A husband’s hilariously bad portrait of his wife, which he tried to give her as a wedding gift, has gone viral – and he’s now being inundated with paid art commissions around the world.
Jamie Matthias’ side hustle began by accident after she painted the “terrible” portrait that shows her clutching a gap-toothed Wallace and Gromit doll.
Far from being horrified, Kate thought the artwork was so funny that she posted a photo on social media and within days it racked up thousands of views and comments.
Since then Jamie, 41, has been inundated with requests from people desperate for him to create funny versions of their own photographs.
A father of three, originally from the Cheshire town of Alsager, he now combines his art business with his full-time accounting job.
He said: “I don’t really mean to paint badly and I’m doing my best to recreate the photos they send me, but this is how they turn out.”
‘I try to create an alternative universe where proportions have no meaning. I’ve painted for years but had no idea they were that bad until people started telling me.
‘We have always painted, it is like a family activity.
Kate Mattias poses with a Wallace doll. Scroll to see the painting of the photograph taken by her husband, which has generated a business after going viral on social media.

See the wedding portrait Jamie gave to his wife above. He has received more than 60 orders for his abstract and children’s paintings, for which he charges £25 each.
Jamie Matthias’ family and friends have created paintings from his photographs, and now everyone seems to want one. Swipe to see how this photo turned out
‘In the middle of the semester we would take out the mats and canvases and paint something with the children.
‘Kate was making a comment about how bad mine were and I told her I’d paint one for our wedding day, as a joke.
‘The kids brought it up during my wedding speech and they all loved it, it was hysterical.
‘I find painting very relaxing so I did some for my friends and family over Christmas.
‘The reactions were priceless. I thought I’d leave one there and see if anyone wanted one.
“I made a joke, because of the poor quality of my art, saying that I might start trying to sell it to make money.”
Jamie said he was stunned by the online reaction to his artwork.
He added: ‘As a joke, I created a Facebook and Instagram account called Terrible Art by Jamie Lee. We sent the photo, the reaction and a little blurb and it just exploded.

Jamie Lee Matthias displays a selection of her paintings at her home in Stoke, Staffordshire. The father of three has become an internet sensation since sharing his work online.
Jamie spends about two hours every night painting the work he has been given. Scroll to see how this Christmas snapshot turned out

“I make (the paintings) on the dining room table, I don’t have space, I don’t have a studio,” says Jamie, 41.
“We have orders from all over England, Scotland, Wales and even Northern Ireland, and people across the country seem to be really enjoying it.”
“We have 71 orders now and we will deliver them on January 2.
‘We joke that Kate is the head of financial distribution and her maid of honour, Kate, is the head of marketing.
“There seems to be a lot of noise on social media, we have just over 1,800 followers.
‘Some of the paintings I’m asked to paint are incredible, they clearly capture the humour.
“It’s acrylic on canvas and priced at £25 plus postage, it’s very cheap.”
Jamie spends about two hours every night painting his commissioned work on 10 x 12 inch canvases.
He said: ‘I do it at the dining room table, I don’t have space, I don’t have a studio.
‘For me it’s just about the reactions and people have loved it.
‘We’ve told people there’s a three to five week waiting list, but everyone understands.
‘I’ll keep forgetting to paint someone’s nose and I’ll have to keep mixing paint and adding it later. It adds to the comedy value.
‘I’ve been drawing this way since I was a child, if anything, some of the paintings have gotten a lot worse.
‘This is my standard, there is no risk of it improving. I am not at all an art teacher.
‘We just do it as a family, I didn’t really like art at school.
“I think everyone seems to appreciate them in some way. They’re terrible, but Kate just said it’s really fun and she appreciates it.”
His wife Kate, 40, added: “It’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen.” “We have had a lot of fun laughing at his inability to paint.”