As the year 2022 comes to a close, I've been reflecting on the past week and all the hard work that I've put in. It's truly a surreal feeling to see all of your efforts come to fruition and be appreciated by others. However, I've also been realizing that I am not always great at taking the time to appreciate my own accomplishments. I often find myself quickly moving on to the next project without allowing myself the opportunity to be proud of what I have accomplished.

This year has been off to a great start for me, as I've been focusing on organizing my projects and working on more fleshed-out, detailed pieces. I've made progress in organizing my characters, which had been a major obstacle for me in the past. Moving forward, I hope to focus on creating a more cohesive world and a map that can be explored and updated.

This article, however, is not about my overall goals for the year. It's about taking a moment to appreciate the achievements of this past week. In particular, I am extremely proud of the piece I created called "Create With Freedom". It's a callback to a song that inspires me a lot. It's not really a lyric in the track. But its what I've repeated to myself a lot. I've always wanted to create what I want and to be able to do it without stress. This community behind me has truly allowed me to do so beyond imagination.

Make Art, And Fuck the rest is also another common one.

Actually, you know what. Listen to this song, it will be the articles tracklist. My good friend Zion aka Shauxradio showed me it.

I released "Create With Freedom" at the end of the year to specifically keep that reminder close to myself. It's easy to get lost in this fast pace internet world. I also wanted to give Roy a special thank you for picking up this piece, as well as two others in this past week. They have been beyond supportive, and in a way that doesn't feel negative. I even sent them some cute Phetta toys, I hope to send them a few more as a thank you.

You can see the piece here:

At the start of 2023, I decided it was a good time to release my first-ever open edition. I made a piece that I was truly proud of and I believe captured the true essence of the universe I've been building. One thing I noticed towards the end of 2022 is I have slowly become a lot better with my animations and modeling. I always am very critical of myself, but it is something I need to be aware of and appreciate.

I am thrilled to announce that the "Into The Phettaverse" piece that I recently created and released, was met with an overwhelmingly positive response. The piece was able to secure 37 mints at a price of .09 ETH, and I am thrilled that so many individuals were able to get their hands on an edition of the piece, even those who were unable to do so previously.

While I am incredibly proud of this accomplishment, I must admit that I made a small mistake. The piece was only available for 14 hours instead of the intended 24 hours, and I apologize to anyone who missed the opportunity due to my oversight. Despite this, I am still incredibly happy with the final outcome and grateful for the support and enthusiasm showed by the community toward my work.

A day after my open edition, my piece for the MakingIt drop "Children of The Internet" was perfectly timed to begin it's auction at .1. This piece meant a lot to me, and I also really enjoyed the prompt that was given. Growing up I have been on the internet ever since I could remember, and by the age of 15 or so I was already creating content online. Starting with silly videos, to music, to painting, to now making the Phettaverse.

At the age of 15, I found myself in a difficult situation. Unfortunately, I began to struggle with substance abuse, specifically with meth and heroin. It can be difficult for me to talk about this aspect of my past, but I have been working on being more open and honest about my experiences. I am grateful to say that if it were not for my passion for art, I may not have been able to overcome my addiction and find purpose in my life. My grandmother played a crucial role in my development as an artist. She was an art teacher and would often provide me with various art supplies without any specific instructions, encouraging me to explore my creativity. I am deeply grateful for her influence and support.

The artwork depicts Phetta sitting on top of a large, open mouth. The mouth is depicted as grinding its teeth and blinking erratically, suggesting a sense of agitation or unease. The mouth is also wired to the internet, symbolizing the idea of instant sharing of thoughts and creative output. This piece is meant to convey a unique perspective on the theme of self-expression and the sharing of personal experiences and emotions through technology. The imagery of the figure sitting on top of the agitated mouth could suggest a sense of control or mastery over one's thoughts and emotions, while the wired connection to the internet could suggest the ease and immediacy with which we can now share our innermost selves with the world.

This piece was settled at 0.4628 ETH and my good friend MetaMike was happily the one to secure it!

I do be writing a lot so I am thankful for anyone still reading this, I love you deeply.

My FINAL piece of this week was my collab with Cryptocubes to make my own version of it. I was really happy with this collab as I remember seeing Cryptocubes first drop. They always stood out to me and I really enjoyed the work and care that Hans put into his project. So when i was offered a chance to make a Phettaverse version of a crypto cube I instantly took up the offer!

This artwork was sold on Niftygateway alongside other notable pieces from various artists. I used it as an opportunity to expand the Phettaverse and include the cryptocube as a subtle Easter egg in my fictional universe. The cryptocubes represent an extraterrestrial energy source that lands on unsuspecting planets and shares its energy with them.

This piece was also purchased by Roy, which is another big thank you to that amazing soul <3

OKAY! I rambled i'm sorry, but I wanted to be able to really lay this out so I have the chance to look back on what I have done and be proud.

Thank you for reading.