THE SHAPE SHIFTER
“Self-promotion is an important aspect of this because the blockchain is a very noisy space.”
Rick Crane creates colorful artworks that stun audiences and mesmerizes collectors. Trained as a graphic designer, Rick designed t-shirts and sold art prints before venturing into the NFT space. Dabbling in crypto before becoming an NFT artist proved to be a very valuable learning curve that provided him with a greater understanding of the technical aspects of the blockchain.
Rick believes in the power of collaboration and enjoys working with people with a technical skill set that differs from his own and can help take his work in different directions. His most notable collaboration to date includes working alongside Rich Poole on a generative project titled ‘Acequia’ in November 2022. The project is a visual representation of the Spanish adaptation of an Arabic word ‘as-sāqiya,’ meaning ‘water carrier.’ They also worked together on ‘Miniscapes,’ released earlier that year on FXhash.
As a collector, Rick fell in love with Tezos early on. He now sports an extensive and diverse collection of art pieces that continues to evolve as the NFT space evolves. His strategy is simple: he collects what truly resonates with him instead of looking for pieces he can quickly flip.
Rick offers some great advice to artists trying to make a career out of art on web3. He shares: “For some people, it’s really tricky to do self-promotion and talk about their work and push it out there. You have to get over your discomfort and make the most of your marketing efforts. Self-promotion is an important aspect of this because the blockchain is a very noisy space.”
He is very conscious of how easy it is to lose touch with the real world when you are immersed in web3. A true nature lover at heart, his work is inspired by the natural world and always relates back to it in one way or another.
Still optimistically cautious about some areas of web3, Rick reiterates the importance of having a balanced view of all new technologies. While he is a big fan of all the positive aspects, he believes in keeping an open mind and acknowledging the negative ones along the way as well. We look forward to the next Rick Crane drop – as do his many fans and followers!
