Art & Technology Highlights
Introduction: I was exposed to art from a young age. My creative journey began with piano lessons and art classes, which my parents encouraged for both me and my siblings. While painting and sculpting were never my strong suits, I found my passion in photography and music. In fact, my musical talent was recognized with a college scholarship offer to minor in piano/music.
Photography quickly became one of my favorite artistic expressions. I started with film cameras and embraced digital photography in the late 90s. By the late 2000s, I began sporadically selling some of my photography.
Parallel to my artistic endeavors, I've been involved in the blockchain space since around 2011. My interest in NFTs was piqued in 2021, and by 2022, I was both buying NFTs and minting my own pieces. Most of my minted art consists of photography, which I like to enhance using modern tools (like interpolative upscaling algorithms), and AI-assisted pieces, I started exploring generative AI tools in mid-2022 (and taught a five-part class on the subject for InPeak in early 2023). My work includes a few fully on-chain pieces on both Ethereum and Bitcoin, where I have led with some notable technological innovations. Additionally, I have experimented with both glitch and abstract elements in my art, continuously pushing the boundaries of my creative expression.
In the business world, I have had a successful career, mostly in the construction industry. I have owned and operated multiple companies, including as the vice president of one of the largest plumbing companies in Texas. I have a wide range of interesting licenses and certifications: everything from plumbing licenses in Arizona and Texas to technology certifications from Google and Harvard. I have consulted for Fortune 500 companies and currently sit on two boards (for a California-based company and an Arizona-based charity). For my day job, I work as a roof consultant, which gives me the opportunity to take lots of photographs from on top of roofs in the Arizona desert.
An index of all my currently minted pieces can be found HERE.
1st NFT Minted: April 28, 2022 on Zora - Burned by sending to vitalik.eth on July 23, 2022 - Image taken with an iPhone in Tokyo circa 2009.
1st Public NFT Mint: "Bear Market Blues" OE on November 10, 2022 via Manifold - This thread on Twitter/X sums up the (still ongoing) project.
1st Collection Mint: "Ceci n'est pas une tapis" (or, "This is not a rug") - December 2022 - This thread on Twitter/X discusses the collection.
First Fully On-Chain Piece: "together" - Minted May 2023 - Bought by the infamous ben.eth for 0.5 Ξ (private, off-chain sale) - The first mint to use diid's efficax extension (after diid himself). One of the first fully on-chain mints to use SSTORE2 to store data more efficiently on-chain.
Highest Sale (0.69 Ξ): "North of Eden" - Minted 1/1/2023 (1st Photo NFT) - Bought by 888 Inner Circle 6/19/2023 - Twitter/X Post - Taken with an iPhone camera in 2010.
Inscribed Early Bitcoin Ordinals: 3 Pieces (All Sub-80k) - Minted Early-Feb 2023 - Twitter/X Post
- I consider the first ordinal (#57,395) to be an artist's proof. I did sell the ETH version as a 1/1 (since I have no plans to ever sell the BTC version). I also consider the ETH version to be definitive version, since it is higher quality. Here is a post that discusses the shooting and editing process.
Created a Way to Compress Vector Art on Bitcoin: 10/6/2023 - Twitter/X Thread
1st Interactive Compressed Ordinal: "Blush Heist" - 10/31/2023 - Twitter/X Thread
1st Cross-Chain Collection (ETH, SOL, TEZ): "The Artist as Art" - December 2023 - Twitter/X Thread - ETH piece still available.
2nd Fully On-Chain Piece to Utilize SVGZ Compression: "pickle" - January 2024 - The second mint to use diid's (then unreleased) new version of the efficax extension to utilize SVGZ compression (a technique I first outlined on BTC, and which diid then added to his ETH extension based on our discussions). Twitter/X Thread
I'm not sure how I feel about this being the piece that got me into the 787 Update.
More Pieces
"D1CKPUNCH" (12/8/2022) - The only parody piece(s) I've released.
1st Commission (March 2023) - Commissioned by InPeak to create 23 unique pieces.
1st FakeRareDecal (March 2023) - A collaboration with doomfuzz - created for the EVMavericks.
"Eye in the Sky" Collab with Monas (March 2023) - Sold in October 2023.
1st Solo FakeRareDecal (April 2023) - A ripcache and Daft Punk inspired piece!
Async Art "Forever Supper" Expansion Pack (May 2023) - Created an official expansion pack ("Neon Dream") in conjunction with InPeak.
Most Recent Tezos Collection (7/13/2023) - Twelve abstract and glitch pieces.
"future imperfect" (7/16/2023) - 1st On-Chain Edition (ERC-1155) - At the time, there was no easy tooling to do this, so I had to figure everything out on my own (diid's efficax extension now makes this a point-and-click process). Also, my first bidders edition. Plus, a process post.
"Looking" (7/21/2023) - One of my favorite rooftop photographs. Plus, a post discussing my editing and shooting philosophy.
Museum of Crypto Art Fundraiser (August 2023) - Created a burn-to-redeem piece.
Part of The Builders DAO "Builders Box" (October 2023) - More info: here.
"Taste Over Tools" (11/29/2023) - My first Transient Labs contract.
1st Solana Editions (1/16/2024) - Released with The Builders DAO & Exchange Art
"Eccentrics" (Feb 2024) - My first collection on the L2 Base. More info: here and here.
- The inspiration for this collection was an earlier (still minting) collection I released around Thanksgiving 2023 ("Nepe"). More info: here and here.
Pieces Exhibited
- Ghent, Belgium - July 2024 (Gentse Festival)
- Hosted by The Builders DAO & Artcrush Gallery
- Piece "Arizona Twilight"
- Barcelona, Spain - Sept/Oct 2023
- Hosted by 888 Inner Circle at Mrs. Toolip Art Gallery
- Piece "The Slow Decay of Excess"
- Florence, Italy - Hosted by Dimensions DAO
- Piece: "Passing Through"
- Milan, Italy - Hosted by The Builders DAO
- Piece: "Unnatural Landscape"
- Paris, France - Hosted by The Builders DAO
- Piece: "North of Eden" (along with 9 other photos)
- Scottsdale, Arizona - Hosted by Club FOMO
- Pieces: "In Fields of Color" & Brighter Days"
Featured
- NFT Pulp Twitter/X Thread - "Creators of Metaverse" #11 - 4/18/2023
Unminted Pieces
#DailyMuse - I've been created a piece daily for over four months.
Prior to the #DailyMuse thread, I was creating and showing several unminted pieces each week. Here are a few of the posts: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Curator
I created ABC Art World on Foundation in June 2023.
Over 13 ETH in sales and 200+ collectors in under 12 months. Featured some great artists. On hold since February 2024, due to market conditions and a lack of time.
Collector
I've collected thousands of pieces across ETH (L1 & L2s), BTC, SOL, TEZ, AVAX, etc.
ETH: Main Wallet & Vault Wallet
BTC: Main Wallet
SOL: Main Wallet
TEZ: Main Wallet
Other Web3 Roles
Current Affiliations (Paid & Volunteer)
- EVMavericks Steward
- Swell Community Council
- Fingerprints DAO Curation Committee
- InPeak Educator
- Helium Mobile Builder Affiliate
- Floor Ambassador
Podcasts, Twitter Spaces, Classes, Shows & Conferences - I have been asked to speak at various events over the past several years.
Developer - I have been hired to do both smart contract and other technical work for multiple projects on Ethereum and Bitcoin. Due to confidentiality issues, I cannot name most of the projects or artists involved.