Underground creativity

I have been wondering whether the creative economy is something that often flies under the radar because creativity is fundamentally an individual activity. How many people are writing novels for publication while they earn their living in a day job?

Designers who create t-shirts and sell them through Threadless.com or Cafepress.com are participating in the creative economy. You don't have to be Peter Jackson or have millions invested. When I do a project for a client in the United States or Australia those export dollars are as valuable as every one earned by Tim Finn's album.

There are plenty of us, working unheralded, unorganised and, largely, unaided. I must research the numbers - I imagine, collectively, we're a substantial group and would probably benefit from a little more attention.