Velda Cox was doing her job in the same way she’d done it for 43 years.

So it came as a surprise to the Pompano Beach Club bartender that a hotel guest would give her a gift for her efforts.

But that’s what Susan Stuller did last week.

The American artist presented Mrs Cox with a portrait she’d painted of her from a picture taken two years ago.

The presentation, made at Pompano in front of Mrs Stuller’s friends and family, left the Bermudian bartender speechless.

“I screamed and I cried,” she said. “I was just blown away. Never in my whole experience in the hospitality industry had I received anything like it. It was the best gift ever.”

Mrs Stuller and her husband Rick met Mrs Cox as first-time visitors to the Island, in 1995.

“We fell in love,” she said of that first Pompano experience. “They’re the nicest people, the nicest staff — and then we were trapped by hurricane Felix and stranded for three extra days.”

The Richmond, Virginia couple returned to the Island every two years with friends Harry and Judy Bosco. In 2013 Mrs Stuller asked Mrs Cox if she could snap a quick picture of her while she worked.

The bartender thought nothing of it until she saw a post on Mrs Stuller’s Facebook page.

The artist had recreated her in transparent watercolour.

She named the painting Lady in Pink and presented it at various juried exhibits in the US.

The work of art received the Southern Watercolor Society Award in the 73rd Annual National Exhibition of the Watercolor Society of Alabama.

It’s one of many awards received by Mrs Stuller, recognised as one of the best contemporary watermedia artists of today.

She’s a signature member of both the National Watercolor Society and the Transparent Watercolor Society of America.

The artist presented Mrs Cox with the painting last month while here with a group of 25 close friends and family members.

“I said the reason for us here is partly my birthday but the reason we stay at Pompano is the people,” Mrs Stuller said. “To see the look on her face was absolutely priceless.”

Mrs Cox said the gift came as a complete surprise. “They told my boss I had to be there [at a cocktail reception],” she said. “And then they presented me with this picture. It was amazing.”

The bartender said she had stayed true to her goal of pleasing the customer throughout her hospitality career.

“It’s okay for people to say we work for Pompano but you really work for the guests,” she said.

“I always keep that in mind. [Pompano owners the Lamb family] treat us well but if the guests aren’t here we don’t get paid.”