A story of a snowboarding trip with friends
24 NFTs that resembles a roll of film. This story follows a group of friends on a snowboarding trip into the backcountry and all the fun in between.
10% of primary sales will go to sea-trees.org. 1,000 trees have been planted from this project!
The story behind this personal project
I sure like to travel. It keeps my blood flowing and creative juices on high like most folks. Most of my travels revolve around snowboarding and surfing, along with the need for the big city life to see that weird. When I travel, I carry around my film cameras, watercolors, and sketchbook to capture those moments. These moments help curate what I draw and produce with Alimo. The outdoor experiences inspires me to create.
Over the years, I’ve created a big backlog of stories and a library of content that most folks don’t see. My film photography is a passion that I send to my friends as a thank you for sharing the moment with me. While the sketchbooks get stored in my library for reference when I need them on other projects. Everything goes full circle.
Each of these notebooks tells a story. A story of a location, an experience, and a reference in time for me. Just like photography, that freeze-frame captures a time. My paintings are another way to reel in that nostalgic feel for past, present, and future moments.
This story is a mix-match of around 5 yurt trips I’ve been on. They all tell a similar story. That story is chasing the unknown and hope to find fresh powder with friends. The fun is always in between.
I’ve always wanted to share these stories. To start with my first NFT collection, I wanted to share this story as it means so much to me. It’s tradition to go to these spots with my friends and will continue to chase these storms until the end of my time.
Original Painting Raffle
‘Turn to base camp’
Signed original painting acrylic on canvas, 30 x 40 in.
This painting is from my NFT Snow Collection and had so much fun painting this up! The collection is sold out, but there are a few available in the secondary market on OpenSea.
About Alimo
Hey guys, I’m Sean Kesterson, aka Alimo. I’m an artist & designer based out of the West Coast and find myself traveling all over to find inspiration to paint. I love it!
I’m best known for my curvy post-pop imagery, highly saturated colors, vibrant hand-drawn letters, and worlds inhabited by figures arranged on flat tonal surfaces. My line-work blends both drawing and design with inspiration from the ocean to the mountains. The art can typically be seen on paintings, prints, and merchandise. I get inspiration from the outdoors, snowboarding, surfing, exploring, photography, hanging with friends, and anything that provokes creativity.
Over the years, i've been lucky enough to work with clients like Patagonia, Vans, Apple, 10 Barrel Brewing Co., and Volcom to name a few. I've been working as a professional artist and designer for over 10 years, and recently been interested in the NFT world as an addition to my traditional mediums. I love how it empowers artist for their value, along with a new tool to explore and get creative with.
My mission moving into web3 and NFT world?
Great question. For me, it’s to achieve more creative freedom and to realize my potential. I want to explore new forms of art (both digital and physical), collaborate with more artists, brand partnerships, and web3 projects. I love the idea of bridging tangible and digital worlds together. Think: we can build a digital art gallery where we can all hang with each other worldwide, while also having a real-life show for folks who are in town. That part gets me so jazzed.
SeaTrees Charity
10% of all primary sales will go to sea-trees.org to plant mangroves trees in Indonesia.
Alimo is partnering with our friends over at SeaTrees to calculate our carbon footprint and wipe out our impact using their global restoration projects and tokens. SeaTrees, a program by nonprofit Sustainable Surf, directly supports communities around the world through projects that plant and protect blue carbon coastal ecosystems, effectively turning the tide on climate change. SeaTrees projects include planting mangrove trees, restoring kelp forests, coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and conserving coastal watersheds all aimed toward increasing carbon sequestration while also providing significant social and ecosystem benefits to the local communities involved. We will donate 10% of our primary sales to the SeaTrees mangrove restoration project in the Biak region of Indonesia to help take responsibility for our remaining impact.
Our Sustainability Strategy
There has been a lot of concern about the carbon footprint of NFTs, however like any other product that uses energy, the climate impact can be precisely measured and steps can be taken towards taking responsibility for it. And that’s where SeaTrees comes in.
SeaTrees will calculate the carbon footprint of every transaction in tin Alimo’s NFT snow collection, using custom software developed by Aerial to analyze the electricity used in every transaction required to mint the genesis NFTs on Ethereum. This carbon footprint will then be “wiped out” with certified carbon credits from blue carbon ecosystems, sourced by SeaTrees. This will make the collection Ocean Positive, meaning that it sequesters more CO2 than is originally emitted.
As a brand, Alimo takes pride in getting out into nature and exploring the world through surfing and snowboarding. It’s in our blood to protect Earth and we strive for low waste with our tangible goods whenever possible. At this stage, nothing is truly sustainable but partnering with SeaTrees we can take the necessary steps toward calculating and eliminating our footprint. It’s one big step closer to a better model.
We think the future is bright. The blockchain Ethereum (currency to buy the NFT) is coming out with a new version called ETH2 in mid-2022. ETH2 will have significant upgrades to the protocol this year, moving from proof of work to a proof of stake model. This upgrade will reduce Ethereum's energy consumption by an estimated 99.95%. Plus hopeful miners using solar panels and wind will turn this package into quite an eco-friendly model down the line.
