I'm discovering that artists in Nelson often ask or offer to swap work. The first person to offer me a swap was Megg Hewlett and I came to own my absolutely indispensable purple bag. (Notice I called that my "first"!) Since, I've had four more offers, and I intend to honor them all, but sometimes it's a bit nerve-recking because, after all, they, too, are people who makes things.
I also had to get my head around the barter system. We try to exchange works of roughly the same dollar value, but it's not as precise as money exchanging hands, and I'm growing to like the fuzziness on one hand, but feel nervous about potential imbalance in either direction.
It's surprisingly liberating, though, to receive something lovingly worked, in exchange for something I made. It transcends monetary value, and let's face it, I'm terribly lucky to be asked.
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