The last time I molded clay was at summer camp when I was a kid, so you cannot believe how excited I was to let out my inner child and go mold clay. The event also provided a nice escape from the typical movie nights I had found myself attending out of necessity due to my schedule with work and class. We got a little history background about the role clay making has played in ancient civilizations and how it changed over time based on the resources available and the culture of the people who sculpted the figurines at the Johnson museum. We were given a block of clay to cut and mold, and were taught bonding techniques to piece the clay together with water. I found my lack of creativity present when given the freedom to turn this block into whatever I desire, so I went with my nerdy instinct and made a small clay model of a Mars rover similar to that of the designs made by my project team in the past. Had I known beforehand what material we were working with I like to believe I could have planned a more elaborate sculpture. Overall I found this activity to be rather relaxing, and a great change from my typical day of classwork and problem sets.

Art has always had an interesting place in my life. When I was younger, I was forced into it by my parents, thinking that art is something to be appended onto a resume. I withdrew from art for a long period of time, focusing on sciences and subconsciously deriding those who would appreciate and practice art.

From a strictly money-based perspective, art isn’t really too practical. Many people I know like to tout the statistic that only the top 10% of professional artists can live comfortably. I hear stories from my parents of impoverished, yet talented, Chinese artists, willing to sell some admittedly nice looking paintings for a pittance.

As I grew, I started to wonder why people would make themselves undergo such struggles for such superficial benefit. The second time I explored art, I did it on my own volition. Some art classes and orchestra rehearsals later, I think I have a bit of a better idea about art than I did in the days of yore.

Despite my newfound interest in art, I still find traversing museums more onerous than fascinating. Perhaps a few pieces would strike my fancy, and I could appreciate the effort and creativity that went into making said pieces. But, once I’ve seen a hundred or a thousand pieces of similar quality requiring similar skill,  I begin to lose interest. I lose my appreciation for beauty once I’m surrounded by it, constantly, for hours on end.

When I visited the small exhibition in the storage room of the Johnson, this was no sprawling expanse of reputable artworks; it was a handpicked collection of relics, practical and realistic articles from central America. The tour guide pointed out things that were, on one hand, obvious, but on the other hand, easy to miss on the first glance. This was especially proven by the “jelly doughnut” teapot, which was actually an oil spill.

I can’t say that I truly appreciate ceramics anymore than I did before, and nor can I say that I was dazzled by the art collection I saw. As I struggled to mold the clay into something that looked more meaningful than an oblong grey lump, however, I did start to understand how much of an endeavor it was to create something practical and nice looking.

Last Thursday I attended a clay sculpting event and the Johnson Art Museum. As you may be able to tell from the picture of my final product, I have no experience making clay sculptures. I also did not have any ideas of what to make before starting which made things interesting. I ended up deciding to make a tower and see how tall I could make it. The event was actually quite relaxing partially because I had no expectations of making a nice-looking sculpture. It also reminded me of elementary school art class which brought back some good memories.

I also enjoyed watching other people make their sculptures. Many of the other participants created sculptures that were very good looking. Some of the other participants clearly had a plan coming into the session and brought additional supplies to help them create their masterpiece. Other participants, like me, had no preconceived ideas and experimented with the clay before deciding on what to build.

I thought the clay sculpting event was fun and relaxing. It also allowed me to be creative. There were no rules and the clay could be shaped into almost anything allowing my imagination to run free.

To be quite honest, I’ve never been interested in art history. But on Thursday evening, I found learning about art is far more interesting and deep than I imagined. Art is not just history of the piece. It’s also history of the culture. For example, we learned about a lot of ancient culture. (I call it Pre- culture since everything was labeled like that for identification.) In Pre-Columbian culture, vessels were very popular and even in different time periods and cultures you can tell the strong similarities and added traditions.

One interesting cultural fact I learned is about the Pre-Columbian culture. They had to special animals: birds and cats. These animals were thought to be able to transcend. Birds can fly up into the sky and cats can climb trees all the way up. As an avid lover of cats, it caught my attention immediately.

When we started working with the clay, I immediately decided to create a teapot. It was definitely a far bigger challenge than I imagined. But also so much fun. Unfortunately it is not food safe so will not be a functional teapot but a cute one nonetheless! Thanks so much for the workshop. Definitely one of the best events I’ve attended.