Shirley Yu
Current Grade 11 student Shirley Yu is a talented visual artist. Although she was born in Ningbo, China, she was raised in Vancouver for the majority of her life. She started attending Collingwood in Grade 8, and she is an only child.
Regarding visual arts, Shirley loves to experiment with abstract shapes and meanings in her artwork. When asked what her favourite subject in school is, Shirley responded that "All subjects are [her] favourite" and that she loves learning new information, regardless of the topic. Outside of school, Shirley enjoys skiing and snowboarding. Additionally, she plays in the West Vancouver Youth Band and has an interest in robotics.
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Current Grade 11 student Shirley Yu is a talented visual artist. Although she was born in Ningbo, China, she was raised in Vancouver for the majority of her life. She started attending Collingwood in Grade 8, and she is an only child.
Regarding visual arts, Shirley loves to experiment with abstract shapes and meanings in her artwork. When asked what her favourite subject in school is, Shirley responded that "All subjects are [her] favourite" and that she loves learning new information, regardless of the topic. Outside of school, Shirley enjoys skiing and snowboarding. Additionally, she plays in the West Vancouver Youth Band and has an interest in robotics.
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Shirley’s mother is the most inspiring person to this young artist. When asked why, Shirley replied, “Seeing her every day propels me to give everything my best. She taught me that if an activity is worth doing, it is worth doing well.” The most important life lesson that her mother taught her is to aim for the stars and dream big.
Shirley adores the visual arts because of how it allows her creative freedom and expression to flourish. Her go-to mediums when creating art are watercolor, inks, and charcoal. Visual Arts 1 was her favorite course in Collingwood’s visual arts program, her reason being the numerous opportunities she was given to play with new mediums. Although she is very talented in her craft, Shirley has yet to participate in any art-centric contests.
In early elementary school, Shirley had a love of splashing paint on a canvas, which she still enjoys to this day. However, she has found a deeper meaning in art: through creating art, Shirley shares her feelings with the people around her.
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Anybody can create art and for those looking to improve their artistic skills, Shirley has a piece of advice: “The best way to improve is to ask for other peoples’ feedback on [your] work. As I try to improve my own artistic skills, I always rely on the input of my peers and art teacher to build on my art pieces.”
In the future, Shirely plans to incorporate aspects of visual art into her time at university. However, she doesn't plan on pursuing a career in visual arts since she believes that the pressure that comes with turning a hobby into a full time job will detract from the enjoyment of it. Nonetheless, Shirley will take her experiences of art with her. She believes that "art has expanded [her] horizons and has challenged [her] to take risks in creative thinking." This mentality is one that Shirley will keep with her for the rest of her life.
In the future, Shirely plans to incorporate aspects of visual art into her time at university. However, she doesn't plan on pursuing a career in visual arts since she believes that the pressure that comes with turning a hobby into a full time job will detract from the enjoyment of it. Nonetheless, Shirley will take her experiences of art with her. She believes that "art has expanded [her] horizons and has challenged [her] to take risks in creative thinking." This mentality is one that Shirley will keep with her for the rest of her life.
