The Mountainside Educare preschool teacher has been doing art on and off since she was a teenager. However, shy by nature, she was hesitant to place her work on display but grabbed a last-minute stall at the popular Christmas market.
"It was really good, really positive feedback and a lot of people can relate to these places. A lot of people have asked for specific places and commissions."
The 34-year-old Lake Hawea resident sold more than 30 of her prints, cashing in unexpectedly before Christmas.
"At high school I got into art. I always remember drawing as a kid. I always had an A4 piece of paper with me."
Her inspiration runs close to home and deep. She was brought up by the ocean near Whangarei where she learned to surf and got into the great outdoors.
In her late teens and after high school, her parents split up and just two years after that her father, Steve Simpson, died. He was only 50. He developed a cancerous brain tumour and had to give up being a search and rescue helicopter pilot, a career he loved.
Only 20 at the time, Ms Simpson, his only daughter, moved in and took care of him for the last few months of his life.
"I guess I fell in love with all things surf when I went through everything with Mum and Dad breaking up and then losing Dad.
"He was 50, which is crazy to me now as I have friends who are 50. Now that I am in my 30s, 50 is so young.
"It was brutal. He went to the doctors and said there is something wrong with my brain. He was looking at all the buttons in the helicopter and couldn’t remember what to push so he knew something was wrong."
After her father died, she put much of her energy into surfing, the outdoors and drawing where she could. Each provided much-needed release.
"I went surfing every day at the beach and then got into exercise. Walking and running around the coast — it made me feel close with my dad.
"He was super outdoorsy, he was a really good runner and always took us for bush runs."
Since then, whenever life has brought its share of trials, she draws because it has made her feel herself.
Ms Simpson moved to Wānaka in 2019, a move which was meant to be temporary. However, she fell in love with the mountains and great outdoors offerings in the South.
"I started drawing mountains out of nowhere and never thought I would move away from the beach."
Today, her fine line sketches are predominantly of the outdoors — mountains, Doc huts, hidden huts, bike rides, runs — all the things that connect her with the land and her late father.
"Even when I go running now it just feels like he’s there."
She often finds herself desperately missing the ocean while based in Central Otago, but she says that when she leaves, she misses the mountains. She is stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Ms Simpson is hoping to sell more of her work across Wānaka and at the local markets, having had some success in the weekend.
She says the best part about selling her prints and art is knowing others share the same love for the area.
"It is being outdoors and being able to bring it back on to paper and indoors."
