By GAIL LOWE
LYNNFIELD — Twelve-year-old Thea Kendall Splansky is no ordinary young girl.
The Lynnfield Middle School seventh-grader recently won first place in the Amateur Fine Arts Division at the Topsfield Fair, which included not only a blue ribbon but a small cash prize.
Thea’s mother, Bethany Splansky, said her daughter was not informed ahead of time that she had won.
“We found out when we arrived at the Fair and saw the ribbon on her painting,” said Bethany. “We always attend the Fair on opening day so that we can see the art exhibit as soon as possible.”
As for Thea, she was beside herself.
“I was so excited when I found out that I won first place,” she said. “I’ve been going to the Topsfield Fair my whole life, so seeing my painting with a blue ribbon was extra special.”
Thea’s painting was displayed at the entry to Coolidge Hall, so when the family entered the building they saw the painting right away. When other onlookers learned that she had painted the winning picture, she received many compliments and words of encouragement.
The winning piece, titled “Boston from the Balcony,” was created with acrylic paint.
This isn’t the first time Thea has won a prize for her art. Last spring, she entered a Danvers Art Association art show and won three first place ribbons — two for acrylic paintings and one for a pencil drawing. She also received two honorable mentions at the Topsfield Fair in 2018 and 2021 for her acrylic paintings and had two pieces of her art published in an art anthology published by “Celebrating Arts.” One was a pencil drawing while the other was the winning Topsfield Fair entry.
Thea began her art career by participating in summer art camps when she was 6-years-old and has been taking formal art classes weekly for the past year.
“Jeff Surette is a fantastic art teacher who has provided Thea with many opportunities to learn about new mediums and techniques,” said Bethany, adding that her daughter “truly excels” in all forms of art.
“She has always been interested in drawing and painting and has an exceptional eye for color, perspective and detail,” said the proud mother. “She’s also very tuned in to the beauty of nature and often takes pictures of or paints sunsets or landscapes.”
Thea’s mother knew that her child would one day make her mark in the art world when Thea was a preschool student.
“Her teacher, Janice Swanson, summoned me to her classroom to view her artwork,” said Bethany. “The class had done a project where they created the face of an Eskimo using a coffee filter, which was opened and flattened to add eyes, nose and mouth.
The teacher showed me the projects the other students had completed and then she showed me Thea’s project, which she had completed independently.”
Not only had Thea created an extremely detailed and realistic face, Bethany explained, she had drawn details on the coffee filter to make it look like fur around the Eskimo’s face, the complete body dressed in full winter gear and a full winter scene behind the Eskimo, complete with unique snowflakes and a polar bear drawn to perspective.
“That was the moment I knew we were dealing with some serious talent,” Bethany said.
Thea hopes to continue to develop her painting and drawing skills as well as experiment with new mediums and aspires to be an interior designer someday.
“Thea was extremely influential with determining paint colors and design ideas for our current house,” said her mother.
The young girl’s family, which includes her father Josh and younger brother Benjamin, are proud of her accomplishments.
“It’s always been evident that Thea is an extremely talented artist, but over the past few years her talent has absolutely blossomed,” said Bethany. “She gets her talents from both sides of our family.”
Though art is her main passion, Thea also loves soccer, is an animal lover and enjoys being outdoors.
“She is also an avid reader and is obsessed with Harry Potter,” said her mother. “She has read the entire series 13 times and could beat anyone in Harry Potter trivia.”