Categories
Elisa Lejuez, Aruba’s most versatile artist
Category: Art
Categories
Joachim McMillan, Cold Wallet Art
Cold Wallet Art
In 2016, Intel engineer/manager Damon Smedley decided to walk away from his career of 22 years and invested his retirement in Bitcoin. Damon has now partnered with artist and Intel technician, Joachim McMillan, to create a new style of art they have dubbed “Scored Bitcoin”.
Scored Bitcoin fashions Joachim’s Mozayic style painting coupled with the keys to the cold wallet, that are “scored” into the face of the painting. Attached to the back of the art piece is a cold wallet. A cold wallet is a storage mechanism for Bitcoin that allows a safe place for your Bitcoins to reside rather than on the internet or on one of the many different electronic devices that are used to store Bitcoins.
In 2017, Damon wanted to buy one of Joachim’s pieces as a gift to a friend. He paid .374 Bitcoin for the art piece that was valued at $1500.00. Today, that Bitcoin value would be just shy of $10,000.00.
The very first scored Bitcoin art piece was sold at a charity auction in 2019 to benefit Cure JM and the local Ronald McDonald house charities. The piece was circulated on the internet, and donors were asked to add Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash to the wallet. The coins donated now reside on that painting and will remain as part of the value of the art piece. The owner has the ability to open the cold wallet and “sweep” the wallet if desired. This allows the value of the associated Bitcoins to be moved electronically to a wallet such as Bitpay, which has a traditional Visa card associated with it. The owner can then easily spend the value of the Bitcoins.
So, who does Damon and Joachim see as future customers of this new market? In their eyes, these pieces will be sought after by an older generation looking for a beautiful art piece, but it is also a way to put money away for the future. Many people have heard about Bitcoins and its rising value, but very few know how to buy or store it. This unique new art gives those who don’t want to learn the technology but still would like to invest, an easy way to do so.
In times of crisis, it is nice to know you can very easily sweep the wallets’ contents and have immediate liquidity. Some people spend large amounts of money on collector art, but have a very small market to resell if immediate liquidity is needed. The fusion of technology and art in these cold wallet Art pieces allows grandma to rest a little bit easier knowing she has Bitcoin on her wall. When the day comes to move into a rest home, she can sweep the wallet and still have her art piece hanging on the wall.
You can purchase her work on her website https://www.helenmiddletonstudio.co.uk/shop-helen-middleton-studio-collection
View her work on instagram.com/helenmiddletonstudio1
Email – info@helenmiddletonstudio.co.uk
Categories
Kervin Andre – Haitian Artist
Kervin André, Haitian Artist
Kervin A Andre is a visual artist whose proud Haitian Heritage emanates from every brushstroke. He was born and raised in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Kervin’s talent was birthed amidst the beauty and splendor of the First Black Republic in the Americas.
Throughout the years, this self-taught artist, has honed his skills and exercises his artistic talents through many mediums.
Kervin’s spent his formative years in Haiti and moved to Elizabeth NJ at the age of 15 with his family.
It is these years that have shaped his deep appreciation for his culture and it’s rich history.
He started drawing at an early age, but it was not until his 20s when he attended an art event that he realized he could turn his passion into a career.
Kervin is the beloved father of two beautiful daughters, who motivate him daily. He is committed to leaving a legacy behind for his daughter and others. He wants to instill a sense of pride, heritage, culture and true knowledge of self.
His art work displays an acute sense of pride and social responsibility.
He credits his intellectual curiosity to his father and his strength and resilience to his mother. All of his subjects depict strength, resilience and hope. Kervin spends countless amount of time researching his subjects as he dives into each piece. He draws inspiration from everything around him. However, all of his art is focused on uplifting and realizing the power of who we are as a people.
“My art is a testament of the social injustices going on in the world today, especially those affecting the Black community.”
After renovations, the old port of Jaffa now teems with life and activity. It houses several bookstores, cafés, nightclubs and more.
Categories
Helen Middleton Studio
Helen Middleton Studio
Helen Middleton is an artist/designer who encourages sustainable living through creative design. I take industrial materials and waste and transform them into original, contemporary products.
Owner of Helen Middleton Studio, Helen is a contemporary designer creating pieces which are playful and intriguing, combining beauty and a cause, earning their place in your environment whilst capturing your attention. Her designs are either made from 100% recyclable steel, created using UK manufacturers or hand made from industrial waste material- where she works with businesses to repurpose their waste material into new, contemporary objects. By encouraging businesses to reuse their waste, new exciting, affordable products can be created, promoting an alternative to landfill.
Helen believed having her son changed her perception of the world. She began thinking ‘What’s the point of a pretty looking chair when the world’s falling apart?’ It wasn’t enough that people admired her work. She needed to use her artist gift to do good in the world. Helen believed design should go beyond the superficial. It should embody a message, it should engage and empower us to make a difference in our world. And above all, it should be fun.
Through waste-led design, Helen is reusing industrial waste material creating contemporary, affordable products with little or no environmental impact. By making waste the core part of her process, she helps companies be eco friendly whilst providing endless design possibilities….. and she loves every minute of it. Helen is privileged to collaborate with large printing companies to repurpose their industrial waste instead of it ending up in landfill by re-using their old printing sheets as the canvas for her work. She loves scraping away the paint, discovering the text underneath, giving an insight into the metals previous life. All the scratches and colour charts create a unique element to the piece. This discarded piece of metal has now been reused with an exciting and new purpose by converting waste into art. From the original artwork, she has created museum quality giclée prints, individually signed and printed on cotton rag paper. Sustainability and the circular economy is very important to Helen, therefore even at the very early stages of her creative process, she was thinking how to create that piece of artwork for you and what materials to use. Each piece is printed on 300gsm unbleached cotton paper. This museum quality paper is amazing as it is made from 100% recycled cotton t-shirts and rags resulting in no trees being cut down . Artwork that is beautiful whilst supporting the circular economy.
You can purchase her work on her website https://www.helenmiddletonstudio.co.uk/shop-helen-middleton-studio-collection
View her work on instagram.com/helenmiddletonstudio1
Email – info@helenmiddletonstudio.co.uk
