Winged Lion: Courage by Yiying Lu

The winged lion is a mythological creature that resembles a lion with bird-like wings. It is found in various forms especially in Ancient and Medieval civilizations. For example, the Lion of Saint Mark is a winged lion that symbolically represents Saint Mark the Evangelist, patron of Venice. The winged lion represents Courage and Power.

After working in the startup world for the last 12 years, the news of NFT marketplace MakersPlace's recent Series A raise got me thinking about the world of startups and what it takes for founders to be successful in such a competitive space: Resilience (Phoenix), Strength (Griffin), Imagination (Pegasus), Courage (Winged Lion), Creativity (Hippocampus), Magic (Unicorn in Color), and even Luck (Unicorn in Gold). And then, I realized that those are many of the same attributes of successful artists. So I created a new NFT collection, "Makers of Magic," that embodies what I see as the 7 vital qualities above of creators, artists, startup founders, and makers of all kinds.

Before NFTs, digital art was either free or in a supportive role to facilitate selling products in the business world. We all know it has intrinsic value, yet it can not be manifested without attaching to a business or product. However, the existence of NFT adds the financial layer to digital art. It makes the artistic content immutable digital collectibles, which can protect and help monetize digital creators' work. This digital asset class is empowering creators and revolutionizing how they can create real value from their work. NFT can change my life and other creatives like illustrators, animators, musicians, and even entertainers, to leverage digital collectibles to engage their community authentically, supplement their existing revenue streams, and truly become the makers of magic ✨🦄✨.