From the crack of the bat to the click of a shutter, Tom Wilson's journey has been anything but ordinary. As we sit down with the former baseball player turned digital artist, Tom shares his story about the leap of faith into the world of cryptocurrency and his discovery of NFTs. Inspired by the likes of Micah Johnson, he reveals how this new frontier became a canvas for his creativity, offering a fresh palette for expression and connection with a community that values art in its many forms.
Balancing a bat and a brush wasn't always a smooth ride, but Tom's candid recount of his evolution from athlete to artist strikes a chord. He paints a picture of a life sculpted by diverse experiences, from managing a dog hotel to serving up dishes in an Italian restaurant, all of which led him down the path to self-employment and creative autonomy. It's easy to see how the dogged determination of an independent canine mirrors Tom's own approach to life and art, as he admits to following his instincts even when they buck against the pack.
In the art of storytelling, Tom doesn't shy away from the intimate details; his personal life weaves through the conversation as warmly as the Southern Orange County sunsets he cherishes. He previews his latest NFT project, a narrative that has been quietly unfolding over a year, and hints at future endeavors that may blend the digital with the tangible. As a soon-to-be father, Tom emphasizes the importance of family and the support of the art patrons and community that fuel the fire of creation. Tune in to hear how Tom Wilson crafts his life with the same care and passion he applies to his art, leaving us with a sense of the genuine bonds that form in the intersection of life, art, and the digital world.
From the crack of the bat to the click of a shutter, Tom Wilson's journey has been anything but ordinary. As we sit down with the former baseball player turned digital artist, Tom shares his story about the leap of faith into the world of cryptocurrency and his discovery of NFTs. Inspired by the likes of Micah Johnson, he reveals how this new frontier became a canvas for his creativity, offering a fresh palette for expression and connection with a community that values art in its many forms.
Balancing a bat and a brush wasn't always a smooth ride, but Tom's candid recount of his evolution from athlete to artist strikes a chord. He paints a picture of a life sculpted by diverse experiences, from managing a dog hotel to serving up dishes in an Italian restaurant, all of which led him down the path to self-employment and creative autonomy. It's easy to see how the dogged determination of an independent canine mirrors Tom's own approach to life and art, as he admits to following his instincts even when they buck against the pack.
In the art of storytelling, Tom doesn't shy away from the intimate details; his personal life weaves through the conversation as warmly as the Southern Orange County sunsets he cherishes. He previews his latest NFT project, a narrative that has been quietly unfolding over a year, and hints at future endeavors that may blend the digital with the tangible. As a soon-to-be father, Tom emphasizes the importance of family and the support of the art patrons and community that fuel the fire of creation. Tune in to hear how Tom Wilson crafts his life with the same care and passion he applies to his art, leaving us with a sense of the genuine bonds that form in the intersection of life, art, and the digital world.
So it's chill time. Norcal and chill podcast. What the fuck, what the chill? Norcal and chill podcast. So it's chill time. Norcal and Shill Podcast what the sh-, what the sh-? Norcal and Shill Podcast. So it's Shill time. Norcal and Shill Podcast what the sh-, what the sh hey, everyone, welcome to this episode of NorCal and Shill. Today we have Tom Wilson. From baseball to artistry, tom shares his initial hesitation with cryptocurrency, journey through the complexities of NFTs and the joy of discovering creative freedom in the crypto art space. After learning from Micah Johnson work and life's purpose, tom dives into his artistic evolution, his advice for fellow artists and his preference for life close to the beachfront of Southern Orange County and celebrate the power of community support in the NFT world. Join us for this compelling conversation with Tom Wilson, filled with insight on art, intuition and a dose of gratitude. Everybody, please welcome Tom Wilson. Hey, tom, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?
Tom Wilson:
I am great man, I'm doing well. How are you?
NorCal Guy:
I'm good, I'm good, good. The rain has well, at least up here in NorCal has stopped for a day, maybe two days, probably hopefully for the weekend, I don't know and it looks like it's not raining down where you are.
Tom Wilson:
It looks like you got some sunlight coming in. We've been getting some rain here in Southern California, oddly enough, which has been nice. I've enjoyed it. But now we're getting some sun and starting to warm up, so I'm enjoying it yeah.
NorCal Guy:
Well'm enjoying it. Yeah Well, that's great. I mean it's hard with kids and rain. It is like getting them out.
Tom Wilson:
I get. I get it now. Yeah With with my son. I'm like man, if it rains, like we're taking them to the grandparents' house or something you know Right.
NorCal Guy:
Right right. Like somewhere where there's more people to be like interacting with them, and they can have more stuff to do, Because man they like get some cabin fever?
