This post is from a series of deeper dives into the work of artists contributing to #TezQuakeAid. For more information on how you can support the relief efforts, click here.
Introduction
Lily White holds a Master's in Library Science and was a Wildlife and Conservation Researcher and Photographer for 28 years before she started exploring her art in Web3. She attributes her eye for detail and catching things others may glance over as the source for her artworks, projects, community building and events. Her 1 of 1 series of black and white animal photos relay a lifetime of adventures in her previous career. She also loves to experiment and try new things with the art she creates, resulting in an eclectic body of work.
She first started in Ethereum, however, it would be after encouragement and kindness from NFT artist Banjo Funk when Lily found a home in the Tezos community. She made her first mint on the Tezos blockchain in April of 2021 and since going full-time on Tezos in July 2021, she became an artist, collector, and community builder. She loves how the three parts work together.
Building Community by Paying it Forward
In April 2021, Lily suffered multiple broken bones and other injuries from a car accident and had to stay in bed for over a month. Overwhelmed with the mental and physical pain, she tweeted that she was giving up on art. NFT artist Banjo Funk saw her tweet and messaged her to keep trying. As encouragement, he sent her 2 XTZ to try the Tezos blockchain. She soon made some sales and went to pay Banjo Funk back the 2 XTZ. He waved off repayment and asked her to instead pay it forward. This would define Lily’s role in the Tezos community.
As she made some sales, she began collecting a few artworks from other artists. She fell in love with collecting NFTs and helping bring other artists and collectors into Tezos. Within a few months, she began hosting online events for the art community and she met others wanting to help continue building the Tezos community. By early 2022, Lily brought together a group of Tezos creators, collectors, developers, and traders to form TezTown to help one another build Tezos through education, encouragement, and engagement.
When others started pointing out she had more than paid the 2 XTZ forward, Lily had already come to learn in her experiences that “paying it forward” was about so much more than the 2 XTZ:
“I realized it was never about the 2 XTZ that I needed to pay back, but rather my very life.”
She is still determined there’s more to do and plans to continue to work in Tezos as long as it takes to complete that mission.
Accidentally In Love with Photography
While Lily does experiment with many different types of art, she often gravitates back to her original passion of photography, which she stumbled into by happenstance and the convergence of opportunity and preparation. In her first job out of college, a newspaper in 1990, the regular photographer was out sick and Lily's editor needed photos of a high school swim meet. He handed her a 35mm camera and she came back with the job done.
Despite not having any formal training in photography, this parlayed into another photography gig when a travel company saw her photos for the newspaper and asked her to do a shoot for them. Then this would launch her photography career, when the travel company’s photos were seen by the manager of a research team looking for a photographer interested in doing long term research projects. This was a perfect fit to apply her degree in Library Science, a research discipline, and led to her dream career for 28 wonderful years.
TezQuakeAid
Lily was asked to join #TezQuakeAid as a team member by the original group that formed together to create and manage the event and was happy to do what she could to help this important fundraiser to benefit people in great need in Turkiye and Syria.
This photo was taken in Tennessee, USA around 2004. It was the next photo up to be minted in the series (a previous one was also listed). 55% of primary sales and half of secondary royalties will be donated to #TezQuakeAid. This NFT is a 1 of 1 edition still available on the primary market for 250 XTZ. We would like to thank Lily for her contributions in organizing community support and being such a strong advocate for creators.
"I am wholeheartedly inspired by the sheer number of artists who were ready and willing to donate their art (or a portion of their art sale) to the TezQuakeAid. I understand how many people in our community are themselves struggling after an extended bear market, and it seems that those who could least afford to make the sacrifice are the ones who rushed to step up. I believe in this community, in these people, in their wonderful hearts and the strength in this community united."
If you have any recommendations on future artists to cover, let us know and fill out the form located here: blog.dns.xyz/tqa (It will take several minutes to fill out)