GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – Every painting has its own unique story, and one Green Bay artist is making sure it doesn’t get erased.

Raphael Spencer is a freelance software developer, and he’s also a self-taught artist. He learned from listening to his art teacher at Green Bay Southwest High School and by watching Youtube videos. Spencer’s interest in software engineering grew at a young age by playing video games.

“I chose to be a software engineer and as a result my inner creativity was really pressurized, looking for a way to get out. Basically, I had limited resources and limited time, and I had to find some way to do art. I came up with these different ways of working where I could go into the studio for only a couple hours and get a painting done in a single day,” says Spencer.

He spends about 3-5 hours a week in his studio inside the Premier. Combining his knowledge of software engineering with his love of painting, Spencer used blockchain technology to create the nano kiosk and the NFC chip. The nano kiosk magnifies an image on his computer so he can see the image on a larger scale while he is painting.

“This canvas has a circuit chip embedded inside of it that needs no batteries and will last forever. Then you can scan and get the public records of everywhere this canvas has been. That way it allows you to get the entire story of this piece of original art,” says Spencer.

Although Spencer’s inventions may seem advanced now, things didn’t start out that way.

“At first it started out with me just using my iPhone, and then it developed and developed and developed to where now I’m using my own inventions to help me do my art,” says Spencer.

Spencer is looking to open up a second studio next to his, complete with art supplies, so others can begin experimenting with art.

To see more of Spencer’s artwork, click here. For more information on the Premier, click here.