Welcome to ALLSHIPS Ben Skaar! Long overdue for a conversation here together. I love your work and the effort you put into building this community. Can you introduce yourself to our audience? Your name, where you are based and the mediums you work in?

Thank you for the kind intro, Dave! It is a pleasure to get to speak with you. My name is Ben Skaar, but many people just call me Skaar. I’m a 19-year-old artist based in New York City as a university student. For the last six years, I’ve created art through the lens of my camera, drone, and iPhone, with my main mediums being photography and cinematography.

Lets jump right in to your latest project and then zoom back out for more context of your craft. What are you bringing to the table for Trailblazing?

Trailblazing is the first chapter of my new series “A Boy’s Quest”. This will be a series that will track the expedition of a young artist into a world of creative freedom, with each chapter depicting some sort of learning lesson along the way. The isolated light trail of my headlamp in trailblazing transforming into a full on streak of lightning symbolizes the divergence from my isolated pursuit into a cosmos of creativity.

I created this piece one night during a lightning storm in the mountains of northern Italy. Myself and three other photographers had trekked from our van to this rock outcropping by the light of our headlamps and distant lightning strikes, trying to outpace the approaching storm. We moved quickly, and I got the shot I had envisioned on this cliff just as the rain began to pick up.

This night ended up having such a life-altering story that I chose to construct a full webpage in order to tell it. I believe that there is a lot of value in being to learn about the creation process right alongside the piece, and this was something I hadn’t seen many photographers execute on, so I wanted to try it for myself. The website houses the trailer, the art, the story, and the auction all in one, check it out for yourself right here!

I love that you've taken the effort to create a website that encompasses all the different facets of this experience. As we work to make sure artists can be their own platform, you truly are blazing a trail here and leading by example.

The work looks wonderful- I can certainly see why this experience had such an impact on you. Can you share a bit about how potential collectors can get involved here and what is available for bidding?

Thank you for the kind words Dave! I believe there is a lot of value in replicating the feeling I had while onsite creating this piece, and the website was my idea of conveying that in an especially sovereign manner.

I believe a collector who wishes to get involved with this piece should start on the site and get to know the art. Once they have read the story and feel a connection, you can find the link to the auction at the footer of the webpage! “Trailblazing”, as seen on the page will be on auction as a 1/1. The reserve has been set to 3 ETH, the same as my last three pieces.

The auction will run for 48 hours, from 7 PM EST on Wednesday, March 1st to ~7 PM EST on Friday, March 3rd. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions!

Amazing- I truly love the work and wish you all the success with this auction. Let’s zoom back out a bit- how did you first encounter your creative drive and what made you decide to pursue this as a passion?

Creativity was embedded into me from a very young age. I was a huge fan of digital games like Minecraft and kinesthetic activities like building legos. When I got my first smartphone at 13, a Samsung Galaxy, I became enamored by the camera on the back of the phone. I used it to document all my favorite experiences; biking in the woods, hanging with friends, and other general adolescent activities. As time went on, I felt my creative side starting to seep into my photos, and I began to pay attention to what made a good photo “good”.

In 2017, I saved up all my allowance money to buy a small camera drone and experiment with new perspectives. I taught myself the basics of composition and lightning with a drone, consuming lots of content on YouTube to improve my images. Through YouTube, I found instagram, and began to share my work online and interact with other creatives. Many of my first posts are still posted if you scroll to the bottom of my feed.

This transition is actually visualized in my new piece “Trailblazing” where my solitary light trail diverges into a brilliant display of lightning, showcasing what occurred within me as I realized the wonders of the creative sphere. As I spent more time among photographers and artists, I realized I wanted to spend the rest of my life creating and telling stories.

Well said my friend. I also keep all my IG posts up so people can see the journey and realize that its the constant iterations on creative ideas that add up into a distinct style we can call our own.

Love hearing your own journey. When did web3 arise in your perception and what has your experience been like so far in this community?

Web3 and NFTs first arose in my perception in January of 2021 through the social app Clubhouse. It was mid COVID lockdown and I was in search of ways to fill the gaps of in-person conversation in my life. One night, I stumbled into a room discussing how artists were wielding blockchain art to explore new creative directions and really ‘own’ their work, and from that moment I was hooked. I started to spend more time on Twitter and found a home among digital artists and photographers alike. I minted my first artwork in April of 2021, which then sold to Jacob Riglin a little over a month later.

My experience in the community has been nothing short of life-changing. I have felt my mind opened to the “creative cosmos” through a clashing of discipline and thought. Countless opportunities have been made visible to pursue my art full-time and grow as an artist. I couldn’t be more grateful.

I love how you put that- "creative cosmos." that really reads true to me, we are all in this interconnected ecosystem of ideas and energy. The sum of these interactions is a galaxy of creative concepts.

What is some advice you would share to a creative person who is earlier along on their journey?

Enjoy the process and move at your own pace. I’ve realized through my own journey how easy it is to get lost in the allure of the finish line. The finishing of the piece you’re working on, the biggest collector owning your art, a new all-time-high sale… there are endless fantasies to focus on. In reality, you’ll really be losing sight of what matters, and that is this moment right now. Take pleasure in the present, every up and down, because it’s the moment right now that you control. Not to mention that you’ll never truly reach the finish line, because there isn’t one ;)

Amazing advice my friend, and thank you for sharing your work and your wisdom with us here today. To the reader, make sure to check out Trailblazing and connect with Ben across the internet via his linktree.