Describe an art activity.

　　You should say:

　　when it happened

　　what you did in this activity

　　who you did with

　　and explain how you felt after doing it.

　　I’m very fond of art; my apartment is full of statues and masks and my walls are covered in paintings and prints. Having said that, I don’t tend to make my own art. I don’t think I’m particularly creative and I’d say I’m more practically or scientifically minded. The only time I can really remember regularly taking part in any art activity was when I was at school, but there was one time on vacation when I dabbled in a bit of art.

　　It was two years ago when I was on holiday in Indonesia. I was on a tour of some local villages and we came across a woman doing pottery. She asked if anyone would like to have a go, but nobody wanted to be the first one to take her up on her offer. I decided to try my hand at it, so I sat down and got stuck in.

　　You start by putting a lump of clay on a potter’s wheel and dropping a little water on top. The wheel begins to turn and you use your hands to form the shape you want, maybe a short, fat bowl or a tall, thin vase. I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing, so the woman took my hands and basically did all the work herself. We made a short, stumpy bowl and then used my thumb to put dents in the rim, so it ended up looking like an ashtray.

　　Once it was finished my hands were covered in clay and I felt a bit embarrassed as lots of people were watching and I had needed a lot of help to make the ashtray. Still, I felt good for being the first person to try and it was only a bit of fun; no one took it very seriously.