art of gold

welcome to issue #18 of moments, our bi-weekly newsletter. if you’re new here, this is the space where we share product updates, highlights from our community, and a curation of our favorite gems.

recently, we’ve been mulling over ugly painting, launching leaderboards, and spending time brainstorming over the future of creativity and value. let’s dive into it.

of the hundreds of gems minted over the past two weeks, we pulled a few of our favorites. tap in below to add them to your collection :)

this week’s featured creator is therapeutic artist, kiyanna law (@artsofarielle). our community manager sydney recently sat down with her to chat about her work in therapeutic youth art programming, her own vibrant painting practice, and the beauty of looking inward.

tell me about yourself – how did you start making art?

my name is kiyanna and i’m in westville, new jersey. my intro to art came through my dad, he used to be a muralist. growing up i was a very quiet kid and would get bullied a lot. my mom gave me an art notebook and i unconsciously noticed i was drawing and painting out my feelings. whatever i was going through at school, i was painting or drawing it in my notebook.

is that something that inspired you to do what you're doing today?

i have a therapeutic art program for kids. what i work on is leading kids into painting their emotions and teaching them how to communicate and express themselves through art.

it’s really gratifying to help kids grow, and that in conjunction with my experience and interest in painting got me here. i love to paint and i also really want to help people, and this is a conduit to both.

can you tell us about the inspiration for your work?

i feel like my childhood and tapping into what kids see in their mind in general inspires my art. recently, a lot of my paintings are very bright and vibrant because i view childhood as a light and more playful world.

right now i feel like i'm on a mindfulness journey. i'm learning more things about myself every day and i've taken up meditation and yoga. and it's coming out in my art. i’ve been looking to express the beauty of what's inside of your mind.

is there anything in particular you hope people feel through your art?

i do hope that people feel inspired by the color and vibrancy of it all. i hope people can see there’s so much in your mind and it can be a really colorful and beautiful place.

what does being a creator mean to you?

being a creator means having the freedom to put whatever i want on paper or a canvas to express myself. i feel like sometimes a lot of people may not understand me or misunderstand me, so painting is a good way to help people see what i see.

how did you feel about using primitives for the first time?

it was interesting and intriguing! i particularly like that you can collect other people's art, i found that really cool.

new in this week, you can see how your points stack up in the primitives community. we’ve launched leaderboards, a new way to track your status over time. we’re so excited to hear what you think.

a quick summary of news:

• leaderboards 📈 – watch your points grow and see how you measure up against the primitives community. check them out.

• community call 💛 – we have our next community call scheduled for august 25th! come meet other creators, collectors, and hear our product team talk more about points :) RSVP here

• are we entering a new age of lifestyle?

• roll the dice

• these perfect, nostalgic photos of 90s summer camp

• livin’ the good life

primitives is building an online space for creatives. we empower anyone to discover new creators, mint and share work, build collections, and join communities. keep up with us on twitter, instagram, tiktok, and at primitives.xyz the th