TRADING PROFIT MARGIN FOR HAPPINESS
“What we make is bigger than us, and a connection is formed with that work of art because they were actually part of its creation. That’s what Web3 allows.”
Lifelong artist Brian Morris’ career path took him into design, development, animation, and creative leadership. In 2022, he stepped away from the corporate environment to become a full-time artist. This purely creative space led him to NFTs. “I hope that in a hundred years from now, my drawings aren’t sitting in someone’s basement, but rather that they’re still in the marketplace, being seen.”
Brian started investing in cryptocurrency early, so he knows his way around the blockchain and he moved his crypto holding into ETH in 2017. It proved to be a wise decision. When the pandemic hit, Brian spent a lot of time on Clubhouse and was drawn to NFTs by the opportunity they offered him as an artist – a revenue stream that could sustain him. When he made his first sale, he was hooked, and all of his attention went into this new form of art.
Before NFTs, Brian posted daily on Instagram, but when he saw how active art had become on Twitter, he fired up his old account. His custom ape drawings were retweeted by The Bored Ape Yacht Club a couple of times, and his following soared. Brian’s collection, Order of the Glass Apes, can be found on OpenSea. When NFTs came along, “a lot of artists stepped into that together. That’s how I built a community and a following.’
Brian has an innovative project called The Insiders on brianmorris.art, where he invites 20 collectors each month to work with him on an art piece. Brian starts with a sketch and then spends 20 – 30 hours live-streaming with the collectors to create the finished piece. “The collectors are brought into the process. What we make is bigger than us, and a connection is formed with that work of art because they were actually part of its creation. That’s what Web3 allows.”
Brian’s focus remains primarily on art. “My emotional quota is way up. I’m way happier. My kids are way happier. I feel more of myself than ever before. I’ve traded profit margin for happiness. It’s a good trade.”
