Student Spotlight: Laura Hu
Meet Laura Hu, a ten-year-old watershed explorer from Northbrook, Illinois. When Laura was eight-years-old, her art piece titled "The Colorful Sea" (seen above) was selected as the Category I Art Winner of 2016-17 River of Words Anthology. In January of 2018, Laura participated in a student spotlight interview, in which she shared the story of "The Colorful Sea," tips on how to be a watershed explorer, and much more.
Q: What is your current age?
A: My current age is ten, and I am in the fourth grade
Q: How do you like the fourth grade?
A: It’s nice. It’s a little different from third grade, because you’re getting older, and you’re learning new things.
Q: What’s something new you’re learning in fourth grade?
A: I’m learning different things in math, like decimals and angels and stuff like that.
Q: How did you begin creating?
A: I begin creating when I’m in the mood for it, or when I hear or see something interesting and I create it into art.
Q: What do you like about creating art?
A: I like it because it’s relaxing and it makes me feel happy
Q: That’s really nice! What about it makes you feel happy?
A: When you create things you feel relaxed and you’re thinking only one thing.
Q: Will you tell me a little bit about “The Colorful Sea” and what inspired you when you created it?
A: What inspired me was, um, when my family and I went to Cancun and swam with the dolphins, it made me want to create “The Colorful Sea”
Q: Wow! What was it like to swim with the dolphins?
A: It felt cool, well it felt fun!
Q: So did you get to see the dolphins really up close?
A: Yes!
Q: What does being a watershed explorer mean to you? And just to refresh your memory, a watershed explorer is someone who explores their environment and watershed where they live.
A: It means you care about the environment and pay attention to it.
Q: And what does it mean for you to care about the environment?
A: It means for me that you can help preserve the natural beauty and ecosystem.
Q: Do you like to go out into nature a lot?
A: Yeah, when I have time!
Q: What are some of the things you enjoy when you get to go out into nature?
A: I like how everything is calm and there’s fresh air.
Q: So, how did you hear about River of Words?
A: I heard about River of Words from my art teacher.
Q: What did you art teacher tell you about River of Words?
A: She told me that I could enter my art into the contest!
Q: What was it like entering you work into a contest.
A: I felt excited because I think it was my first one!
Q: What is some advice you would give another young person who wants to write and create art?
A: I would say to them not to be afraid of making mistakes. Be creative and use your imagination.
Q: How do you use your imagination when you create?
A: I use it to think outside the box, and to create art.
Q: So, what is some advice you would give to someone who wanted to learn more about the environment?
A: I would say to them to go outside, learn more about nature, and do more outdoor activities.
Q: What are some outdoor activities you’d suggest that they do?
A: Maybe biking or hiking, go to forest preserves.
Q: Do you go to forest preserves very much?
A: Yes, every year we go there to the Grove.
Q: Do you enjoy going to the Grove?
A: Yes, because I see a lot of animals there. I sometimes see deer and owls, and we also see a lot of tiny bugs on the ground.
Q: What’s your favorite kind of animal?
A: My favorite kind of animal is a dog, because they’re really friendly and playful and nice, and they’re cute.
Q: Aw, yeah! Dogs are very cute! Okay so I have one more question for you. It looks like when you made “The Colorful Sea” you used a lot of colored pencil. What kind of mediums or types of utensils like pencils have you liked to use lately?
A: I used to use colored pencils and now I use oil pastels and I still use a lot of colored pencils.
Q: What do you like about using colored pencils?
A: I like how you can erase because when you color sometimes it can be dark.