Tragedy In the Art Room!!!

With the end of the semester comes a slurry of important projects. One of those projects was for my Sculpture/Ceramics class. The assignment was to make a cultural mask. I was super excited! I knew exactly what I wanted to make and that was a Dia De Los Muertos themed mask. So I drew out the design and immediately starting molding my clay into the vision I had. By the time I was done, I was soo proud of myself. It was the first time I've felt like a legitimate sculptor in that class. It was perfect in my eyes. Since I was done molding and shaping, it was time for it to go into the kiln. I couldn't wait for it to come out so I could paint it and watch it really become a mask.

BUT TRAGEDY STRUCK!

According to my teacher, sometime in the middle of the night there was a power surge. This power surge made the kiln get extremely hot and that caused something bad to happen...our masks blew up! He then goes on to tell Emma and this other girl (whose masks were in there as well) that their masks are able to be easily fixed. As soon as he turned to me, I knew it was bad. He said that there wasn't any way that my mask could be fixed because it was blown up into tiny little pieces. Let me tell you, having your artwork tampered with in anyway is the worst feeling. I felt my eyes getting teary. I was devastated!

Emma and I then proceeded to go visit the kiln to see how bad it was. The ears on Emma's mask fell off, but it wasn't too terrible. I couldn't find mine until I realized that it was actually a pile of clay D: We went back inside and I was just so sad. BUT I knew that I couldn't let this get me down. I've been doing very well with being optimistic and this was the perfect time to prove to myself that I am a positive person now.

I went to talk to the teacher about my options and he said I could: 1. Take an A for the project since it was the kiln's fault, 2. Forget all about the mask and move straight on to the potter's wheel, or 3. Make a quick and simple mask to replace the ruined one. I have to admit, for a second I thought about just taking the A, but it felt dishonest. I shouldn't get an A for no reason. I wanted to earn it. I then proceeded to ask if I could take some clay home over the weekend and make a replica of my original mask. His face lit up and he said of course I could do this and he would send some clay home with me. He also praised me for being brave enough to take a chance once again instead of taking the easy road.

Although I was very devastated about my mask, I know I have the rare and awesome opportunity to do it over again. I was also happy with myself for turning a negative experience into a positive one. I went on to have the perfect day, excited to make a new mask:)

Love,

Alexis, the Optimistic Sculptor!

P.S. I will put up pictures when it's all done. It's going to be sooo cool!:D

Venting: Expectations

Expectations: We all have them.

They come from school, work, family, friends, and even ourselves. Although they can be great motivators, sometimes they're too demanding. Especially when those expectations come from people. I've noticed recently that a lot of people have high expectations for me. It's a good and a bad thing. It's good because it gives me a reason to try. To me it's like a goal that needs to be reached, and let me tell you, I've got determination. At the same time, it has a bad side because you can't keep everyone happy. Someone expects you to do something and you can't do it. Disappointment. Expectations and I have a love/hate relationship.

...but sometimes they don't return the favor...

If you have high expectations for me, I have high expectations for you. Simple as that! Unfortunately, my expectations have gotten lower while the expectations for me continue to climb up the expectation ladder. This is something that really bothers me. I'm always helping people out, whether it be from school work to life problems. Yet the second I need help, everyone closes up. What's up with that? I rarely ask for advice or help, so when I do ask, it shouldn't be such a problem. Yet every time I need a little help, people mysteriously seem to disappear. And it's not limited to life problems. It's everything! Even the little things, such as helping me finish my math homework after I spent half the time teaching you how to do it or simply giving a little input after I gave you tons of helpful advice. It's just something that really gets under my skin. Something that I've been practicing is putting myself first. In all honesty, I hate selfishness, but there comes a time when everyone around you is selfish so you need to be too. I'm done with these high expectations and all of the people that throw them at me. My happiness is my number one priority and that's the way it should be.

I could honestly go on for days about this subject, but I don't like to complain too much. Just every once in a while through a blog:)

But basically what I want to know is:

Love,

Alexis, the one who has a hard time being even a little selfish.