An idea that's time has come.
I heard this word coined a few months ago and thought it was a perfect description of the act. It refers to trading something you create for something of value to you. The person you trade with, exchanges something of theirs for your work and both sides are enriched.
I'm always open to looking at trades. I live a very simple life, but there are things I need to keep my life running smoothly such as computer maintenance, car maintenance, home maintenance, esthetics, accounting, etc. I actually really enjoy trading my work as long as it is based on true value.
I had a conversation the other day with a new neighbour who is a musician. He was giving away a van which needed some work and was looking for a handy type to give it to. Dave said he often trades for things he wants, writing pieces of music or helping with production. He talked about an artist friend that trades all kinds of things for his work, and I'm talking large items like cars for $5,000 paintings.
Apart from being an artist, I'm very handy and happy to help with jewellery repairs, building websites, painting murals and decorative furniture, gifts, catering and service, personal shopping, de-cluttering, staging, assembling IKEA furniture etc. Recently I recreated a friend's wedding dress for her reaffirmation of vows and traded for one of her beautiful paintings. I also traded some excess knitting wool for a garage door opener just yesterday. Anything is possible.
On Daily Paintworks I've met many artists whose work I love, and one of my closest internet friends and Daily Paintworks peer is Nan Johnson http://www.nanjohnsonfineart.com/ who does beautiful acrylic paintings. She has been auctioning some of her older work on Ebay and I bid on one and won it today. Yay! I love it because it reminds me of Australia, a country that holds a piece of my heart. She wrote to me and told me she also been silently bidding on one of my paintings and we were both amused because this in sync stuff happens so often with us. Below are the two paintings. I suppose we could have worked out a trade, although it's also kind of fun bidding.
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| BLUE GUM by Nan Johnson |
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| VIOLET SEA by Sea Dean |
So the next time you need something, ask if the owner is willing to trade, you never know, they may be quite happy to do so.
Cat # 12039 Violet Sea
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All work by Sea Dean protected by International Copyright - No printing, copying, electronic transfer or any form of duplication allowed without written permission from the Artist.