ignore your head

I'm rather happy today actually. And I'd be happy to share why.
Well first, I'm planning a course in art history and everything is working out perfectly. Almost like a little puzzle and all the pieces fit together in a perfect fashion.
But I was worried about the art critiques for 3D art. I had to make 3 sculptures over summer vacation, and I was worried that they would be too pathetic for AP art. And plus, my teacher is one of those people who doesn't dish out compliments; in fact, she usually hates most things. But she wants us to make stuff that she knows will be good enough for a college class, and plus she knows we can do it. So today I got to do a critique, and you have to stand up in front of the class (it's only 8 people, but still) and explain your thought process and whatever you made. Then she bends down and scrutinizes it - she touches the cracks in the clay, asks you why it looks the way it does (usually not a "wow, that looks great. how'd you get it to look like that?", but more like a "oh. why does it...look like that?") And I had heard what she had to say about the people's yesterday, and it was generally lukewarm at best.
But mine was a little better, i thought.
Other than the disasterous book project that I made (which she didn't hate as much as I thought she would), there were not too many negative comments. In fact, my ocotopus was "fantastic" and "fabulous" (yes those are direct quotes). Other than the minor cracking, she didn't have a problem with it.
But even though her critiques were harsh, I felt like there was more wrong than she pointed out. And I felt like I was almsot being more harsh than she was.
She was more confident in my things that I was, and it felt good for someone to compliment your things and to say that they mean something and are worth it. But when you don't believe in what you've made, and it shows, who will? Sometimes we aren't sure of what people will think, but we really have to remember than we are the ones we are doing this for. You're the one who made the sculpture. And if you don't trust yourself, no one will. Sometimes our heads tell us one thing, but sometimes it's your intuition that you have to follow.