I'd been chosen to put my painting, [another work], up, and the art teacher told me somebody was interested in buying my work," Ryan-Kleid said.At just 16 years old, the year 12 student sold her first piece, a portrait of a man in a suit sitting on a grassy curb, for $150."It was a tough time at home, and the [sale] just gave me a huge boost," she said.Raised by a single father, the sale "lit the flame" for the burgeoning artist."After that, my dad took me to every art exhibition he could find That is what this does to me."But a question bugged the art collector, who has kept the piece hanging in the packing room of her gallery for 39 years, as a reminder of where her extensive collection began.Who was the artist behind the piece?A social media post and radio interview calling for support to find her helped the pieces fall into place.After high school, Ryan-Kleid travelled to New York to attend art school, where she completed a Master of Fine Arts.She painted satirical portraits of former US presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush, as well as the piece Parsing Bill in 2012, which was exhibited before being sold to Epstein.Curiosity about the piece that started it all simmered for a long time, until family and friends shared a social media post calling for the person behind a distinct artwork to come forward."I had friends who just knew it was me … I had a look and went, 'Wow, that's the painting,'" Ryan-Kleid said.Separated by thousands of kilometres and many time zones — Ms Lew lived on the Gold Coast and Ryan-Kleid in New York — the pair resolved to reunite over a phone call."My dad was so proud