When Backgrounds Take the Spotlight
The Artistic Journey of DAW Holder, Abbie Rose -NaturaPrincesa
If you have been following @DApeWives on twitter recently you are bound to have noticed the sudden takeover by Desperate ApeWives (DAWs) with beautiful acrylic backgrounds. What you may not know is the amazing story behind this trend.
It was early December, and the DAW community was getting hyped for Art Basel Miami. Community members were dressing their DAWs in digital Miami merch, and adding vibrant Miami backgrounds behind their DAWs to celebrate the inaugural in-person event.
Abbie Rose, AKA Natura Princesa, was editing the hoodie onto her DAW when she wondered what her own art would look like as a backdrop. In that moment, a vision was born. It started out with a couple of other holders spotting her work and asking if she could add backgrounds for them, but quickly her stunning work drew attention across Twitter and Discord. Eventually nearly everyone wanted to compliment their DAWs with Abbie’s creations.
The DAW community has a knack for spotting talent, and a reputation for building each other up. So it was only natural that when DAW holders started to notice the beautiful artwork by Abbie they wanted to show it off. She has now done hundreds of custom backgrounds for the community and even caught the eye of Desperate ApeWives founding artist, Archer McCall. His DAW now shares the spotlight with Abbie’s amazing art across his social media profiles.
The way the community has embraced Abbie’s art is a beautiful reminder of what the NFT space is about — promoting each other as we all benefit together. One of the ways Desperate ApeWives is doing this is providing an outlet for talented artists to get their work the recognition it deserves. Part of the DAW culture is the high value it places on artists and their creations, and it is part of our mission to help talented artists in our community grow. To help them do so, we have also recently launched the DAW artist collaboration program to identify talent and create opportunities to support their journey. We hope other artists in our community will find inspiration in Abbie’s incredible story.
We recently interviewed her to learn a little bit more and think you will grow to love our newest “DAW Honorable” even more.
When did you first begin doing art and how did it get you to where you are today?
Art got me through. From a young age, my mum always let me and my little brother express our passions. We used to create art most days. I remember back then creating our “art kart”. I was super proud of this. I then took GCSE art at school and proceeded to take a degree in illustration, at university.
Would I advise it now? No. Taking art as a degree made me lose my love for art completely. My teacher made me feel devalued, unmotivated and lost in my own passion. I left university with the mindset of never picking up a paintbrush again. I felt like a failure and that there was no hope to create a life out of art.
Fast forward to 2020, and we all got locked in. For many this was a challenging time, but the biggest challenge for me was not being able to go out. From an early age my parents took me and my little brother out every day. I remember running into my mum every morning and saying “open eyes, what are we doing today?” I couldn’t go a day without being out in nature. It was my freedom in this crazy world. So, lockdown made me find a way to feel free, and this is when my artist journey started again. I fell back in love with art, and worked hard every day to drown the voices out of my teachers and others and kept believing in myself and my journey.
The hardest part of being an artist is believing in yourself when no one else does (I’m very lucky to have a very open minded and supportive family, but even with them by my side there has been many tears and challenges on the road to becoming the artist I am today).
Have you sold “traditional” art before?
Yes and no. As I had only recently started to pursue my love for art again in 2020, I was very focused on building connections and a following before selling to an audience. I chose to build my art journey on Instagram before anything else. I did a giveaway competition and I also gifted some art pieces to the people I really connected with on my journey. I wanted to thank them for always supporting me right from the start, as I feel it’s important to reward the people that believed in you. I then started a piece with a friend who also found their love for art in lockdown, which sold for £100. This was my first official sale.
Since coming into the NFT space I knew the potential to build and connect was on twitter, so I knew this was a platform I needed to learn. Now I have recently started to sell my art more and more in this space, with one collector buying the physical piece, alongside their NFT.
How did you first hear about the NFT space?
I first heard about NFTS when a family member started to sell their art for thousands. I was shocked that art could sell for that much and I had to know more. What made me stay in the space though was the true community connection. I felt the love, energy, and support in this space as soon as I entered, and I knew I wouldn’t ever want to leave. This was the community I had been looking for, and for me this was a much bigger thing than any amount of money made from sales.
How did you find out about DAW and why did you invest in the project?
I first heard of DAW just in the general conversation of the Twitter space. I heard it mentioned a few times and it caught my attention, but I knew I missed the mint and didn’t want to buy in at a high price point, as I was very new to being a collector, and didn’t have much eth to spend. I then read a tweet from Mondoir (who I knew was a massive collector of 1/1 artists when I first heard about the space, back in 2020). The tweet said something like “people don’t know how bullish this is for female influencers”. I then jumped in the discord to find out more about the community, and I fell in love. For the first time in a while, I felt valued, understood and wanted. This sold me, and I no longer cared about the higher price point of 0.4, I just wanted to be a part of the beautiful community.
What was the moment that you realized your art would look beautiful with DAW?
Aye great question! The moment I realized was when I was adding my “Miami hoodie” to my DAW, and I thought “Oh wow wouldn’t my art look amazing behind my DAW. I could really contrast the two.” I then had a daw holder message me asking if I could do my art as their background. It started off as a small thing for a couple of DAWs to say thank you for supporting my art and journey. It then became bigger and bigger. Even Bat Dad started asking where he could get one, and by the time I realized I had created over 250 backgrounds for free. People couldn’t understand why I wanted to use my time to create them, but for me there is no better payment than true love and someone connecting and appreciating what I create from the heart, so I didn’t need any payment. The love and support from the DAW holders is my currency, and still till now I appreciate every single person who was a part of this milestone in my journey.
What medium do you use for your DAW background paintings?
I use acrylic paint, Posca pens, and a sprinkle of love.
How do you feel seeing your art on people’s pages?
Honestly, I don’t have the words but it’s one of the best feelings when someone connects to something I create. It makes me want to get up every day knowing I can put a smile on another daw holder’s face, and the messages of gratitude and love from everyone who connected with my art makes me smile even harder. I will forever have so much gratitude for everyone I have, and will connect with on my journey. I love you all.
What are your next goals?
My next goal is to sell a 1/1 piece, to build my collector base up with people who really connect with my art, and a big goal of mine is to have Gary V. pick up a piece of my art one day. Since joining the Desperate ApeWives community, I have another huge goal. I love the DAW vision, team, and community so much that I would love to collaborate with them one day, and if they do another project, I would be honored to create a custom 1/1 background for a future drop to show my appreciation and vision for the space.
Anything else you’d love to share?
Yes, one other thing I would love to share is if you feel like giving up on your dreams, you don’t feel good enough or someone’s made you feel like a failure, please don’t. We all have a unique thing about us that someone else connects to, and sometimes we don’t even know what that is, but that special trait in you makes you amazing (this has taken me a while to believe myself, but it’s so true). I promise if you never give up, have a little patience and a clear vision you will make it. Especially in this NFT world, so many more opportunities are available to us, we just have to keep grinding.
Again, I just wanted to thank the Desperate ApeWives’ team, their vision, and the community because just as I felt like giving up, you kept me believing in humans and in my own potential. You’ll never know how much this project helped me, but just know I’m forever grateful, and I will always appreciate you all.
If you would like to submit your art for the DAW artist collaboration program, please e-mail PR@desperateapewives.com.
