up with their art. So really lapsing in the self-promotion and more importantly keeping connected with the #NFTcommunity is the main thing that would keep me from purchasing from an artist.
For the art itself, I’m obviously into nature and landscapes, and photography but not exclusively. I hope that I can appreciate beauty in many forms, but admittedly trend towards calm, peaceful art.
MintedTM:
Do you have any advice for NFT artists that haven't sold anything for a while or ever since they minted something? And do you have advice for NFT artists that have been selling their artworks like hot potato?
PapaBearded:
For artists who haven’t sold as much, patience is always a virtue. Keep working on your brand, sharing your story, supporting other artists with shares and making connections on Twitter especially. If you feel like you keep sharing your stuff out there into a void, try expanding your reach by following, RT’ing, commenting and asking questions about other artists. Join a discord (@NFTPhotoArt shout out again!) or gc’s where you can learn more about how to better present your work and improve your craft.
For artists who’ve been selling, far be it from me to give advice, other than once you’ve paid some bills, do as I see so many others doing and support other artists by becoming a NFT collector yourself!
MintedTM:
We heard stories that you helped artists get jump started in NFT spacing considering minting an artworks costs a ton of money, is this true? We know for a fact that one guy was able to get really involved with everything in NFT as much as possible because of your generosity. Is this an instinct to help people out? Was there an instance that your kindness was taken or abused by people?
PapaBearded:
I really felt like these airdropped funds, and my timing at being relatively early (specifically for NFT photography) meant that I was well positioned to be able to help folks out. There is such a steep learning curve to getting started in this space, and mistakes can be costly. So when I had someone that I saw was doing everything right, contributing to the community, focusing on their art, but couldn’t break through the initial financial barrier, I was happy to take a leap of faith or two.
I have no regrets about anyone I’ve helped, and have only really had one unfortunate experience where I felt a bit taken advantage of by a collaborator. There were other warning signs in this case, but it was 3 strikes and block/ignore/move on for me.
MintedTM:
Do you have any advice for people that seem to don’t have a “branding” of themselves? How should they communicate/brand their art?
PapaBearded:
It’s tricky to try to stand out, but to paraphrase one of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, today you are you, it’s truer than true; there’s no one alive who is you-er than you. Be yourself, don’t try to bend your art to “what will sell”, and try to work on how to share your story. This doesn’t mean be defensive of your work, as I think it’s important to be able to take criticism in order to grow as an artists, but just doing what you think will sell isn’t a good way to build your brand in my opinion.
Figure out how to share some of your deepest passion through your art, and if you find a style that feels right great! If after a time it doesn’t feel right anymore also great! For me, it’s birds for life, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try to reinvent my styles with them, and of course to get out and see more birds.
MintedTM: Do you have any inspirations in art or photography? How did you come across their work?
PapaBearded: Honestly, I’ve gotten so much inspiration from simply being around so many creative people in this space! Two of the people who come to mind, who have really helped me think more deeply about my photography and edits are @claudslr and @thatbloom They are so generous with their time and willingness to think deeply about composition and edits with so many people in this space!
MintedTM:
What’s your definition of beauty? In art of course. What do you find beautiful and what do you find visually unpleasant?
PapaBearded:
I already kinda mentioned that peaceful nature-inspired work is totally my jam, but I hope that I’m able to find beauty in lots of things! I tend to shy away from angry or violent art, but that’s mostly my personality. I’m also working to overcome a pretty Catholic upbringing which gives me pause with some of the nudity in art. I honestly can’t say I always know if something is objectifying or celebrating the human figure, in all its diversity, but I’m working on becoming a better appreciator of a wide-range of art!
MintedTM:
Before we wrap up the first interview, what are your tips for artists that want to get into NFTs? What is your advice for people who are focusing on the carbon emission of NFTs?
PapaBearded: I’ve already said it best in responding to personal branding and getting involved/giving back to the community, so I’d say artists new to NFTs should start there.
As for the carbon emission impact, it’s non-zero for sure, but I really don’t think we need to be demonizing artists. Most of the carbon impact of the Ethereum network is still in DeFi rather than NFTs, and the switch to ETH 2.0 and proof-of-stake should radically change this narrative. Electricity is only a small part of our global carbon impact, so you’d honestly be making a bigger impact by giving up beef and flying places. That said, there’s fortunately amazing organizations like @offsetra and their carbon. fyi tool that can help you understand a sense for your personal ETH wallet’s impact and can purchase carbon offsets (which I’d encourage everyone to do when they’re able!)
MintedTM:
What a conversation! thank you PapaBearded for giving your time to answer our questions as honest as you can and they're well thought of, we truly hope that our readers would find value and lessons in between the things you said. It's truly a joy hearing you talk about life, your thought process in your decision making steps and most importantly, sharing a piece of your soul through this article.
Conclusion:
PapaBearded knows what connects to him, as a collector, he values stories that pairs with art, which i think should always be the case and the standard (rarely followed these days) for all artists. I appreciate that he looks for something deeper than just aesthetics. We can also see that PapaBearded radiates a natural positive attitude and energy, he helps people without expecting anything in return, I think that's rare these days. Most followers or artists will follow you on twitter and unfollow if you don't follow them back, they are only after the numbers, they aren't really invested or interested in you as a person or at least in your art. PapaBearded would give a portion of his time (despite being a busy dad) to get to know you, regardless if you have 20 or 10,000 followers, you know we can tell sometimes that an artists only interacts with certain individuals if they have a big following and if it benefits them. PapaBearded isn't that, and this aspect alone is something I appreciate about this man, more than his character as an artist and a collector.
so the key lessons here is that.
Learn from your mistakes everybody makes mistakes, its truly the bold ones that are willing to take risks and use them as stepping stone moving forward. after all, if you are not failing, you are not doing something new.
Value shared life and interacting with people Please take note to never see them as assets or connections, they are breathing sentient beings with story to tell and that's how PapaBearded sees people
Patience is always a virtue This quote may sound redundant and overused but its true right? even Roman Empire wasn't built overnight.
Be Yourself Another commonly used quote but rarely given time to value, this is overlooked yet underrated advice. Art that stands out are usually the most honest pieces or either the best marketed ones. If you can't market yourself properly these days, being brutally honest about yourself and art could be something you can work on. after all, you're a unique individual that needs to start looking at yourself more than you look at other people.
Know What Connects To You As we said earlier, honesty is a big plus in this day and age of social media where everything can be a bot, burner, 'too good life to be true' kind of personality. you have to know what you find beautiful and why you do what you do so you could infuse them in your art.
Thanks for reading! we know its a bit lengthy but no word was used without any value. everything counts.
If you're interested in getting in contact with PapaBearded, you can get in touch with him through his twitter at twitter.com/PapaBeardedNFTs and check out his NFTs at through his TryShowTime
Got questions? tweet us! who should we interview next?
April 5, 2021 by MintedTM
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