Tom Wilson:
Oh, absolutely, you have to get them out. So we like the sun, that's for sure yeah.
NorCal Guy:
So do you have and use a hardware wallet?
Tom Wilson:
I do. Yeah, I do. I didn't for a long time. Well, I didn't for a long time, like I was just kind of had everything on a hot wallet, I guess you would call it. And then I got a free ledger with like something from Artifact I don't remember what it was, but I got a free ledger and I was like, and I had it new for a while, I didn't even open it and I, I think I finally had some like a higher level at a few, where I was like starting to get nervous, like starting to stay up at night, like, oh shoot, and then I was like, okay, I'm setting it up tomorrow, finally set it up.
NorCal Guy:
And I've had it for I don't know, probably a couple years now, but I do, I do use a hardware wallet yeah, I mean yeah because you like get to that point where you're just like man, they're starting to get some value on there, like, yes, I didn't set it up again today, frick.
Tom Wilson:
Yeah, no, I literally was losing sleep over it. I was like I'm getting nervous, Not like I'm clicking sketchy links or anything, but you just never know. I see people get hacked out of nowhere. So I'm like, okay, we got to set it up. So now I set it up and then like fast forward, a year later I did like the three wallet thing or whatever that.
NorCal Guy:
Oh yeah.
Tom Wilson:
Six, five, two, nine is always talking about Like. Once I got my punk I was like shoot, I got to really like lock things down. Now you know what I mean. Like it cannot mess around. So I think you know I don't want to speak too soon, you? So I think you know I don't want to speak too soon. You never know what can happen. But I think I'm pretty good with wallet security. I think I do a pretty good job.
NorCal Guy:
Yeah, well, that's good to know. Good to know, yeah. So what were your first thoughts when you heard about this NFTs crypto art scam? Yeah, let's get in it.
Tom Wilson:
Yeah, scam, yeah, let's get in it. Yeah, I was like my initial thoughts were like I don't know, I I was intrigued but like confused at the same time. I guess, um, I learned about crypto art and nfts from micah johnson a long time ago, um, through the baseball world and yeah, like I looked up, I looked it up on youtube or whatever, and obviously the only thing I could find that was like 2020. The only thing I could find was crypto kitties. I didn't even see like crypto punks. I didn't see anything else. I just saw crypto kitties stuff and I was like, wow, this is interesting.
Tom Wilson:
Like obviously, like it took me, like I was working on this thing with micah, I was doing some like design stuff or whatever, and it took me like probably like a two, a series of two months where I'm actually involved in the nft space, and it finally clicked. After like two months I was like, okay, like obviously, for the first two months I was like a broke minor league baseball player, like helping out on these art things. You know, I was like, okay, this is a cool way for me to like make some income while seasons shut down and everything. You know what I mean. And then after two months I was like, okay, like I actually get it now, like I'm my, I was able to wrap my head around the whole digital ownership thing, um and yeah, and then it worked out and we're still here three, three and a half years later. I guess four years later, I don't know yeah flies by, really does.
Tom Wilson:
Yeah, it flies by for sure.
NorCal Guy:
So why did you? What brought you to art? How did you choose art?
Tom Wilson:
That's a good question, um, cause I never saw myself as like an artist for my whole life. Like, my family is super, um, artistically oriented. Um, everybody more than me, I even think, like with music and like this is my dad's painting. Like, like my sisters, they're all super, super, super artistic.
Tom Wilson:
And then there was me like just playing baseball, right, but I was always like doing art stuff on the side, right, like playing like guitar and like the drums and like playing guitar for my local church and, uh, doing art stuff like video editing, after effects stuff. So I was always kind of doing art stuff on the side, but it was never really like my main thing. Until Micah and I connected and I was able to use some of my like after effects knowledge and graphic design knowledge to help him out and I was like, oh, shoot, this is cool. Like why don't I start like making my own stuff? Like why, why couldn't I be like my own artist? You know, right? Um, so it wasn't really till recently that I guess I considered myself an artist, you know what I mean, even though I was, but like I I wasn't really creating my own artwork in a sense, but I mean I guess I was, but I wouldn't yeah. So that's kind of, that's kind of how that happened.
NorCal Guy:
Nice, so I know you've played a lot of baseball. Did you have any jobs like those basic jobs? Everyone's like man. I can't believe I did that job. I'm glad I did that job. It taught me a lot of these things.
