12-Year-Old Artist Sells Almost $4 Million in NFTS and Makes History as Time's First Artist-in-Residence

A 12-year-old artist has sold almost $4 million in NFTs and recently made history as TIME’s first Artist-in-Residence, Face 2 Face Africa reports. 

Nyla Hayes was just four when she started drawing. At nine, her parents got her a smartphone when so she could begin making digital art. She started drawing people with long necks - calling them Long Neckies, inspired by her favorite dinosaur - the Brontosaurus. Her uncle prompted her to sell her art as NFTs, a decision that completely changed her life. 

“This past March, my uncle told my mom about NFTs. We watched YouTube to learn how to create and sell them. Soon, people were buying NFTs of my Long Neckies. I have made more than 960 ETH. (That’s digital currency worth about $3.4 million),” Nyla said. 

Timeless Beauty #1. Photo Courtesy of Nyla Hayes/TIME

Now the pre-teen is making history as the first Artist-in-Residence for TIMEPieces, a new web3 community initiative from TIME. The new initiative aims to provide artists with a platform and essentials needed to advance their careers through the sale of NFTs. 

“These Artist-in-Residence collections will continue to allow TIME to bring art onto the blockchain that marries the artist’s signature style with a renowned TIME franchise. This extends TIME’s nearly 100-year tradition of highlighting great artists and photographers of a given era while leading the brand into new innovative spaces. In this case, NFT’s and Web3,” the magazine explained. 

Non Fungible Tokens, or NFTs, are assets traded using blockchain technology that cannot be replaced and are verified and stored with a certificate of authenticity. They can be pieces of digital artwork, website domains, or music, among other things. In the third quarter of 2021 alone, the NFT market made more than $10 billion in transaction volume. 

Long Neckie Lady #2881. Photo Courtesy of Nyla Hayes/TIME

As a part of the TIMEPieces initiative, Nyla will have the opportunity to release her work to a community of collectors and create and maintain an ongoing relationship with them, engaging with other leaders in the NFT and traditional art space, and reaching new markets through TIME’s international demographic. 

“Since launching Long Neckie Ladies, Nyla has inspired many individuals within the NFT community and established herself as a leader amongst the next generation of emerging artists. We are thrilled to announce her as our first Artist-in-Residence for TIMEPieces and are excited to see how she applies her talent to our band,” said Keith A. Grossman, President, TIME. 

Nyla’s new collection will drop on November 17, 2021, for holders of TIMEPieces and TIMECats. 

Congratulations Nyla! Because of you, we can!

This article was originally posted on BOTWC