I have been collecting NFTs for well over a year and barely putting any up for sale, until now.
For me the thrill comes from discovering new artists and buying their art because I believe its good. Art has to resonates with me so that I will buy it. If it goes up in value, that’s a bonus. I don’t care about “Status NFTs”, I don’t care what the mob is doing and I don’t care for the quick flip.
I have a good eye and confidence in my ability to see the future potential in artists. After all I’ve been doing that in the Physical Art World for over 35 years and have hundreds of paintings in my collection. I’ve worked in every capacity in the art world, as a director of a contemporary art gallery, an art consultant/advisor, a curator, an art prize judge, an art critic, mentor and of course as an artist.
I buy only what gives me pleasure and I see myself only as a temporary custodian of these NFTs. I own them for a period of time before I’m happy to pass them on to someone else who genuinely admires them.
No 1.
JEFF DAVIS, Abstract Token No 92, on sale for 7.2ETH
My first article on Nifty Art Collector, (7 Nov, 2020), titled 4 CRYPTO ARTISTS TO BUY AND WHY, had Jeff Davis top of the list. I bought 2 for under USD$100 each and now I’m selling this one for 7.2ETH. In fact all 4 artists have done well over the last 12 months. The article was about how to pick Art NFTs by good artists so as to start a collection that is affordable and can grow in value over time.
The rise of Generative art this last year has also seen the rise of Jeff Davis as a pivotal driver in artblocks.io and his first project there, “Construction Tokens” launched 28 November 2020. 500 Construction Tokens were minted and now have sales records numerous times over 10ETH and up to 30ETH.
Abstract Token No 92 predates artblocks.io and were limited to 100, half of which were in colour and the one above is amongst the best. You cannot find these genuine historically important NFTs, I think one other is on Opensea for 15ETH and nowhere near as good as this.
No.2
YURA MIRON, the Real me, on sale for 2.8 ETH
In the same NAC article, 4 CRYPTO ARTISTS TO BUY AND WHY, I talk of how I stumbled upon Yura’s work and instantly bought just ahead of a surge in interest in him that saw all 200 of his available NFTs selling in a matter of a week.
Go back a year or more, there were many artists creating NFTs with only casual sales and those sales were often for small amounts, however theses modest sales were appreciated by the artists. Instant selling wasn’t verification of an artist’s value, as it seems to be today. Yura Miron, is the real deal when it comes to being an artist and he really appreciated those who bought his NFTs.
“the Real me” was airdropped to 109 collectors, who have ever purchased any of my artworks on SuperRare, KnownOrigin, Rarible, MakersPlace, BlockchainArtExchange and Async (from the early 2019 & until October 5th 2020). I appreciate your support! Much love and gratitude to every single one of you.
Yura Miron is still powering as an artist. He had the courage to quit work in 2019 to create NFTs full time. 18 months before NFTs really started to take off, to take the plunge and dedicate yourself to your art is the hallmark of an artist who is confident in their art and also visionary in the future of the NFT space. Many artist flex nowadays about quitting work now that NFTs are a multi-billion dollar industry, try it back in the day when SuperRare hadn’t even sold a million dollars worth of NFTs in the platform’s lifetime.
No.3
ZAM, Marlene Revisited (Melting), 2020, edition of 6, on sale for 1.1ETH
I’m such a big fan of ZAM, I’m going to write about him again, very soon, to point out his success over the last year in NFTs. Meanwhile, a year ago I wrote about ZAM (Nov 9, 2020) in an article titled “ALWAYS BACK A WINNER” link The article was also about “Prices Law” and the difficulty in getting traction as an artist as more and more artists enter the game.
I snapped up this Marlene NFT after missing out on one earlier..
This new ‘Marlene’ will actually be the first new one created in a decade. The first were physically made 1987-89 (few now exist, 30+ years on) and then another 3 were created digitally in 2010. Two of the latter have been released thus far and quickly sold out; no plan to release the third one. This new piece, 'Marlene Revisited (Melting)', could be the only one made this decade - and maybe the LAST one period. Who knows, I can't see into the future.
Zam is one of the hardest working artists in NFTs, 16 hour days for weeks without a break. Over the last 14 months he’s sold over 280 NFTs, each creation labouriously made.
As far as I’m concerned ZAM is underpriced, to me its a no brainer. I would like to see him slow down and pace himself as he manages the scarcity to price ratio of his art.
No 4.
WICKANA, The manifestation chamber, edition of 3, on sale for 0.45ETH
LINK TO WATCH ANIMATION OR BUY
Wickana is wonderful artist from Indonesia that I’ve been secretly collecting in depth for many months. I’ve been meaning to write about her NFTs for months too, but regret not getting around to it. Wickana is the real deal when it comes to being an artist and her best attribute is quality consistency, she’s always top notch, always inventive, with a wicked sense of humour and her disturbing visions are also always delightfully amusing.
The Manifestation Chamber
In life, we picked many fragments from our waking states. As time goes by, they are left untouched and stored deeply in the corner of our minds.
Forgotten.