Tom Wilson:
Yeah, yeah, obviously baseball. And then I had a couple other jobs in junior college. In junior college, I was kind of like didn't know if I was going to keep obviously baseball. And then I had a couple other jobs in junior college. In junior college, I was kind of like didn't know if I was going to keep playing baseball, right, so I spent one. I spent one day at a dog hotel. I was working at a dog hotel, okay, cause I really like dogs, I'm like a huge dog guy, right, and like I spent this one day at a dog hotel and it was just like rough, like like not only like the work I had to do, but like there was so many dogs and I just like felt bad for all these dogs. And so I went in the next morning and I quit. I like, nah, this isn't for me, so I'm out, so I quit the next morning.
Tom Wilson:
Um, and then, like, I think maybe maybe a week or two later, I got a job at an italian restaurant, like being a host, slash delivery driver, slash waiter. So I worked there for like a full summer, hated, hated every second of it. And then like, and I couldn't stand, like my manager, really like anybody, like I was just like what am I doing? Like. So that was kind of like, I guess, a good aha moment for me where I'm like, okay, I need to figure out how am I going to be able to like work for myself you know what I mean, because, like I couldn't stand working for somebody else I guess that's obviously a different like type of deal working in a restaurant but I still was like, okay, like I didn't need to like because, like for baseball, it's like you got to make it happen for yourself, right?
Tom Wilson:
You're not like like sure, there's got to be things that fall into place for you, but like you're gonna either make it happen for yourself or not. And I feel like same thing for art. So so, yeah, I was definitely, I would say, a net positive of having that job.
NorCal Guy:
That definitely opened my eyes, yeah yeah, you've motivated you like now there's nothing for me. I was like no, this, this isn't for me.
Tom Wilson:
I was like no this, this isn't for me. Independence, absolutely yeah.
NorCal Guy:
Well, I feel like I already know the answer to this question If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
Tom Wilson:
Definitely a dog, Absolutely. I don't know. I just feel like dogs, just like dogs, just rock man. I don't know if you're a dog guy, but like I've just always loved having a dog, they're super fun. Like they don't know if you're a dog guy, but like I've just always loved having a dog, they're super fun. Like they don't care about anything. You know, they're just like living their life, Just like free.
NorCal Guy:
You know, just like simple simple life, you know, yeah, and they always are there to say hi, always, oh, absolutely, and they're always stoked to see you, right, which is super cool.
Tom Wilson:
It's very true, yeah, which is super cool, it's very true.
NorCal Guy:
So yeah, definitely a dog. Yeah, I get it, I get it. Do you have a favorite food?
Tom Wilson:
Favorite food? This, honestly. I was looking at the list of questions. This is probably the toughest question Because I'm also a big foodie. I love food, so I think I'll narrow it down to my favorite genre is Mexican food. I love Mexican food. Growing up in Southern California, obviously pretty easy answer there. And then, as a side little thing here, I love Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-a is like my not my favorite food, but it's like my favorite establishment, like right I. I didn't realize how much I loved chick-fil-a until it it made it on my first baseball card. Like on the back of my baseball card, you know, where it says like little stuff about the player, yeah, it was like. At the end it said like chick-fil-a enthusiast and I was like whoa, okay, I don't know how they found that out. Um, so those, those are my two answers there. I'm a big, big mexican food guy. And then, uh, just chick-fil-a.
NorCal Guy:
I love some chick-fil-a solid, so you can't go wrong with a chicken sandwich man.
Tom Wilson:
I love it. Yeah, it's simple.
NorCal Guy:
Yeah, what's the best piece of advice you've been given? Or do you have a mantra or motto that you kind of live by?
Tom Wilson:
Yeah, I think mantra, I think for me personally is everything happens for a reason, I don't know. I think that obviously everybody's like dealt different hands in life, you know, but I think that there's always like light at the end of the tunnel, for everything that happens right, like anything bad or good that happens in my life, I think happens for a reason. That reason I might not find out for years down the road, but then I can look back and be like, oh shoot, like this happened and then which led to another thing happening. You know what I mean. Like yeah like baseball.
Tom Wilson:
Like baseball for me is like coming to an end and I'm not really sure, like obviously my whole life was like, oh, I'm going to be a big leader, like I'm going to play 20 years in the bigs, it's going to be great, and that came to an end recently. So it's like I might not figure out why that's the best for me, you know, but I'm sure I will maybe five, 10 years down the road. So that's just kind of my mantra, I guess. Yeah, and just kind of how I, how I live, helps me out.
NorCal Guy:
For sure, I like it. I like it Definitely is like you see the connections, like looking back you're like, okay, that helped me do that, that helped me do this. Yeah, exactly.
Tom Wilson:
Yeah, and I think you can just always find a positive out of the things that are going on in your life, by the way. So yeah.
