From Art Teacher to Pottery Artist: How I Accidentally Built a Handmade Business
If you had asked me ten years ago what kind of artist I would become, pottery wouldn’t have even made the list.
I thought I was going to work in animation.
I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Animation from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. I dreamed about working for animation studios and creating cartoons for a living. Pottery was never part of the plan.
Today, I spend my days making handmade mugs and pottery from my backyard studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The path between those two versions of me wasn’t exactly straightforward.
The “Artsy Twin”
Growing up, I was always known as the artistic twin.
While my sister Ashley gravitated toward business, technology, and marketing, I spent my time drawing, painting, and creating anything I could get my hands on.
By high school, I was convinced I would pursue art professionally.
I just didn’t know what that would look like.
When I discovered animation, it felt like the perfect fit. It combined storytelling, drawing, design, and creativity into one career path.
So I enrolled in art school and earned my animation degree.
The Reality of Art School
What art school taught me was how to make art.
What it didn’t teach me was how to build a business.
Like many creative people, I graduated with a degree and very little understanding of entrepreneurship, marketing, pricing, or selling my work.
I also realized something important:
I didn’t actually want to work in animation.
The reality of studio work looked very different from the dream I had imagined.
Instead of creating freely, I found myself staring at a computer doing repetitive production work for hours at a time.
I needed a new plan.
Becoming an Art Teacher
After graduation, I went back to school and earned my art education degree.
Teaching felt practical.
It gave me stability, a paycheck, and a way to stay connected to creativity without needing to figure out how to make money as an artist.
For the next eight years, I taught art in schools.
First high school.
Then elementary school.
And honestly?
Elementary art was much more my speed.
The Pottery Plot Twist
Here’s the funny part.
I didn’t fall in love with pottery as a kid.
I wasn’t obsessed with ceramics in college.
I wasn’t even particularly interested in clay.
In fact, I only took one ceramics class because someone told me it might be useful as an art teacher.
Years later, everything changed when I was given a kiln.
I started teaching simple clay projects to my students.
At first, I was learning right alongside them.
I asked questions.
Read manuals.
Watched videos.
Talked to employees at my local clay store.
Made mistakes.
And slowly, I became fascinated by the process.
Learning Through Messy Practice
One of the biggest lessons from my story is that you don’t need to be an expert before you begin.
I taught clay projects while still learning clay myself.
As long as I stayed one step ahead of my students, we figured it out together.
That willingness to learn publicly and embrace being a beginner became one of the most valuable skills I developed.
Leaving Teaching Behind
Eventually, I realized something surprising:
I wanted to spend more time making pottery than teaching it.
That realization was scary.
Teaching provided security.
Benefits.
A predictable paycheck.
Pottery provided none of those things.
But after years of building skills, experimenting, and testing the waters, I decided to take the leap.
Building a Pottery Business
Unlike my first attempt at becoming a full-time artist years earlier, this time I had a plan.
I joined a community of pottery business owners.
I started learning about marketing.
I created a website.
I opened online shops.
I applied to art markets.
I got a business license.
And I treated my pottery like a real business.
Today, I sell handmade pottery online, at local art markets, through consignment opportunities, and through workshops.
What I’ve Learned So Far
If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:
You don’t have to know exactly where you’re going when you start.
The things that eventually become your business might not be the things you studied.
The thing you’re known for today might not be the thing you’re known for tomorrow.
Sometimes the path only makes sense when you look backward.
And sometimes the thing you build begins with a free kiln, a classroom full of students, and a willingness to try.
In This Episode
- Growing up as the artistic twin
- Studying animation in art school
- Why animation wasn’t the right fit
- Going back to school for art education
- Teaching high school and elementary art
- Discovering pottery through teaching
- Learning ceramics from scratch
- Leaving a teaching career behind
- Building a pottery business from the ground up
- Why community and mentorship matter
- Selling pottery at art markets
- Future goals for growing a creative business
Connect with Alisha
Website: alishahagenart.com
Instagram: @alishahagenart
Listen to Mugs & Marketing for more conversations about creativity, entrepreneurship, art businesses, marketing, and building a life around what you love.