Making a new piece of art on a spinning wheel with wet, messy, yet beautiful clay is something I can never get over. I love pottery because I have never been great at drawing or painting, but pottery is something I could improve on. In the middle of a busy class schedule, being able to spend 45 minutes simply focused only on the piece I am building is relaxing. Throwing new objects on the wheel is stressful, but relaxing. I would stress over a bowl I was making because I wanted it to be perfect, but I could clean my wheel and start over, so it was okay. I am only focused on that one, single piece in those 45 minutes, which I find some comfort in. When I have a bad day, I know I can walk into the art room and not worry about everything outside. I love glazing a piece and never really knowing how exactly it will come out. I use a glaze that is red when I put it on, but I know it is going to be blue when it comes out of the kiln. I find inspiration and focus when glazing. You can add so many colors to one piece and make it a mess of just layered colors, or you can add small detail. I cannot wait to see what my pieces look like when they come out of the kiln, sometimes better than expected, sometimes horrid. The thing that makes pottery my favorite is no matter if you like it, someone will. With pottery you can create functional pieces that people can actually use, so even if you hate how the glaze turned out or how it is a little smaller than you were hoping to make, someone, somewhere, could fall in love with that piece of art you made just for fun.
Ceramics class did more for me than just teach me ceramics. It taught me patience. You have to wait for your favorite piece to come out of the kiln. You have to try again to make the handle to your mug because it just did not fit right. You have to let the reclaimed clay sit out one more day because it needs to soak in more water, so you have to work on your portfolio instead of actually making the art. Ceramics opened my mind to a new perspective. My peers would complain about things such as how their glaze turned out or how their bowl is deeper than they should have made it, yet those were the things I loved about that piece. This made me realize not only in art but in life; people see things differently. Art class gave me more lessons I knew possible. I expected to go in and fail. I expected to hate everything I made. I did not expect enough. Yes, I failed, but I tried again. I hated so many pieces I made, but so many people loved those. I expected just to learn about art. In the end, I learned about myself. I learned my skills and weaknesses. I learned not to judge a book by its cover. I learned to be patient. I learned to work hard. I learned to take criticism. I learned to appreciate the little things. Most importantly, I learned that art will change you.