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The Henry Lawson High School challenges the old belief that 'those who can, do; those who can't, teach'.
Art teacher Ms Jillian Reidy is one of the many talented teachers at the high school who prove that belief wrong putting her professional skills into practice alongside her teaching.
"I work with amazingly talented teachers in all fields," Ms Reidy said.
"We have a fantastic guitarist leading music education, an agriculture teacher who has her own flock and is passionate about showing animals and a food technology teacher who is an amazing cook and shares this generously with our community.
"So in this context, I am another specialist who practices as well as teaches in my area of expertise."
Ms Reidy's own work is currently on display at the Grenfell Art Gallery in her first solo exhibition 'A Work in Progress', bringing together portraits, printmaking, glasswork and other pieces created across her varied artistic practice.
For Ms Reidy art has been part of her world her whole life.
Her mother was an accomplished and prolific artist and Ms Reidy grew up surrounded by her paintings and drawings.
"My mother was always painting or drawing as a child and so its just your world. You're growing up in it. You're doing it. You don't know any different."
Following her mother's passing in 2014 Ms Reidy began having her extensive collection of artworks framed and preserved.
The process prompted her to think about artistic legacy and the imprint people leave behind, while also encouraging her to return more seriously to her own creative practice.
"I have made art all my life. It's just been part of the life around me," she said.
However after years of teaching Ms Reidy found that the demands of the profession often left little time for making art purely for herself.
"For a large period of my life as a teacher, everything is absorbed into the job.
"It's quite a demanding job. It can be really good demanding, not necessarily a negative demanding, but it is a demanding job. I just wasn't making things for myself."
Building a studio with her husband gave her the space to change that.
"And so I come down here and I play."
Her studio became a place where she can experiment across a wide range of materials and techniques, which is an important part of being an art teacher.
"I think that reflects being an art teacher, you can't just be a painter or drawer. You have to be a printmaker. You have to be a sculptor. You have to be a ceramist. You have to be doing a diverse range of things."
Of the mediums and materials she works with, portraits are her favourite works to create.
"I think the portraits are the most demanding. To get a portrait right, to get that person and that personality in that still image."
She particularly enjoys incorporating hands into portraits, describing them as more animated than a face along.
"They become more of a meditation. I don't have to think as much."
Ms Reidy has been teaching at The Henry Lawson High School since 2000 following a career that included working as a freelance graphic artist, illustrator, a period in a photography studio and teaching information technology.
While teaching was not necessarily a career she had always planned to pursue, she said the profession has provided significant opportunities for growth and achievement.
Among those experiences was attending Government House last year to celebrate excellence in public education.
But the greatest reward of teaching, she said, is the relationships she develops with students as they grow into young adults.
"You get to support them and watch their growth."
Teaching is about much more than developing technical skills for Ms Reidy.
"It's about teaching them that they can do anything if they give it a go."
Her own exhibition provides an opportunity for the community to see the artistic work of a teacher who spends her days encouraging the next generation to be creative, while continuing to challenge herself in the studio.
Ms Reidy has previously exhibited works a number of times during the Henry Lawson Festival with success, she has also had works in the Mudgee Portrait Prize and has also won the People's Choice last year at the Central Belonging Awards at Cowra Art Gallery.
"I've put some of my own works into an exhibition I had of my mother's works in 2001 but this is the first solo, this is the first time I've said I can fill a gallery, let's do it.
"I'm very thankful to everyone that has taken the time to have a look," Ms Reidy added.
She also thanked the Grenfell Art Gallery staff and the community for supporting the exhibition.
For Ms Reidy the exhibition is not only an opportunity to share her own work, but another chance to demonstrate the depth of talent within public education, where teachers are not simply teaching their craft, but actively practising it.
Jillian's exhibition will be on exhibit at the Grenfell Art Gallery until 2 September.