"Link and Build" - Reflecting on the AstroBots' Origins and Looking Ahead to the Next Steps.

It's not often that I sit back and look at things I've done in my life and have to ask myself, "How did I get here, and when did it get this crazy?" With the AstroBots, though, I find myself asking that question almost every single day. Thinking back to this projects conception, a simple drawing of an astronaut that was a product of pure boredom, and contrasting it to where we are today... well, it's mind boggling to me. If I'm honest with myself, this project wasn't really even supposed to happen. There's a lot of background information I feel like I've rewritten one too many times, but the fact that AstroBots was the result of a "knee-jerk" idea and a quick "Yes!" from Nick astounds me.

AstroBotsNFT - Version 1

As a lifetime creator, it's always been my hope and dream to create something organic and original that can rally a community of like-minded people and somehow withstand the test of time. I've spent years of my life reading, listening, studying, researching, all in an effort to discover that incredibly elusive "key" to really getting the ball rolling towards breaking out as an artist in any capacity. The work was tedious and I began mistaking the thing I loved most in this world (art) for a monotonous chore.

After branding project after project, and doing the same for some of the people in my circle, the AstroBots project seemingly fell into my lap as a mindless sketch. I was on my way home from getting to my wife, Sam, after returning home from a 6-month military deployment and had been working on some artwork that fell slightly out of my wheelhouse. After spending a majority of our time on the plane going back-and-forth, I decided to take a breather and create something fun. I kept something that my good friend Isaac Wright said to me in the forefront of my mind as I drew, a statement of confidence that if I applied the right amount of time and energy into creating a NFT project, it would find success. When we landed back at home, I sent the sketch to AstroBotsNick as a quick pitch and was surprised with the response. "Let's fucking run this shit," he said. From there on, we were off.

Fast forward to today - as I'm sitting here typing this, I have about 20 open projects running through my mind. We're preparing to create content from the stratosphere using a sculpture that I created, funded by ETH that was generated from a successful first release. We have over 30 amazing community members engaged and excited to see this project move forward. We generated over $1,000 through the release of SNKRBOTS that was donated to two charities to combat mental illness and to assist terminally ill children and their families. The hindsight is insane, but knowing that we're just getting started is somehow crazier.

This year we have a couple of lofty goals we're working towards - things like designing a large-scale inflatable, organizing an immersive gallery experience, developing a line of streetwear and merchandise, and beginning CY23 with a generative 10k pfp release. We're expanding the mediums we're using in our artwork and preparing some rather large physical pieces for use in gallery exhibitions and for sale. We've prepared contract paperwork to facilitate collaborations with other artists to expand our network, but also to onboard and mentor talented individuals who haven't entered the Space yet by sharing what we've learned. And again, this is only just the beginning for us, and we are continuing to explore and brainstorm ways to build the AstroBots into something beautiful.