Once in a while, one by one, they try to emerge from the deep. Sending strange, but yet familiar signs to our consciousness. Is it the forgotten memories from the past that try to remind us? Or is it just our mind that playing tricks on us?
I have faith in Wickana and unknown to her, or anybody else I have amassed approximately 30 of her NFTs. I have not sold any and still accumulating for the long term.
Read between the lines, Wickana is a strong buy and I know how to pick artists.
No. 5.
DEF_INK, My name is PB&J, edition of 10, on sale for 0.44 ETH
LINK TO VIEW ANIMATION, OR TO BUY
My name is PB&J is a relatively early NFT by Def_Ink and if you want to read more about him, this article about spotting future potential is a must. DEFINITELY IRREVERENT, DEFINITELY_INKOGNITO IS DEFINITELY GOOD.
DEF_INK is one of the most underrated artists in NFTs, yet he ticks all the boxes for why you should invest in his NFTs, for the long game. I have bought in depth and I’m happy to wait it out, I know he’ll prevail, time is on my side.
No. 6.
JESS HEWITT (RUSTY SNIPER) PARTY LAVA , edition of 5, on sale for 0.5 ETH
Jess Hewitt (Rustysniper) is one of my favourite artists, she’s early into Generative art, consistently innovative and makes mesmerisingly seductive NFTs.
Like tears in the rain; The beautiful NFTs of Rustysniper is an article written over a year ago that features this NFT and a few others I have acquired. I have continued to buy and I am happy to see Jess Hewitt really starting to take off, especially on the Tezos NFT platforms.
Here’s an opportunity to purchase an early work by Jess, a real beauty and for what is still an affordable price. This is a no brainer for those who collect Generative art.
No. 7.
POP + ROBSON, Bad Dream 2, edition of 3, on sale for 1.5 ETH
Only 3 of these were editioned, one is in a vault, one is for sale for 10ETH and mine is available for just 1.5ETH
Original painting in oil turned into an Animation + Sound Design completed 2021.
Robson is an Australian artist on the rise in the world of NFTs, he’s already been featured as part of futurart.io which a had a launch in conjunction with Nifty Gateway which had large editions selling for over USD$1,000 each.
An artist to watch into the future, especially collectible for low editioned NFTs like this one.
No. 8.
Sporkart, She’ll be gone forever, edition of 6, on sale for 0.6 ETH
Allow me to introduce Dominic LaRiccia aka @sporkfineart to the Crypto Art world!
I’m a huge fan of Dominic (SPORKART’s) amazing collage NFTs, his trajectory is definitely up, everything selling so far for higher and higher prices and he’s about to launch a new series of NFTs on KNOWNORIGIN soon.
I’m not greedy, this one is modestly priced and yet I still will make a small profit.
I have bought in depth in Sporkart’s NFTs, I own 8 and I intend to keep buying, so why am I selling? I wanted Sporkart to be part of this article, I never intended to sell any for at least a year. So I’m letting one go, despite planning to slowly acquire at least 6 more over time.
Ironically this NFT is called “SHE’LL BE GONE FOREVER”, well she’s already gone, but you have a chance to still get one of Sporkart’s early NFTs. He’s slowing down the minting of new NFTs, focussing on more 1/1’s and I think that’ll lead to greater FOMO and price rises.
Only 4 months into NFTs and I predict before the year is out finding anything from Sporkart for under 1 ETH will be damn hard to do.
No. 9.
mendezmendez, Astro Cuts #001 Visitors, on sale for 0.35ETH
Visitors, the first and arguably the best piece of the Astro Cuts Series. mendezmendez is an accomplished collage artist in the NFT scene who has been creating surreal digital artworks for well over a decade. Using a myriad of techniques to accomplish a unique style, his artwork can be seen in many album covers by top musicians, and magazine covers. A finely tuned retro futuristic aesthetic, a must have if you’re into NFTs and haven’t bought a Spaceman yet, you get 2 Giant Spacemen for 0.35 ETH, on a beach, ogling sun-bakers.
No. 10.
RESATIO, Lusus Naturae VI: Planned Attack, 1/1, on sale for 0.9 ETH
Resatio is an Indonesian artist living in Sydney creating some of the best digital collages in the NFT world. The Lusus Naturae is a series that consists of otherworldly creatures that try to escape dystopia. Lusus Naturae VI: Planned Attack is a 1/1 NFT, most of the series are editioned, usually 5 or more priced at 0.5 - 0.75 ETH
A chance to get in early with this 1/1, definitely an artist to hodl, so why am I selling, because I have more than one of her works and I’m using this article to spread the word, buy and hold this artist.
Of course I don’t care if these 10 gems don’t sell, I have bought these artists in depth and some I’ve already held for over a year, which for me is nothing. I’m used to buying art to hold for years, not flip in a day.
Hey mate! Just found u again after more than 2 years since u started posting on Collection Shift. I got jaundiced about the wholeNFTspace since but l always appreciated your perspective. I'm back considering making some investments. Being a bit old school l wouldn't mind having a P2P at some stage. Let me know if this is a goer.