photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

Thelma Simons poses next to the award winning portrait that she created of her husband and their Australian Kelpie.

Last year, Thelma Simons painted a portrait of her husband, Bill, for his 80th birthday — one of him and their Australian Kelpie, Joy, looking out of a bay window, watching for squirrels in the yard.

But that painting ended up being much more than just a birthday gift when it won Simons the 2023 International Artist of the Year Award from the United Kingdom art club SAA.

“Squirrel Watch” was one of more than 2,000 submissions for SAA’s contests in 2023, and its recognition is even more remarkable given that Simons has only been pursuing painting seriously for about three years. She started training under instructor Mehrzad Alison, owner of Prairie Hills Art Gallery, in late 2020 — a year after she retired from working in IT and other roles at the University of Kansas. Before that, her only experience with painting was through introductory-level watercolor and acrylic painting courses at the Lawrence Arts Center.

“After I took a few art classes and did some paintings, I thought, ‘Wow,’ this isn’t bad,'” Simons said. But Alison, who describes her as having “meticulous attention to detail,” helped her develop the skills she needed to take her art to the next level.

Simons, who traveled to London this year to accept the award, said the honor was a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity for her.

“It’s not very often that you win an international award,” she said.

photo by: Contributed

Thelma Simons’ husband, Bill, after being gifted the acrylic portrait on his 80th birthday in August 2022.

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Some of Simons’ works are inspired by faraway places — one of her favorite paintings she’s done is based on a photo she took while on a canal cruise in Amsterdam, with a few boats and a stretch of connected houses in the background.

“There was a combined 96 windows in that painting,” she said.

photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

Thelma Simons’ acrylic painting inspired by a cruise on the Amsterdam canal.

But “Squirrel Watch” is different from those — both because of its personal subject matter, and because of what it meant for Simons’ growth as an artist.

One thing Simons said she wanted the painting to capture was her husband’s lifelong love of dogs. “They normally rank right below me, but sometimes I’m not really sure,” she said with a laugh. “He really loves his dogs so much.”

It’s also special because of the dog that’s in it. Simons and her husband had just gone through the death of another dog before they brought Joy home, and she said the name comes from how the new dog brought joy back into their lives.

From an artistic standpoint, Simons said, “Squirrel Watch” was a step outside of her comfort zone — specifically, it was her first portrait-style painting. All of her previous paintings were inspired by her international travels and work as a master gardener, she said.

“This was the first painting that had a very personal meaning and that I did as a gift,” she said.

Since then, Simons has done more of that kind of art, including a piece that re-creates a 1976 family photo of a friend and her three children. Their “long haircuts and plaid pants were a little challenging,” she said.

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photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

Thelma Simons and instructor Mehrzad Alison.

As Alison will tell you, Simons doesn’t shy away from challenges.

The instructor said the first thing he tells his students is that they should “allow me to push you to your best.” And Simons, he said, was eager to improve and was willing to work hard to get there.

Simons, Alison said, is not afraid to make mistakes, which has let her “make great leaps” as an artist. At the start, she was working in watercolor, but Alison suggested she switch to acrylic paints, “because watercolor is not all that forgiving when it comes to fixing mistakes.”

That’s important for someone he describes as especially meticulous.

“She always believes her work can be better, and tries it and sees it — and that’s the difference,” Alison said.

It’s clear to Simons, too, how far she’s come in just a few years.

“My first painting with (Alison) was 10 times better than anything I had ever done before,” Simons said. “Now, every time that I finish a painting, I just step back and go, ‘Wow, I can really do this.’ It’s kind of a whole new world.”

Simons has sold several of her paintings — including for as much as $2,200 — and is still expanding her artistic horizons. Currently, she’s working on her first oil painting, which is inspired by the vibrant glass sculptures at the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum in Seattle.

“I really like those because they’re bright and colorful and it’s just a mishmash of colors,” she said. “That’s my thing — I like bright colors.”

And Alison is confident that the award-winning artist will just get better and better.

“Every single painting she does, the end result is something fantastic,” he said.

photo by: Matt Resnick/Journal-World

A work inspired by one of Thelma Simons’ many international travels.