Young students are usually surprised to learn their teachers have a life outside of school – families, talents, volunteer gigs.  For an art teacher in Muncie, her life as an Indiana artisan is the reason why she enters the classroom every day.  As part of a Ball State University class focused on arts journalism, reporter Max Lewis introduces us to an East Washington Academy teacher.

Indiana Artisan Carol Burt has been scraping and painting her creations for nearly 20 years.

“In 2001, I took my first pottery class.  The thing I liked about it the most – I liked to draw and paint,” says Carol, who studied art as a graduate student at Ball State University. “When I found out I can draw and paint on top of the clay, it made it a lot more fun.”

And she’s been doing it ever since.  She loved it so much, she turned it into a small side business.

“Most of the time I’m thinking about work that people are going to want to buy, so I’ve got a lot of vessels.  A lot of coffee cups, bowls, and plates.”

When Carol was younger, she always made things, but she has a hard time learning the tricks of the trade.

“When I was a little girl, I didn’t have an art teacher.  So, I didn’t know that what I was doing was actually art.”

While Carol never had an art teacher of her own, she wanted to make sure any kid that wanted to learn art could.

“I never wanted to give it up and to be able to make it a part of my job was especially nice,” she says.

While she loves teaching at East Washington Academy, her real passion is the pottery itself.

“And it was just something I felt I had to do.”

More information on Burt’s pottery is available on the Indiana Artisans site.