Community & Business
10 February, 2026
Thelma proves it’s never too late
THELMA Marsh is proof that it’s never too late to do anything.
Last week, the 98-year-old hosted her first art exhibition at Carinya Home for the Aged in Atherton where she has lived since September last year.
Thelma’s enjoyment of painting and crafty things keeps her busy doing something meaningful, but she says her mother and her granddaughter are also artistic so it may be an inherited gift.
Thelma approaches her art from the same logical, problem-solving perspective as she does life, observing a painting or technique and then working out how to reproduce the same.
She has painted with acrylics, done diamond point painting, and folk art. She has painted on velvet, ceramics and glass and canvas.
Thelma also loves many other creative activities including paper toll, dough sculpture, knitting, crochet and sewing.
In November last year, Thelma took the time to instruct other residents at Carinya in how to paint a floral art piece.
Thelma, who immigrated to Australia in 1970 with her husband and children, was born in England in 1927. She says her life has been varied and interesting and credits her father for the ability to solve problems and approach life from a practical and logical point of view.
Thelma spent six happy years assisting and learning from her father in his electrical workshop when World War II broke out, making microphones, amplifiers and transformers.
