Sndbox Spotlight 5: Interview with @natureofbeing [Steemit Craft, Collaboration and the Future of Creativity]

Spotlights are interviews! @sndbox reaches out to creative individuals and communities of all experience levels. Our goal is to raise awareness towards new users and help connect them with experienced Steemians. (50% of the SBD earned from this post will go directly to @natureofbeing’s account to support her incredible craft and content.)

@sndbox : Hi @natureofbeing, thanks for joining us, tell us about yourself!

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@natureofbeing : I’ve been a ceramic artist working out of Portland Oregon for about 25 years and in August 2016 I started posting on Steemit about my mosaic work. My work consisted of private and public tile commissions, a collection of commercial production tile and some art-making for its own sake. A friend from college @fairytalelife brought me on board and initially I experienced a steep learning curve both in terms of navigating the platform, and also with writing and showing my work in this kind of way. I hadn’t ever really written a story about my work before nor thought that anyone would have much interest in seeing this depth of process, but I took her advice and quickly became hooked.

@sndbox : It's great to have a helping hand early on. @fairytalelife also kickstarted our engagement here through words of wisdom, amazing feedback and support. So, in terms of your experience as a ceramic artist, how has Steemit and decentralized technology affected your work?

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@natureofbeing : Developing content for Steemit has had profound repercussions for me both within my artistic practice and also with how I value myself, my work and my outlook on the future; I would go as far as to say that it’s been revolutionary. The concept of my intellectual property, my skills, my know-how, my perspective having value has slowly melted out of my consciousness the paradigm of what I call “artistic slavery”.

It has taken me awhile to integrate how to best use Steemit and I’d say that I’m still in the process of figuring out the ways I want to expand the potential of Steemit with my work.

Also worth noting is that I’ve found interacting and commenting to be surprisingly fulfilling and inspiring. This is partially because responding to topics via comments gives me the opportunity to kick around ideas on a variety of subjects with people and I love that. But mostly the power of Steemit relationships lies in the uniquely personal and in-depth nature of the content here. It allows for especially sweet connections because there is something about sharing what feels risky and discovering that people connect with it.

@sndbox : Absolutely, engagement is key on Steemit and so empowering. Thinking long term here, what do you envision as the future of Steemit for creative and community professionals such as yourself?

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@natureofbeing : Steemit has the unique capacity to effectively empower everyone and anyone. It’s pretty exciting to see what it can do for the disenfranchised - and I would consider a segment of the creative community in this category. It provides the possibility of stepping out of the age old model where our work is feeding a larger system that doesn’t benefit us, a system that profits those already in power rather than the source of the creativity and the mastery that belies it. In fact I see this disruption as being revolutionary for creatives world-wide and perhaps even having the potential to alter the way the average consumer values creative content of all kinds.

And of course, I for one love seeing creatives able to bring to life projects and interests that wouldn’t have been possible without this decentralized platform.

@sndbox : Any words of advice for creative professionals new to Steemit and the world of blockchain?

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@natureofbeing : First and foremost I want to encourage Steemians to dive in. Try blogging on whatever you’re interested in regardless of whether you think others will approve of it (upvote). If you give yourself room to figure out how to use this as a catalyst for your own creativity and interests, you’ll find your place here that’s enduring.

I also want to say - like a broken record - challenge yourself to write well, to tell your story well and reach deep to come from a more honest place here than you’re accustomed to. It’s ok to experiment in order to figure out how you want to use this platform, it’s here to empower you in whatever way is most useful for your life.

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A big thanks to @natureofbeing (one of our amazing Stewards) for sharing her story. Be sure to check out her work! (50% of the SBD earned from this post will go directly to @natureofbeing account to support her incredible craft and content.)

	Sndbox Stewards are collaborators and influencers who have a pulse on talent and creativity within the STEEM Blockchain ecosystem. These Stewards aid the growth of Sndbox through feedback, votes and the nominations of new members.

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