Life began to change for Hunter resident Sharon Davson when she met New Kids on the Block at a Sydney hotel in 1992.
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It was a moment in time that had a ripple effect. About 20 years later, one of her paintings made national headlines when contracts for it were exchanged for $5.2 million.
The news first broke in the Newcastle Herald in 2012 that Sharon's painting, titled Points of View, was to be sold to a mystery New Zealand company. That amount would have been the world's third-highest price at the time for a living female painter.
Some art experts were sceptical.
Sharon is a somewhat unconventional artist who dances to her own tune.
She said many of her 120 paintings were originally private commissions.
"My work frequently changes hands. The one that caught a lot of media attention that was to be sold for $5.2 million - that would have been its seventh sale," she said.
Points of View is a three-panel painting of The Entrance on the Central Coast. It was originally commissioned by a resort in the seaside town. She said the $5.2 million contract was signed by a developer, but after five years of delays, the sale fell through.
Sharon is also known for having established the Artists for Life charity and Hands Up initiative for endangered species in the early 1990s. The Hands Up project enlisted celebrities to make handprints in paint to support the cause.
"Neil Diamond started the Hands Up project with me. Once you have someone like Neil, most other people I asked to participate were happy to say yes," she said.
"Back then, most people were oblivious to the fact that endangered species existed."
She first approached the boy band New Kids on the Block. She thought they would appeal to young people.
"I contacted Sony and their PR person agreed to meet me. She told me the exact time of their press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sydney," she said.
"I turned up early. When I arrived, the hotel people said, 'If you're with the press, just go on through'. So I just went on through. I took a front-row seat."
She asked the band members what they thought of endangered species.
"I got this blank look. I realised they were too young and from city backgrounds to have a clue what it was about," she said.
After the press conference, she chatted to the band while they sat on the floor of a hall in the hotel, eating McDonald's.
That's when she realised she needed to think of something a celebrity could do for the cause that was simple.
She made a plan to get handprints of celebrities' non-writing hands, so they could write their autograph on the same paper with their free hand.
"Neil Diamond was coming through three weeks later - that's when I phoned Sony. I think they thought, 'Oh my god, it's that woman again'."
Rather than let her interrupt another press conference, this time they decided to harness her.
"They agreed Neil Diamond would be the perfect person to launch my new project. We did it at a reception at the Regent Hotel in Sydney. We got a ringtail possum and an echidna from Taronga Zoo.
"They weren't endangered species, but they were native species representing them. Neil Diamond was there with his kids. He loved it because he got to hold an echidna and a possum."
She went on to capture the handprints of many celebrities, including Cliff Richard, John Denver, Jon Bon Jovi, Kim Wilde, Olivia Newton-John, Dame Joan Sutherland, Keith Urban, Baz Luhrmann, Eric Bana, Paul Newman, Kyle McLachlan, Luke Perry, Kelly Slater, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Pat Rafter, Cathy Freeman, Linda Evangelista and Bryce Courtenay.
Sharon paints "uplifting and healing" art.
"A lot of art is dark, confronting and aggressive. My art reflects the importance of laughter, wellness and joy.
"I paint the light of creation in many of my works."
