Hello friends,
On the 7th of June my painting ‘Lost in Dreamfields’ will be up for auction on Suspended Soul (www.suspendedsoul.com) – this will be my genesis NFT drop and the first painting of my genesis NFT collection ‘The Dreamfields’. I wanted to write a little blog to talk about my first NFT collection, my artistic background and my future plans in this space.
Growing up I’ve always found dreams to be beautifully horrifying, fascinating and above all deeply meaningful. I see the dream world as somewhere parallel to our own… a place where we spend half our lives. There is something special about a realm with no physical or emotional constraints; yet more real than real life. The Dreamfields are a little window into the universe inside my head and a product of how I use art as a tool to navigate my (often jumbled) thoughts. You can read more about the specific piece ‘Lost in Dreamfields’ here: https://designbyahad.com/2020/08/16/lost-in-dreamfields-far-away/
Now a little bit about my background. I have only worked full-time as an artist and designer since late last year. Prior to this I’d mainly worked and studied as an architect with art taking a back seat. However, after finishing my masters, the pandemic hit. For the first time in years, I had a break from the construction industry. This is when I decided to draw what I’d always wanted. This isn’t to say I disliked the drawings I’d done before, rather, I never felt a deep connection to them. I’d see gorgeous concept art online and have a go at it, or I’d see character studies and try that, but deep down I knew this wasn’t what I wanted to draw (I didn’t even know myself what I wanted, I was only really getting enjoyment from urban sketching and life drawing). Then two very amazing things happened. The first was Lost in Dreamfields, the only painting of mine I truly, up until that point, felt was ‘me’. The second amazing thing was that others liked it too, I don’t know what made the universe smile upon me that day (kudos if you get the reference) but the painting was shared by more people than all of my other work put together. I took this as a sign to start creating more; seeing how others interpreted my work gave me joy like nothing else. Now I am working as a freelance artist and designer, and while things are tough I truly feel that however small, there is a little place for my works in the art world. I don’t know what the future holds in terms of career but I do know now that as long as I am physically able I will never ever stop drawing.
Let’s talk about the future. One of main reasons I’ve taken so long to release my works as NFTs is because I was curating what I wanted my first two collections to be like. As someone who finds it difficult to over share and especially ‘market’ or ‘shill’ – I’d much rather people got to know me as a person and view my works as an extension of myself. My Dreamfield’s collection will feature 13 paintings released on the following platforms between June the 7th and 29th August 2021: Suspended Soul, Known Origin, Foundation, MakersPlace and HeN. 7 out of the 13 paintings will be single edition. 5 out of the 13 will be editions of 3 to 10 depedning on the platform and what I feel the work represents. Finally the last will be a surprise auction that only winners of the previous 12 will know about beforehand (with everyone else getting notified once the auction has begun); it will be an edition of 13. That will be it for The Dreamfields collection. A little extra; each painting of the collection is part of the Dreamfield’s Universe but also has it’s own story presented through a poem or short passage; these can be found in the descriptions of each auction. One day I will curate it into a shorty story.
To finish I would also like to announce my second NFT collection! which will be titled ‘Hell Dwellers’. Hell Dwellers in an epic narrative poem I’m in the process of writing and illustrating. Its story and imagery are a much darker than the Dreamfields collection, however it is also of a much grander scale. More info coming soon! I am still curating it and deciding on the number of NFTs I want to release with it.
Much love to all of you who read this and continue to support my work. No matter how sales go on my pieces I will keep creating, feel free to DM me anytime to talk art – I am always happy to share my process. Whether you collect or just like my pieces my channels are always open; though there may be some surprises in store for those willing to be the former :P.
All the best,
Ahad (wiresandtrees)
P.S. My second NFT and genesis drop on Known Origins will be available as part of an edition of 3 for 0.4E, titled ‘The Girl in the Dunes’ – I am a big fan and believer in the secondary market too so will generally keep editions to under 10
https://knownorigin.io/gallery/416800-the-girl-in-the-dunes
design by ahad//wiresandtrees 