When the economy began its rapid descent into recession in 2008, Oxford's Jason Heavner found himself, like many others, looking for work.
Instead of continuing a career focused on information technology, Heavner took the leap and made his hobby of making folk art into a career.
"I have to be creative in everything that I do," Heavner said. "It makes it hard to keep a normal job."
Heavner was among the just over 60,000 people employed in the creative economy when the state funded an extensive survey in 2011.
