“I sell my jewelry through a variety of channels, including my online shop, select galleries, and juried art festivals throughout the year,” said Ilene Kay, a jeweler who teaches in both the Professional Crafts Program and Continuing Education at HCC. “Each of these avenues allows me to connect with a diverse audience of collectors and art enthusiasts who value finely crafted, handmade work.”

A member of both the Southern Highland Craft Guild and the Piedmont Craftsmen Guild, Kay creates her pieces in a deliberate and meditative way. “Each piece begins as a sketch, which gradually takes shape into a refined pattern,” she said. “I work primarily with high-quality materials such as Argentium Silver, Gold, and heat-colored Titanium. Using traditional hand tools, I saw, texture, hammer, and form each element by hand.”

Like Kay, potter Christina Bendo also balances a studio practice with teaching. “I make functional, wood fired, salt glazed pottery decorated with the flora and fauna of our unique mountain region,” she said. “Lighting the wood kiln while listening to a chorus of wood frogs, watching the light fade over the mountains, is the perfect culmination to my process.”

Bendo has been teaching in the Continuing Education program at HCC for three years. “In that time the pottery program has grown from totally dormant to classes that are consistently full, sometimes even with a wait list,” she said. “It has been satisfying to see some students continue to come back again and again, continually honing their skills, and to watch new students get their hands in the material and catch the ‘clay bug.’”

For both educators, the connection with students is a two-way street that shapes their personal work. “Teaching classes and workshops has had a profound influence on both my artwork and my art business,” said Kay. “Students often approach techniques with curiosity and creativity, sometimes experimenting in ways I wouldn’t have thought to try myself. Their questions and problem-solving processes challenge me to think more deeply about my own methods and to stay open to alternative approaches.”

“Every day we teach each other new things, not all of them about pottery,” Bendo said. “Creating new classes stretches my creativity and pushes me to explore new techniques, and articulating how to use one’s body to throw pots on the wheel makes me reexamine my own form.”

In addition to offering artistic inspiration, teaching has brought structure and sustainability to their businesses. “Because I have consistent income from teaching, I travel to less shows and have more freedom to make what I want in the studio, rather than being dictated by wholesale orders,” Bendo said.

Kay noted that teaching sharpened her business and communication skills. “Teaching has also reinforced the importance of clear communication and thoughtful planning—skills that translate directly into how I run my art business, from writing class descriptions and artist statements to managing timelines and customer expectations,” she said. “Ultimately, my role as an instructor has made me a more intentional, adaptable, and engaged artist.”

And because both women remain active in the craft marketplace, their students benefit from a true understanding of what it takes to be a working artist. “Because I actively run a jewelry business—selling online, through galleries, and at art festivals—I’m able to share real-world insights with students about what it takes to succeed as a professional artist,” said Kay. “This includes everything from pricing work, managing production schedules, and building a brand, to navigating craft shows and working with galleries.”

Bendo echoed that sentiment. “My years of business experience allow me to mentor some of my more advanced students who are starting to venture out into selling in markets or on platforms like Etsy,” she said. “They see me as a resource not just for learning about making pots but also learning to do things such as pricing work, creating a booth display, setting up a home studio, or purchasing a kiln.”

The blending of personal practice with pedagogy creates a rich learning environment at HCC—one where the lessons are informed by lived experience, and where teachers remain students of their own evolving craft. “Teaching, for me, is about passing on not just skills, but the mindset and resilience it takes to grow as both an artist and an entrepreneur,” said Kay.

Learn more at Haywood.edu by searching “creative arts.”