Tom Wilson:
Do you have advice for artists coming into this crypto art space? Yeah, this was probably the second toughest question I saw there on the list Besides the food. One Advice for artists coming into the space. I mean it's like, at this point I feel like it's a super loaded question because I think there's so, so much that goes into being an artist in this space now.
Tom Wilson:
But I think like, well, I I guess number one artists coming into the space need to get on manifold. They need to like make a manifold contract. They need to know what manifold is. I think that's super important. Um, I'm a huge manifold guy. I love what they're doing. Um, so I guess that's number one. That's like the simple one.
Tom Wilson:
Um, number two, I would say like, trust your like artistic instinct. You know what I mean, because I think there's like there's obviously like artists like so much being said hey, you should do this, this is how you should approach this, this is what's going to sell, this is, you know, there's so many people and so many things happening like trying to punch you in certain directions. But it's like I think trusting your artistic instinct is important and I think this is kind of like how, like ACK talks about like his muse right All the time. That's like he's always talking about that and to me I see that as like the artistic instinct, like he's always talking about that and to me I see that as like the artistic instinct. You're like trusting your gut and like what should I create? How should I release it? You know what I mean.
Tom Wilson:
Like try and like put as little thought in as possible, like create everything, do your artistic stuff, and then like just spend a little bit of time thinking, okay, okay, I think I should make this a one-on-one, I think I should do this like whatever your gut tells you. I think it's typically right, you know what I mean and I think that right, your gut will know if you're like trying to like max, be like maximum extracting from the market, you know I mean your gut knows like hey, this is like too much for what I'm doing, this is like I'm gonna price this way too high or whatever. Like you, you will know, you know I mean. So I think like just trusting that instinct that you have, like as a creative and what you're creating, if that makes sense. I don't know if any of that made sense, but no, it does.
NorCal Guy:
Yeah, I mean you, you have an intuition. We know it seems like a lot of times we've learned to ignore it and go with other uh direction or advice. But you know, kind of like that, that um mac uh malcolm gladwell book, uh blink, it's like okay you know, we all have it like we all have like this built in and like you think about it, it's like you know what to do, but sometimes you just ignore it.
Tom Wilson:
But you know a hundred percent, yeah, yeah. And that, yeah, you know what to do and like, especially creative, like you know what to do creatively and like, yeah, you just gotta, you gotta trust it and like, don't be afraid to, like you know, trust it and take risks and you know, enjoy your art, Enjoy it, yeah for sure.
NorCal Guy:
So if you could live or move anywhere, where would you live and why?
Tom Wilson:
super boring answer. But like I'm already in southern orange county and I absolutely love southern orange county, I'm not much of a traveler. Maybe I'd go like to the sand as possible, like I'll sure I'll take a beachfront place, um, but yeah, I'm just not much of a traveler. Like I don't think I would be, like I don't think I would go anywhere. Crazy I haven. I haven't traveled much out of the country, like I've only been to Mexico and I just enjoy it here. So I think maybe just a little bit closer to the beach and that's a win for me.
NorCal Guy:
Yeah, that's nothing wrong with being close to the beach, I mean yeah, I'm all about it.
Tom Wilson:
It's, it's where I like to be, so I'll, I'll, I'll take it there.
NorCal Guy:
Do you have any questions for me?
Tom Wilson:
Ooh questions for you. Am I allowed to ask anything, Anything.
NorCal Guy:
Yeah.
Tom Wilson:
Hmm, what? I'm curious. What is your? What is like from a collector's mind? What is your favorite style like? Or what's your favorite medium? Like like 3d, do you like abstract, do you like collage, do you like just 2d, you know, or like you can go more specific than that, but I don't even know if you have a favorite, but I'm curious, like, what is your favorite just personally, you know?
NorCal Guy:
yeah, I guess you know, I'd have to say, probably photography stands out okay, yeah, I should have known that.
Tom Wilson:
Honestly, that makes a lot of sense, yeah uh, just I don't know.
NorCal Guy:
It was like one of my favorite classes when I was in school and you know I carry a camera around with me now. Yeah, I just always enjoy taking photos and, I guess, appreciate when I see good ones.
Tom Wilson:
Totally. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I'm trying to stay in the baseball world, like in photography, so maybe I'll have to pick your brain a little bit sometime.
NorCal Guy:
Totally, I'm always. I'm always open for that.
Tom Wilson:
I love your the project with the. What is it like a Polaroid camera or something? Yeah, yeah.
NorCal Guy:
Yeah, yeah, uh, actually have it right here.
