Jamie Lee Matthias, 42, started his side hustle after a wedding gift portrait went viral on social media
Jamie Lee Matthias with his paintings at his home in Cheshire
Meet the “terrible” artist who has raked in THOUSANDS from his “diabolical” paintings – after receiving more than 430 commissions from around the world in the last year alone. Jamie Lee Matthias, 42, stumbled into the unlikely side hustle by accident – after presenting his wife, Kate, 40, a radiographer, with a “rubbish” portrait as a wedding gift in May 2024.
Kate found the painting so amusing that she posted a photo of it on social media, where it quickly amassed thousands of views and comments within days. Since then, Jamie has been overwhelmed with requests from people eager for him to produce humorous versions of their own photographs.
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The father-of-three now balances his art business – trading under the name ‘terribleartbyjamielee’ – alongside his full-time role as an enterprise manager, and says he has earned thousands of pounds from his venture.
Jamie, from Alsager, Cheshire, said: “Most people respond with joy and laughter [to my paintings] which is why it’s been so fun, because they absolutely get it.
“They are pretty diabolical – but they are fine. You probably can’t print some of the responses I get, but it’s all said in jest.”
According to the father, each painting typically takes between 45 minutes and an hour to complete, depending on the number of subjects featured.
He dedicates around four hours a week on average to his distinctive talent.
“I didn’t expect it to become a big part of my life,” he said. “Sometimes, I can spend more time painting than I do at my actual full-time job.” Back in January of last year, Jamie was inundated with 130 orders, spending a minimum of five hours each day at his easel.
His artwork has since gained international recognition, with requests coming in from 12 countries, including the USA, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Remarkably, he estimates that approximately 35% of his commissions have originated from Taiwan alone.
His paintings typically start from £45 each, with some fetching several hundred pounds. The success has enabled him to fund a complete garden renovation at his home, as well as a family holiday to Turkey last year.
Despite his achievements, Jamie is never short of honest feedback, with both his and wife Kate’s children on hand to declare his work “terrible”.
He said: “My kids say the paintings are terrible. And you know what kids are like, they speak the truth.
“I always get ‘that’s absolutely shocking’, but deep down I know they love it. It’s colourful and fun. But I have no doubt my kids could definitely paint better than me!”
Jamie recalls his most amusing commission involved merging two photographs — one of a picturesque countryside field and another of a dog “doing its business”.
He has also branched out into teaching local art classes, adding: “I think they [the participants] were turning up for a proper guided painting session, but everybody completely embraced it.
“It was really good fun and, with the exception of mine, there were some really good paintings at the end of the night.” Jamie has also participated in school workshops, having painted at his step-daughter’s school.
He said: “Some of them actually thought it was quite good, but you know, they were 10-and-11-year-olds so it’s probably that sort of level isn’t it?”
Most recently, Jamie has created a portrait of Dame Judi Dench, herself a passionate artist, which is set to be auctioned in aid of the Sobell House Hospice.
Dame Dench, who has also contributed a painting to the charity, has put her signature to Jamie’s piece – which will go under the hammer later this year.
“To have someone like Judi Dench look at my piece of artwork and agree to sign it is just absolutely insane really,” he said.
