PB's 5x5 Collection 5/27/23

For this first challenge of 5x5 I began with a friend who I knew had some inexpensive AI works available. It turns out @bonsaifox is the person who inspired the #contractart movement for me so I have him to thank (blame) for losing 2 weeks to constant AI mints.

"The Astronut!" was Bonsai's offering for Squirreltology 'Space Nuts' collection. Loved the detail and texture on this cute squirrel on an alien landscape.

From Bonsai's piece I went into his collected works tab to see what other gems he might have scooped and indeed this proved to be a fruitful exploration. I liked the idea of a chain of art and so I was able to collect each piece from the collection of the previous artist.

It kinda looked like it was snowing in the squirrel's alien landscape so I was drawn to "Winter Solstice" from @aqueous . Indeed I found lots of 1 tez pieces like this one in collaboration with @ExilesProject22 . I particularly enjoyed how this piece reminded me of some of the AI landscapes I've done.

From Aqueous's collection I stuck with the winter theme and found another Exiles Project offering this time from Miss MacD . "Mother Winter" has lovely subtle animation in subdued color with the exception of a pop of red lipstick.

From Miss MacD's collection I was delighted to find an Open Edition that still has just over 1 day left at time of writing. @WeirdOne_NFT happens to be a TezTuna and I'm all for collecting from active members of communities whenever I can!

"And it goes on and on" has some lovely pastels that just draw you in to a classically AI scene with subtle animation in a similar vein to that in "Mother Winter"

Finally from Weird One's collection I found a piece in a similar color palette to wrap up the 5x5. I wasn't following Thomas ∧rt but always love to find pieces from artists that have been around a while. "Big city life" was minted almost a year ago and feels like the sort of piece we'll be considering classic AI. Check out the detail and upward flow

My hope is that through these collection guides I may inspire others to expand their collecting practices, expand their circles, bring more value to the NFT art scene on Tezos and ultimately lead to more money in the wallets of artists.

As for this article 5 editions will be sent to the artists collected and 5 additional editions will be listed to continue collecting. If this idea has legs I'll hope to do a weekly 5x collection article, raising the amount I'm able to collect with each time.

Thanks for reading <3 PapaBearded