My Creative Neighbourhood – The Thriving Artists Project

This post is part of a series I started some time ago and would like to resurrect here at my new homebase. This is where I look around at my fellow artists and highlight some of the wonderful things they’ve been up to recently. Anything that catches my eye, rattles my brain, or drops my jaw ends up here. Things I feel I need company in oggling at and admiring. If it’s here, it’s good.

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For this episode I’m going to do something a little different. This week I’m not oggling at art, I’m admiring a artist’s project that has grown from a spark of an idea to a fully fledged community now sparking more ideas than a campfire full of firecrackers.

The Thriving Artists Project, a brainchild of Melissa Dinwiddie, aims to help artists thrive (funny about that, with the name of the project and all :D). It is designed to give you both information and community support to help you reach for the goals you want to achieve in order to prosper in your creative endeavours (much more of a mouthful that basically means the same thing :D).

As a member of the Project, I have access to exclusive interviews with artists who have managed to find a way to thrive. And wow, those interviews are compelling – I totally recommend the interview with Ann Rea, she has some wonderfully empowering views on how to operate an artistic business. It is like having a sneak peek inside how these creative people have made it all work. Valuable insights and a fantastic learning resource. Oh, and they are audio, which means you can Pod them, or listen to them while doing the dishes, or tell the dishes to go jump, curl up on the couch with cushions and something yummy and just listen (my experiences usually involve a wriggling baby, but hey, I’m doing higher brain stuff and entertaining the kids at the same time).

Another resource I have been thoroughly enjoying is the forums. These forums are locked to members only, so you can feel free to discuss business nitty-gritty with a small audience, all of whom are there for similar reasons. As everyone has a different skill set, the forums have become a bonus information source. Need to know something? Ask. There is a very good chance you will either get an answer or be pointed in the right direction to find one.

And lessons, we get lessons! Before you start groaning, you should know that all the information is at our disposal. No due dates. You do what you want, when you want. Which has been fantastic for me as my available time at the moment is measured in milliseconds and I haven’t had time to keep up with the last few (which means I’ll have some fun a little later). And they are audio and video, which means less eye strain and more of that lying back on the couch with cushions and yummy stuff.

So yeah, I’m thoroughly enjoying the experience. I’m learning a lot. This website was built with the support I received from the group and I have several other projects on the boil that I post about and discuss with other members. It’s a great resource and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is thinking of starting an artistic business or already has one and wants to thrive.

And now for the small print…

The project has a fee. I’m not sure how much as I got in very early quite some time ago while content was still under development. I do know that the doors will be reopening for new members in the near future (next week?), so if you are interested, I’d recommend jumping over to the website and signing up for the inside info and a 30 day free trial offer.

More small print…

Just so we’re all on the same page…I’m not receiving any money for this endorsement. There is an affiliate program available for the Project, but I’m not tying myself into it in this post as I will be keeping ‘My Creative Neighbourhood’ for my honest opinion only. I think I did put the affiliate code in the graphic to the bottom right of my website, I’m not sure (can’t remember and not really my forte), so I’d rather you clicked one of the links within this post if you are interested or just type in the address ( http://thrivingartistsproject.com/ )  into your browser.

I honestly think this Project is a good one. I thoroughly recommend it, and I would love to see you join me in those forums. ::grin:: You might even find out some of those plans I have brewing.

Nutty
(off the edge, learning to fly with the assistance of the Thriving Artists Project how-to-grow-wings program :D)