POW with Squirterer.eth

Squirterer.eth is an artist working in digital and traditional art. She likes to create digital paintings, photography, gifs and more while being active in the NFT and Web3 Space.

 What were you doing before Web3?

I am an artist working in digital and traditional art. I like doing digital paintings and photography as well as making GIFs.

I came from a traditional art background. I came from an art school where I majored in painting. So, we were really just doing traditional painting and a little bit of sculpture.

The only digital experience I had was doing photography and photo manipulation for fun. It wasn’t that hard for me to learn digital painting since I already had a little bit of experience with Photoshop.

 How did you get into Web3?

I started getting interested in crypto in 2018. I joined the blogging platform Hive (formerly Steem), which gives rewards to content creators and curators.

Since I didn’t really have a lot of knowledge of crypto trading at that time, it was easier for me to grasp the idea since you get to enjoy making content as well.

I joined a curation group and made friends along the way. Then, I eventually understood the importance of a blockchain and how it stores data, owning your keys, and financial literacy.

After that, I found my way into NFTs. And it was easier for me to grasp the idea of digital ownership since I already have a cryptography background.

It was a bonus that I am an artist who also deals with traditional art galleries and sees the importance of ownership, royalties, transparency, and provenance.

 What was your first crypto or NFT project?

My very first NFT was a photography GIF minted on Makersplace. Unfortunately it can’t be seen on my ETH wallet since I did an oopsie.

I didn’t know Makersplace was using a wallet on their own and I didn’t connect mine haha. It was fixed tho after a few months. Rookie mistake!

 How would you explain what you do to someone outside of Web3?

I just say I make art and sell it to people and I’m in crypto as well. If they want me to elaborate then I tell them I am on a social media platform and make my own NFTs.

I also sometimes tell them the importance of holding your own wallet, being rewarded for content, not wasting your time on web2, etc.

 Which creator or thought leader do you enjoy learning from?

@Acidyo on Hive and @oAcido on Twitter. He is the founder of one of the biggest curation project on Hive, OCD.

His vision for Web3 is insane. He would tell me about his ideas or plans on improving curation on Hive, community building, and in general state of the crypto.

The amount of things I learned from him is massive. He was also the one who guided me with creating my own ETH wallet and mint there as well. His ideas to improve something for the benefit of everyone is incredibly amazing.

 What is the biggest highlight of your career so far?

I guess that would be to be able to exhibit in Carrousel du Louvre.

It is always my dream to exhibit in Paris and being able to do so in Focus Art Fair in 2022 and of course in Carrousel du Louvre, is a big step for more opportunities.

We were recently able to exhibit in Galerie IHAM too (NFT gallery in Paris) with the awesome Gxrls Revolution and I can’t be more proud.

 What tech or crypto trend are you watching this year?

I’m looking at big games actually integrating NFTs for their skins and stuff like that.

I mean, seriously, skins in CSGO could go up to thousand bucks and people are okay with keeping that kind of item in an account using only an email as your access?

And the game can lock you out anytime from your account? I wouldn’t be comfortable holding that much with only an email. Gaming assets as NFTs will be insane.

 What advice would you give someone starting out in Web3?

Read a lot. While it is a common idea to spend a tiny bit of cash as a starting point with trading, investing, minting, etc., do know that you absolutely DON’T have to spend a penny.

There are a lot of opportunities out there that could get you into web3 without you having to spend out some cash and sometimes even be able to earn from it. You just have to know the right place to look.

 If you could do a TEDtalk on any topic, what would it be?

I guess it would be “Sneaking, deception, planning: Golden retrievers and their ways to steal food”

 What is the one thing you would bring if you were stuck on a deserted Island?

Maybe a knife would be nice. Yes, I’m a boring person who won’t just answer something-funny-thing-cos-this-question-is-just-for-fun-so-don’t-be-realistic but to be honest I’d rather be straightforward hahaha.

A knife is a great tool for me to survive in an island.

But of course, if you would say I can bring two things then that would be my phone and a Starlink dish. Why bother surviving when you could just ask for help and wait a few hours.

POW stands for “Proof of Work.” It is a new feature article series in The Mega Maxi to highlight the savviest builders in the Web3 space.