Nyla Hayes, 13, Becomes Self-Made Millionaire for Creating NFT Art

Some 13-year-old kids are still unsure what they'll do as a grown-up, but Nyla Hayes has already figured it out and has become a self-made millionaire. She's the latest toast of the digital art scene and has amassed quite a fanbase for creating NFT Art.

Hayes started drawing as a toddler and learned digital art by the time she entered elementary school. She then drew a collection of notable portraits of women, like Michelle Obama, Serena Williams, Lucille Ball, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with elongated necks.

According to Daily Mail, Hayes was inspired by the unique portraits because the Brontosaurus was always her favorite dinosaur growing up. Her uncle, who is into non-fungible tokens or NFTs, told her that she could sell her digital art on the cryptocurrency platform, OpenSea.

The 13-year-old has over 3,000 portraits of women that she sold for $1,000 each. Part of the money she earned went to helping out her parents and siblings. But as word got around about Hayes's NFT art, her portraits increased in value. She has earned more than $7 million from her creations to date.

Becoming Time Magazine's Artist-in-Residence

In an interview with Today, Hayes said she loves drawing women across various cultures and backgrounds. She calls her famous collection the "long neckies" and thought of the concept to demonstrate the beauty and strength of women.

Mom Latoya Hayes said that her daughter worked with her NFT art on a basic smartphone and saw her passion for it. However, as a young child, Hayes was also nervous to show people her creations in the beginning because she thought her long "neckies" would look weird to them.

Because of her talent and art's popularity, Time Magazine honored her as their first Artist-in-Residence in 2021. She developed an incredible portrait of the magazine's Women of the Year.

As for the business side of her art, Hayes admitted that she did not expect her portraits would become lucrative. She acknowledges, however, that she would not have achieved success if not for her uncle and the support of her parents and siblings. To improve herself, Hayes said that she watched YouTube videos to understand NFTs so she could leverage the business.

New Collection in the Works

Hayes, who is left-handed, said she is working on a new collection that could be the best one yet. She told One37PM that she felt it was natural for her to transition to digital art because she is a leftie. In a world dominated by right-handed tools or equipment, digital art removed the obstacles.

Meanwhile, among all of her works, the young artist reveals that her favorite is the portrait of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, which was one of her first few creations. Hayes said that Kahlo was her inspiration and the reason for her first collection focusing on flowers.