Tom Wilson:
I think that is an awesome idea. I remember when you first dropped that yeah, um ovec, just had it and I just got it with a grifter on it.
NorCal Guy:
Yeah, yeah, yeah that, uh. So everyone that gets it like draws on it on the case super cool. I love that I think that is awesome and that's artifactions, grifter, and then oh yeah, yeah, that's right super cool fujiroid.
NorCal Guy:
So, yeah, no, that's, that's been a fun project and I mean, yeah, it goes a little. It's a little bit slower pace than I was expecting, but I actually don't mind it being this nice slow pace. It's like I get it like every month basically back. Yeah, and it's not bad, yeah, it's great. So, yeah, I gotta list it yeah.
NorCal Guy:
So yeah, I just got this back. I'm gonna have to go uh list it on foundation and uh, I mean, I was thinking about doing that today. I was like because the thing is like juggling, like okay, because I got click create and the podcast is like, when do I list all these things?
Tom Wilson:
but yeah, yeah, but definitely needs to be done yeah, I tell you, no, I love it, I think it's great and obviously, click, create rocks you and clutch you, guys rock everything you guys are doing over there. I've been so busy this past year like pushing my last year of baseball and everything so I haven't been able to follow too much. But obviously you guys are two of my biggest supporters and I've greatly appreciated that. So shout out to click, create awesome well, thank you of course yeah, do you have any other questions?
Tom Wilson:
um, let's see, I had a couple that I was thinking of um, I'll ask one more, I'll keep one more. Do you have a favorite or top two pieces of your collection, or just nfp in general, like art or just collectibles, or?
NorCal Guy:
or that's a hard question. That's why I narrowed it to like two, three, four you can name a few like I got um, like I really love my ringer that I have okay, yeah dimitri, because it's like one of the symmetrical ones.
Tom Wilson:
Okay early on.
NorCal Guy:
People are like people are like oh, because I use it as like uh, the avatar on like foundation and super red okay yeah, and it looks like a dice, um, that's what people called it.
NorCal Guy:
Oh yeah, the dice, right, um. So I really love that one, okay. And then I have a physical painting from zook. Oh, okay, super cool, and it's like huge. It's like it's got to be like seven by five foot something, okay, yeah, so it's huge oil painting. That is just super cool, amazing. So I love that as well. And, man, it's hard to say like, like those, like immediately stand out, right, um, but I mean there's others, hey, those are two those are two good ones I know I
Tom Wilson:
I always like I wanted to find more like oil painters, like in the space, like I would love to go buy some nfts with the painting and like kind of fill up, fill up the house a little bit, that would be, that'd be sweet. I just like I don't know, I can't, like I either can't find these people or like I'm like crazy outpriced. So it's like right right, you know what I mean, so, but maybe I'll find some, who knows yeah, definitely.
NorCal Guy:
Um, there's some abstract painters out there that are pretty cool. Um, yeah, but yeah oh man, I'm blinking on one. Wow, but yeah I like just came to my like oh yeah, that abstract, and then like gone yeah um, but yeah, I think that those are the two I'll just go with and just leave it those are great right now.
Tom Wilson:
Those are great. I gotta I'm gonna have to go take a look at that ringer. I don't know if I've seen her. I mean, I'm sure I've seen it as your pfb, but I haven't really taken a look. You know, right, right, right.
NorCal Guy:
Right, yeah, I think those two. Um, yeah, do you have thanks? Do you have any shout outs, any upcoming projects? You'd like to talk about anything in the works?
Tom Wilson:
Um, nothing in the works right now. Um, my general project is still minting. Um released that like a month and a half ago in January, nice. So that was like a year long labor of love. So I'm kind of taking a little bit of time to like enjoy those as they've been in, like keep the focus there for a little bit. Yeah, I'm hoping to like explore physicals with those. So maybe after this, after we have our new baby here next week, after we settle in on that a little bit, um, I'm gonna try to figure something out there. Um, but that's about it. I don't have anything new. I mean, I'm working on stuff, but nothing like announced or anything that anything soon.
NorCal Guy:
So that's all from me, sweet yeah well, tom, I just want to say thank you so much for coming on the show, thank you so much for your time and I really appreciate it.
Tom Wilson:
Thank you yeah, thank you, man, for having me and thanks for always um not only supporting me but the arts as a whole and so many artists and people among the space, and I think you're a great patron, um for the arts and nfts, so we appreciate you, man.
NorCal Guy:
Oh, thanks man thanks, definitely it is guy. Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Who is this guy? Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal guy. Norcal and chill Podcast Show. It's chill time, norcal and chill Podcast. What, the, what, the? It's chill NorCal and.