A chance encounter on a sunny day in Emerald has sparked a connection that now hangs proudly on the wall of an aged care resident’s room and in the hearts of an entire community.
Clematis artist Merryn Emms was walking out of the chemist when she saw Emerald Glades resident, Garry Simmons, seated with his banjo-ukulele, playing music on the street, something about the moment gave her pause.
“I just walked past, went back to the car, and thought, ‘Oh, I wonder, could I do it?’” Ms Emms said.
“I’m a bit shy, but I introduced myself and explained what I wanted. He was very gracious, a truly lovely man. He said, ‘I’m 90 years old. I can’t walk, but I still drive a car.’ In that moment, I knew this was a story worth capturing on canvas.”
That brief meeting planted the seed for a portrait that would later become ‘The Musician’.
The vibrant and expressive oil painting then would go on to win the People’s Choice Award at the John Dudley Portrait Prize, exhibited at the Hills Hub on 18 July 2025.
Ms Emms wasn’t satisfied with her first few reference photos.
“The setting and the light just weren’t quite right, so I made the time to visit him at Emerald Glades,” she said.
“I took some more photos, and one of those taken in his room, became the painting. I gave him a little copy of the photo I was using, but I didn’t say I was doing the whole thing and he got such a surprise on the night.”
The portrait shows Mr Simmons mid-song, his instrument in hand, captured in a moment of gentle joy.
For Ms Emms, the real value of the work lay in what it gave back, not only to the subject, but to herself as the artist.
“At that moment, I realised that winning wasn’t what mattered, I genuinely wanted to create this painting. I didn’t know how it would turn out, and I told him, ‘If I don’t like it, you won’t see it,’ because that’s just how I am. But it all just flowed, and it came together perfectly,” she said.
“It was very draining, because you keep going and going, fix the light, fix the background, change the colour but in the end, it all came together.”
The work took about six weeks, though Ms Emms said it felt much longer.
“You bring out something you don’t plan, it just happens. And it has power. Whether it’s a person or an animal, you capture something that’s beyond the image, and that’s what happened here. It wasn’t about me anymore. It became about him,” she said.
Mr Simmons didn’t see the painting until it was hanging at the exhibition.
“When I saw it hang on the wall, I thought it was a photograph. I was amazed at the likeness. I just look at myself and still wonder at the skill of the artist that did that.” he said.
He said the experience of being painted, and then seeing the portrait win the People’s Choice Award, left a deep impression on him.
“I thought I was way past that,” Mr Simmons said.
“When I turned 90, I honestly thought I’d just fade into the background, not end up as a portrait on the wall. But it really is a wonderful piece of artwork. I was very, very pleased it won. I still feel I have something to contribute – I’ll put it that way.”
After the exhibition, on 29 August 2025, Ms Emms made the decision to present the portrait back to Mr Simmons, a gesture that deeply touched him.
“Once I started painting, I knew I was going to give it to him,” Ms Emms said.
“My house is already full of paintings, and I thought, he’s 90, he should enjoy it, and then his family can too. He gave me a gift by letting me paint something that truly meant something. He gave me his image, and it just felt right to give it back.”
She said the joy it brought Mr Simmons was more meaningful than any award.
“It gave him a buzz, a real sparkle. He actually used the word ‘finished’; he thought he was done with life but this brought something back in him. It reawakened his zest for living. He came alive again. And honestly, that gave me more of a buzz than winning the whole thing.”
The portrait, coordinated through the Emerald Art Society has since become a conversation starter at Emerald Glades, where it now hangs in Mr Simmons’ room.
“When you paint someone, it’s not just about likeness. It’s about essence,” Ms Emms said.
“It wasn’t for me in the end. It was for him.”
Ms Emms said the experience had taken her somewhere far beyond where she expected to go.
“I set out to paint an interesting face for the competition, but it led me to something far more meaningful. Art often unfolds on its own, and this wasn’t really about the painting, it was about what it did for someone else.”
