To digital curator and multi-disciplinary artist Stonez the Organic, the NFT space goes beyond the realm of art and into a place of healing. Though the Philadelphia native has only been in the NFT world for less than a year, he’s already become a six-figure artist with plans to open a brick-and-mortar studio in 2022. For those on the outside, Stonez’s rise to fame may appear simple – but the journey to becoming one of the most successful NFT artists didn’t come without its challenges.

Upon losing his full-time teaching job earlier this year, Stonez began exploring other options, and that’s when fellow digital artist Andre Oshea introduced him to the NFT space. “With NFTs, I was in a really hurt place losing my full-time job. I was teaching, and I loved it. So then, I just spent a lot of time creating art that represented the spiritual place I was in, which was a place of healing,” Stonez says. “I think that it's also interesting that your first piece in the NFT space is called the Genesis piece. I think it’s dope because, for a lot of artists, this is their rebirth into their artistry, their self-worth, their value, and their understanding of themselves as an artist.”

See also: How Artist Andre Oshea Is Leading the Way in the Digital Renaissance

Oshea told Stonez about his success in the space and invited him to listen in on NFT discussions via Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces. Moved by what he witnessed and heard from other NFT artists, including Oshea, Stonez minted his first NFT in April 2021 and has since seen the fruits of his labor.

No doubt, the environment you surround yourself in can assist in your growth as an individual, and for Stonez, this has proven true. He cites the community of NFT artists he’s had the opportunity to meet as an encouraging force in his career. “I think I was pretty lucky in being able to find community early. I think that the people who came before me were searching for what I kind of stumbled into, like Black NFT Art and Umba Daima. We were literally building the hubs for people to feel comfortable as they walked into this space,” Stonez states. “When it comes to the dissemination of information, or a ‘like’ or retweet, I think that this space is much freer flowing as far as promoting and amplifying artists. We all want to see each other succeed.”

Although some NFT artists enter the space and continue with other full-time employment, most enter this digital art world with a new purpose and intention, which was the case with Stonez. Moreover, his artwork is laced with positive messaging about healing, persevering, and “relying not necessarily on the influence of others, but knowing that a lot of the light that we are searching for is within,” Stonez mentions.

The success of his three-part study and installation, SPECTRUM, which debuted in October 2021, allowed Stonez to invest in a gallery in Philadelphia. So, he will be part owner of a music studio and an NFT gallery in the new year. “I'm just hoping to provide as much opportunity as possible. Me and my partner want to bring more healing to the space and an opportunity for underrepresented artists,” Stonez says. “I didn't see myself here nine months ago or even six months ago. I'm loving everything that's just coming without expectation.”

Below, Stonez talks about three significant pieces he’s created throughout the year.

Favorite creation: 3rd Eye Empress

“My favorite piece that I love is 3rd Eye Empress. It's a photo manipulation of my partner, Crux. She is a movement artist in this space. She's a professional dancer. It was the third piece I minted, and the reserve price was 3.33ETH. I had it minted for two months before I listed it because I just loved that piece that much. I didn't want to put it for sale. I put it up for a very high price. I barely promoted it because I didn't really want it to sell. It was a pivotal point for me and my artistry with just taking a step in a different style as far as trusting myself with photo manipulation and incorporating my partner in my art, which I thought was very beautiful and something I just hadn't seen yet. I think that this was a step in just a creative exploration, putting our love in our art as well. This was the beginning of her character and her introduction to the metaverse before she was even minting. Actually, there is six pieces total that I used her figure directly to tell the story of Crux in the metaverse. I did a lot with colors and combining different elements and telling a story.”

Favorite collaborative project: Dimension47

“Me and Andre [Oshea] collab lot. We had a really cool drop that we just did in two pieces. If you bought both of the pieces, we would AirDrop you another piece. Then, a week later, we had an auction house built for the third installment of that piece, which was pretty sick. So, if you got one of the pieces, you got access to a song we made back in the day. The big drop was Dimension47. Andre likes to experiment with environments and building scenes. I would play around with making a piece, and then he would make the environment around the piece.”

Most successful piece to date: SPECTRUM

“SPECTRUM went well as far as the value trading and stamping me as a six-figure artist. So, it was a three-part study. First, it was light and movement where I did a real-life installation. We had an opportunity to take over a studio space here in Philly and redid the entire lighting of the venue. I had my partner Crux dancing under a blacklight. It was just beautiful. The whole premise was to have people explore and understand moving through darkness. Each corner was illuminated within the building, like illuminating the corners of your life. So, be okay exploring these dark things, and light will come from it.

Part two was color, which was the collection of 333 handmade pieces that did super well on OpenSea. There were so many people who were just like, “Man, this is such a beautiful collection. Thank you for creating this.” It took my breath away. I got emotional as this was happening because I didn't expect that. Then, the third part was sound, which was an EP that I put together. People loved the music too. SPECTRUM showed me so much as far as just having intention and creating art from a pure place.”