There had been many times when I was younger, where I had used up a whole drawing book with crappy drawings; upset that I was not a good artist. I would always be bummed that the things I would try to make, such as clay sculptures, drawings, paintings and more would turn out poorly. I ended up getting frustrated thinking I had no talent and ended up flushing my creative thoughts down the drain. It wasn’t until years later that I found something I liked the outcome of.
In sophomore year I got placed into ceramics 1 with Mrs Thompson. I dreaded the class and the teacher. I would constantly complain about the assignments we had and the way she would grade our work. Friends made it bearable but with the year coming to an end, I was happy to be leaving the class soon. Not until a few weeks until the year ended, I got to try the wheel. Using the wheel, for the first time, I felt something I had never felt before. It was different than I had felt when I was younger, I wasn’t feeling ashamed of what I was creating. When I was done, I wanted to continue doing the wheel, but since my grade was subpar, Mrs Thompson stopped me from doing so. I was very intrigued by ceramics now, so I signed up for the class next year. I had all the freedom I had wanted the year before and was having a great time in the class. I was still not the best; but making pieces I was still proud of and having fun while doing so. Months went by and I had got the basics down. I had slowly started to implement some planning into what I was going to make and the uses the piece would have. With the basic knowledge and skill, I could almost create anything I put my mind to. This is when I noticed how much I enjoyed ceramics.
I was creating 3-4 “good” pieces a week and I would only keep one or maybe two. I slowly became more of a perfectionist with my work. If what I had made was not as good as I had wanted it to be, I would simply recycle it in a bucket of water. Finally being able to make pieces I was happy with, I didn't see the point in keeping the ones that were not satisfactory. Through doing this I learned the importance of letting things go; even if you have dedicated a lot of time to it. This process has helped me in my day to day life and I never thought a lesson like that would have come from an art class.
