'The Long Road' (detail) Young Shetland Pony 1993 oil on panel   EARLIER WORKS 1992-c2001 | Oil Paintings by COLETTE CHEYNE, New Zealand Wildlife Artist

'The Long Road'  Young Shetland Pony (detail)  © C CHEYNE 1993

I had been painting for about a year when I was told about a local art competition being organised by NZI Life.  I entered this painting and it received third prize.   One of the judges was the late Max Beer of Lewis Paape Gallery who subsequently became my dealer and sold my first paintings throughout the 1990s before I began painting full-time in 2000.  Max Beer's daughter, Suzanne Beer, went on to open her own gallery in 2008, Ngaio Fine Arts, and continues to stock some of my originals along with a couple of limited edition prints.