2021 Youth Art Contest

In collaboration with the Friends of Tualatin River NWRC and the Tualatin River NWRC

Sophia You - First Place

Acrylic paint

Group Level: Grade 7-9

Message

There’s a park next to my house, Mill Pond, that I walk around several times a month. Recently, a few of my friends and I gathered there to celebrate Halloween. While we were walking around the lake, I saw a tiny pink-and-green hummingbird fluttering over the entrance to a nature trail. Although I couldn’t capture an image of the bird in action, I took pictures of the trail entrance (a set of rickety wooden steps). These pictures would become the inspiration for the background of my painting. Sometimes, we forget that the beauty of nature is easily within our reach if we stop to look; I drew the hummingbird as a reminder that all kinds of wonderful creatures live at a simple park. I chose to incorporate my younger self extending a hand toward the hummingbird to represent a child’s wonder at something so small.