Alimo is trying to help educate our audience on the benefits of the blockchain. Maybe this launch opens everyone's eyes to ask questions. Questions both in the digital and physical world. Questions help innovation.
We see the potential in the blockchain, specifically ETH2, and where things are headed. Soon all NFT transactions will have a dramatically lower carbon footprint.
Roadmap
I’m super pumped to build community with our holders and generate value within this collection of work, but please remember that we’re all here for the art first and foremost. Each holder has an exclusive, one-of-a-kind work of art and that alone is super rad. We hope you all enjoy the world of Alimo and this new opportunity to produce more!
As an artist, this is a lifetime journey of creativity. NFTs has been an amazing new tool to push my creative limits to the next level both mentally and physically. The spark has been lit and has so many future projects brewing to add value to these unique personal collections. While this first one is a snow collection, there may never be another snowboarding one after this. The next story helps bridge the past, present, and future projects. Technology-wise, each NFT will be built using an ERC721 smart contract to keep each NFT a true one-of-one, along using Ethereum as the premium blockchain to add value.
Collectors will receive:
- Prints available of their NFT by request
- Airdrops 2X / Year
- Early discounted access to all merchandise
Rewards 4 you:
- Collectors holding 2 NFTs or more, will receive a special airdrop reward.
What's next?
Continue onto the next NFT collection to build value on this genesis collection. I plan on using the funds to create a surf collection and maybe a city collection (think Costa Rica, NYC, Tokyo, or Mexico City).
I'd also love to create a digital space for all this artwork to live in. That way, we can all come together for a launch party and see the body of work in one space.
While I have a lot of ideas of what's next, I'd prefer not to make future promises I can't produce. I'd rather keep creating and release more information / rewards to collectors as it comes to fruition.
So, how do I get an Alimo NFT?
Download and install MetaMask
Download and install a Chrome browser plugin called MetaMask. This will allow websites (that you authorize) access to your Ethereum account.
Buy some Ethereum
Once you create an account, buy some Ethereum. The MetaMask plugin has a button that will allow you to transfer money from you bank into Ethereum. Easy Peasy.
Start bidding, buying and selling
Once you have the plugin installed, head over to OpenSea or other marketplaces to purchase from any artist, maybe an Alimo painting :)
Details and FAQ
An NFT stands for "non-fungible token" It is called this because it is verifiably unique and its value is not fungible, or cannot be traded for another token of equal value, therefore it is one-of-a-kind. This type of token is made possible through blockchain technology that ensures fraudulent claims for or against this authenticity are statistically impossible.
It was confusing for me at first too. In a nutshell, it’s a way for artists to be empowered and a way to finally get value where it’s due. It also surfaces transparency for both artist and buyer. I’ll share a few examples of why:
Art gallery market: In the past, when artists work with galleries, the gallery always takes 50% of the sale. Which in a way can be reasonable (they market, bring in buyers, etc) but it’s a huge take on the sale nonetheless. On top of that, if I sell a painting for say $1,000 and then the buyer sells that same painting for say $20k, the artist never profits from that value created. NFT solves this. You can set royalties for your work for its entire life. Most artists set a royalty between 5-10%. This way, they can earn cash for their work > helping them with their career.
Transparency: Within the current model, you never see who’s has ever owned your painting after that first sale. With blockchain, there is 100% transparency. You can track where the painting is, who owns it, and see where the money is going, etc. That is so cool for any artist.
Hoarding: Folks like myself collect prints. In fact, I have prints in a drawer right now with no frame and no foreseen future on when they will be hung. That’s okay. By holding an NFT, you can hold as many prints, objects, tickets, you name it in this digital space. Cool thing is, you can look at it anytime you want and once the metaverse is built out, you can have those in a space to view, share, and use anytime you want. We are consumers at heart and feel the need to buy. By fueling this digital economy, we can give Earth a break to repair herself. Think: less production to be made in the real world (clothing, random gifts for holidays, you name it). Give that gift in the digital world for Earth.
Giving back: Within each NFT, you can build a contract where a percentage of the sales can be split to other folks like our partners Sea-trees.org. By selling one NFT painting, its impact can be huge. Instead of planting one tree per item sold, we could contribute 5-10% of the NFT sale plant trees. So if one painting sells for thousands of dollars, that impact gets funneled over to plant a huge amount of trees! How cool is that?
Exposure: This is the era where artists finally get recognized. Businesses continue to take advantage of artists by offering them exposure with no payment in return. It’s a terrible model and web3 / NFT solves this. Give the artist their value b/c they put in the same amount and time as a normal job who gets a salary. Let's equalize the market.
Once you purchase through our direct link or via OpenSea, the NFT will get sent to your wallet, such as MetaMask. If you log into OpenSea or another marketplaces, your NFT will automatically appear.
Join our community
I started the discord to create a space for folks that enjoy my art, share values, connect with new friends, get inspired, learn about the sustainability part of the blockchain, and of course, have the most fun both online and out in the world. Yes, please go surf, not just the internet, but outside ;) Lastly, I want a place where I can share updates on upcoming projects, future drops, and offer unique things just for this community. I realized DM on Instagram is very close-minded and wanted to open up full transparency with everyone. That way we can share together.
