Why am I having so much trouble at wheel throwing? ( blog #16)

 Hi! It's me, theperpetualpeach and I am trying to get in a quick post before I forget about it because I'm really quite busy this week. Next week I will be at the beach but I just got back from my more lengthy trip around the general United States. But  that is not what this post is about! Currently, I have been taking two art classes at my community art center and they have been such great fun. I really do encourage everybody to try and discover an art center near you because it is such a good place to learn something new.
       This week I am taking a painting class in the morning and a class on wheel throwing in the afternoon. So far both of the classes have been really fun. I'm an amateur artist so my work isn't very good and I can't post it to the blog because it's at the studio overnight so I will try my best to describe the classes using only words. The Painting class is definitely my favorite of the two classes.We started on a still life of vases, jugs, containers, tree green apples, and an orange. I really enjoyed the still life but particularly the detail painting. When I  sketched out the work It was all out of proportion so luckily I was able to fix that before any damaged had been done. We've moved on to landscapes and people, both of which I'm excited to try my hand at.
      In the afternoon I travel to a wheel throwing class which is proving harder than expected. IN wheel throwing there are four main steps in creating a bowl or cup; centering, drilling, pulling up, shaping. Centering is THE most important step and so far the one I'm having the most trouble with. I can drill, I can pull up, I can shape but centering is just so darn hard. I have used 4-5 balls of clay this afternoon. Two turned into plates. The others Were ruined by my hand because of, you guessed it , centering. Not to say that others had more success.  I am the only one still having a major problem with centering but other people are having trouble with pulling up and shaping. Honestly, wheel throwing is real hard but I'm getting better and better at it every day I practice.
     I'm having so much fun with my art classes and I will post back Friday to how you my finished paintings and talk about my trip to the beach.

The adventure begins

Readers, my days of hometown camp are numbered. Soon I will be leaving on my usual trip to Iowa, only this year I will be at Wellesley island in upstate New York. The island is small but a very fun place to be. There is ice cream, I will be able to jump off the dock into the Saint Laurence river and there is an amazing old English style library. I'll also be going to California visiting relatives and distant friends. With my summer planned out I'm totally ready for vacation, which is right around the corner.
   
     While I don't start traveling for a week or so I am already thinking of everything I will be able to do on vacation. Right now I am going to a film camp which is a day camp for two weeks. It's super fun and I'm able to learn about who's who on a film crew, the history of file and how to make a film which we show at a theater on the last day.

   After film camp comes my vacation to all the fabulous places I wanted to go then back home for art camps. This year I am taking classes on fashion, painting, and wheel throwing. My suer is shaping up to be great and it has barely started. Through it all I ( theperpetualpeach ) will blog here all my experiences good and bad. Prepare yourself for a summer that lasts the whole 84 days.