First day on the wheel

Are you kidding me.....an hour and fifteen minutes to center a piece of clay.  This is such a huge learning curve for me.  Weigh out 3 lbs of clay, wedge it, pat it, throw it onto the center of the wheel and turn it on.  Watching Bob do this makes it look so simple.  It's like watching ice skating on tv.  But once you put skates on and step out onto the ice you realize how hard it is once you are immediately on your ass. I wet my hands and curve them around the ball of clay thinking they will center it.  I couldn't be more wrong.  The ball goes all wonkey.  I try and correct it and make it even worse.  Lisa comes by and asks me what I'm doing & tell her I have no idea.  She is so patient and kind and guides me through it - several times.  Reminding me to brace my elbows, put my knees next to the splash guard (which I called the wheel condom), go slowly, don't remove your hands quickly, keep your hands wet but not too wet - there is so much to remember to just center a piece of clay.  Thankfully I'm in good company because the others around me are having the same problems. It looked so easy when he did it, we all remark.  And thankfully we have a room full of experienced people to learn from.  Each of them has a different way to throw which is helpful and overwhelming at the same time.  Mike comes to my wobbly rescue with one hand cupped around the clay and brings it to center.  I sit in amazement.  And I swear that as soon as I touch it it goes back to being wobbly.  Jean is so kind & funny.  She uses her thumb at the base of the clay and runs it around to remove the excess clay and puts her elbows on her thighs while lisa puts her left elbow at her hip bone and right elbow at her thigh.  So many things to remember.  Take charge of the clay, not too much pressure, not light either.  There is a definite feel to it when you have it centered.  Close your eyes and feel it with your hands.  It is smooth and round.  Now the trick is to keep it that way so you can hollow out the middle.  A woman sits next to me and starts.  I warn her it isn't as easy as it looked when he showed us. She finds this out immediately.  She wants to know why my ball of clay is so much smaller than hers.  I point into the splash guard and tell her most of mine is in there and that I too started out with a 3lb piece of clay.  I finally think I have a cylinder shape when it comes off the wheel in my hands.  Too much pressure at the bottom.  Into the scrap clay bin it goes and I get another piece of clay.  4 hours from the start I have a cylinder I can cut in half. The bottom is thicker than the top so I know where I need to correct....another day.  The next morning I have bruises where my elbows dug into my thighs, I'm sore but I want to try again and again and again.  Center yourself then center the clay.