Throughout middle and high school I always enjoyed taking art classes, but I never thought about taking art in college. Many people are skeptical of art majors because the industry itself is extremely hard to be successful in. However, this should not stop anyone from at least giving art a try. Despite college art being more intense and difficult than high school, the challenge aspect makes learning a new skill fun. This semester I took Intro to Ceramics as a Fine/Performing Arts general requirement and I really grew as a person and not just in my pottery-making skills. At first I was terrible and felt like the worst person in the class, but with practice I really began to show improvement and my classmates actually saw my progress. The encouragement from them and my professor made me want to continue practicing art and trying new techniques. In fact, my favorite thing about the class was meeting such passionate students. Everyone inspired each other and at the end when we reviewed each other’s work we learned new color combinations and strategies. Here are some creations I’ve made at this point in the semester for your own inspiration:
1. A small “swirlie” bowl. I used two different glazes and wax to make this design:
2. A section of my 15 inch shell vase (shell made through carving):
3.One bowl from a textured series. I used lace doilies to imprint this pattern:
4.One of the first mugs I made. I put extra drops of glaze on the bottom and top rim to create this texture:
5. A collection of small cat bowls (carved design):
In conclusion, the experience taught me how even if art isn’t your thing or if you don’t want to go into it as a career you should try it to learn something new and feel proud of your creations.