I couldn’t bring myself to end the week on a Dud, but considering the top selling projects on OpenSea are currently yet another generative ape PFP and a collection of gifs evidently designed to induce epileptic seizures, I’m back to wishfully exploring web2 hubs for the next Stud of web3. 

Today, I landed on Haylie Mousseau, another metro-Detroit native, and no I’m not biased, why would you suggest such a thing? Murals and canvases make up most of her work, along with the sort of Etsy-ready DIY work that’d have a VSCO girl salivating all over her Puka necklace. If this doesn’t sound like the literal opposite of the edge lordly NFT dreck I’m stuck reviewing most weeks, check out this Instagram post where she prepares for #VanLife to the musical stylings of Darude – Sandstorm. 

Toto? I’ve a feeling we’re not on 4chan anymore.

Yes, this is a very different vibe and side of the Internet from where I usually reside. Why? Well, it’s not just the soft tone landscapes, pictured above, mixing the Adobe southwestern style with the washed down aesthetics of the latest social media marketing optimized color palette. Nor is it the fun cartoon characters she creates, perfect for a print, t-shirt, or their own endlessly mockable PFP project someday. 

No, mainly, I’m here because these are the sort of creators NFTs should support. Not just hustlebros, scammers, and tech companies looking for a trendy angle. Our peers over at NFTS.WTF recently ran an awesome piece highlighting artist-run avatar NFT collections, which we love to see. But many talented artists have yet to adopt web3. If Mousseau can create such immersive landscapes with just brushstrokes, we’re sure she could crush an animated gif, and her natural gift for merchandising would thrive under our artist management model. For now, support her the OG way, here.