Cromwell artist Deidre Copeland (pictured), who specialises in bold, close-up portraits, has recently completed the last of 11 paintings for an exhibition which opens at the airport on September 25.
The portraits include prominent "locals" former Stock Exchange chairman and New Zealand Olympic president Sir Eion Edgar, Arrowtown businessman and entrepreneur Michael Hill, bungy inventor A. J. Hackett, pioneering Gibbston winemaker Alan Brady and Queenstown mayor Clive Geddes.
Others to be honoured are cricketer Sir Richard Hadlee, double equestrian Olympic gold medallist Mark Todd, Everest climber and top expedition leader Guy Cotter, writer Owen Marshall, entertainer Gary McCormick and Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt.
Copeland, a mother of two, says she has no idea if the exhibition will be her most successful, but it will certainly be the most viewed, with more than 1.4 million people moving through the airport terminal every year.
