In August 2021, at the height of the NFT bullrun craze, TIME Magazine President Keith Grossman collected two of my digital artwork pieces, “Geometric Walk” and “Play A Song For Me”. Shortly thereafter, following each other and having a friendly exchange in the comments and messages on Twitter, he gave me a call and we talked about art and this new fascinating technology of non-fungible tokens and blockchain technology.
At the end of the conversation, he formally invited me to become an official TIME Magazine TIMEPieces artist, alongside other well-known TIME artists including Nyla Hayes and Beeple.
The first initiative with TIME in January 2022, I was invited to be a part of and contribute to their project entitled, “Slices of TIME”. Their signature initiative featured 4,000 slices of TIME Magazine covers produced by TIME Creative Director D.W. Pine from each year since their inaugural issue in 1923. The project also graciously included 38 artists to participate and asked us to create a piece of art that is meaningful to us for a chosen year. Each artist was invited to choose another artist to work with, who would then create an artwork imagining 100 years into the future. It was at this moment I had to decide to choose an artist to work with for such a meaningful project. Without a second guess I knew the artist I had to ask to help me with this important project. It was the masterful digital painter and artist, Toppy Eton. I knew with her passion and fire, determination plus skills, we would not only easily be able to live up to this challenge, but surpass my and everyone’s expectations which she and I did and she always still does to this day.
For this project, I chose the year 1986, which was very important to me. It was the year of my first learning lesson about art from my Uncle Chuck, who taught me how to use light when making art. He was one of the main illustrators for Martin-Marietta and NASA who painted The Titan Rocket, the Mars Viking Lander, Skylab and the Space Shuttle. This was also the year of the Challenger disaster and I wanted to pay respects to both. His remains were launched into orbit December 21st, 1999 as a space burial on the 7th Celestis flight after others like Gene Roddenberry, Eugene Earl Shoemaker and Timothy Leary. His artwork is displayed in The Smithsonian in Washington, DC. This art is a homage to both my late Uncle and all lives lost on the Challenger, who showed us we should always follow our dreams no matter what and that life is short and precious.
As a glimpse into the year 2086, and as a beautiful reflection and companion piece to my artwork, Toppy Eton created a stunning surrealist and futuristic portrait titled; “Cavatina”. An incredible work of art featuring a young woman astronaut in the future representing humanity’s longing for connection and meaning. This piece was inspired by NASA’s Voyager The Golden Record, which was launched by NASA in 1977 featuring sounds and images showcasing the diversity of life on earth to extra-terrestrial civilizations. You can read much more in-depth about her incredible piece here on her website- ToppyEton.art/Cavatina.
In working on and completing this important art project, “Slices of TIME”, Toppy Eton was formally invited to become and she joined as an Official TIME Magazine TIMEPieces artist.
Following “Slices of TIME”, the next initiative from TIME Magazine was a very thoughtful project called, “Artists for Peace”. Both Toppy Eton and I were asked along with other TIMEPieces artists to create and contribute with our efforts an artwork to be put on auction to help benefit the people of Ukraine with 100% of proceeds going to support humanitarian and relief efforts. We both decided to create pieces that not only reflected just the sadness and devastation of the war but also the potential hope and beauty of a possible and hopeful near future.
With my piece “SAVE UKRAINE”, I wanted to create a clear yet contrasting image of what is happening in Ukraine. I wanted to show the destruction, but also showcase the culture and potential hope for such a devastated city and people.
Toppy Eton created a gorgeous piece titled; “Cosmos”. This piece is one of my absolute favorite pieces from her. I think it’s not only incredibly subtle, but very beautiful and very powerful. From Toppy: “Cosmos reminds us that through art, we can revisit the past, explore the depths of our existence, challenge societal norms, and find solace in the face of adversity. Just as the frame of a painting enhances its beauty, our experiences shape the framework of our lives, allowing us to discover the extraordinary within the ordinary.” You can read more about her incredible artwork here on her website: ToppyEton.art/Cosmos.
With our efforts Toppy Eton and I were able to raise almost $10,000. My piece sold at auction for $2,850 and Toppy’s piece had a fierce bidding war at auction and raised a realized total of $6,242.18 USD. The combined TIME project of artists was able to raise a massive total of $363,000 for the humanitarian and relief efforts for the people of Ukraine.
