Mr Waters has followed that up with continued commercial success.
One of the five watercolours he took to the English exhibition - which featured 60 artists from around the world - has since been sold and Artbay Gallery in Queenstown has sold two of his paintings in the past two weeks.
Gallery owner Pauline Bianchi said people loved his work.
"He is very much considered a senior artist. It's impressive that he was the only New Zealand painter [the other artist was Northland sculptor Kerry Strongman] invited to the exhibition in England.
"The quirky nature of his work captures people's imagination. His style is unique.
"Each of his paintings comes with a story about how the painting came about, which helps people connect with both the artist and the painting. It also helps it sell."
What makes Mr Waters' success more remarkable, Ms Bianchi said, is that he achieved it by painting watercolours.
"It's a real reflection of the level of his skill, as watercolour is the most unforgiving medium. Because it's [the paint] absorbed into the paper, you can't paint over your mistakes."
Sending his work to the English exhibition, which marked the opening of Outside the Square Gallery in Margate, Kent, was a fabulous experience, Mr Waters said.
"It was a great honour but I also needed to find out whether I could trust the gallery. You're sending over $50,000 worth of work and you don't know where it's going. You need to know it's going to be valued at the other end. The answer to that question was a resounding yes."
Mr Waters attended the exhibition, interested to see how his paintings compared to the other work on display.
"I was curious to see how they stacked up against work by artists from other countries. I was absolutely chuffed - my work stood out. It was vibrant. It was clean. It made a statement and it was different. There were very few watercolours there and nobody did stuff like I did."
What made his work different was the use of visual deception, Mr Waters said.
"I play with time, perspective, people's imaginations and concepts. I like to encourage people to think, to get out of their comfort zone. People love it but often can't get their heads around some of it.
"I like to challenge people to see something that is normal, usual or conventional in another way. I like to get people to question their surroundings."
The response of people who attended the English exhibition was "pretty mind-blowing", he said.
"People were asking me 'why do you do it?' They said 'that can't be a watercolour' or 'I didn't know you could paint that sort of stuff with watercolours'."
Although he created a lot of interest in England, Mr Waters has no plans to send more of his art there.
Shipping art to the UK is a major event, he said, with barriers like customs and insurance to overcome. "The painting has to be worth a lot in the first place, to make it worthwhile."
On top of that, there are always risks involved.
Recently, Mr Waters sent five paintings to an Auckland gallery, two framed and three unframed. The three unframed paintings were packed between the two framed works.
"The staff were frazzled and thought the unframed paintings were packing and threw them out in the recycling. They were worth $30,000. I got the insurance but it was sad to see the paintings end up like that."
He is more than content continuing to paint in Central Otago.
"The last few months have been extremely gratifying, so I'll keep doing what I'm doing, producing work that makes people think.
"I try to be subversive and get people to have a sense of imagination - like children have.
"Making people think is my key role."
