This is the biggest painting I've ever done, and I kept putting it off as i was a bit daunted. i usually work on A3 paper and most of my brushes are tiny in order to cope with all the little details on people's faces and the intricate bits people ask me to include. I do have a few big brushes though, so when the deadline encroached, I gathered my courage and began. i was instantly amazed at how fast you can paint with a big brush. The average A3 personalised painting, with faces, pets and houses in, take about 2 weeks to complete. This one took just two days! Amazing! it felt really nice to paint standing up and with my arms waving about so freely, usually I am hunched over, face to the desk, peering at photographs! So inbetween commissions, I'm going to attempt some more biggies.

Heres the painting in it's frame. Looks jolly nice don't you think?

This one doesn't really need any explaining! One of the daughters of the man in the middle commissioned this for his birthday. As you can see, pets house, grandchildren and hobbies are all included. The daughter sent a photo of the family looking at their portrait on the day.

This one doesnt need much explaining...the happy couple with their dog over the church they got married in...and they love cycling!

This was an unusual request...."Can you paint me and my family replacing the Beatles on the zebra crossing in the Abbey Road Album cover?" He also wanted the cream Beetle and the police van in the original replaced with two of his favourite cars, a Porsche 911 and a Jaguar, both with specific number plates. He also requested the real Beatles to be watching them cross, and his pet tortoise and spaniel put in too! Quite a challenge but here is is. Happy to report that the family were delighted with the painting and have had the image put onto mugs! Love that!

Here's a slightly different commission from my usual requests. This one was a gift from a grandad to his granddaughter. The brief was simple but specific; he wanted his granddaughter on a swing in a tree, with a poem he'd written pinned to a piece of paper on the tree. His granddaughter is called Robyn, so he wanted a Robyn with a 'y' in its beak to feature too. The rest was up to me, so I filled it with cute animals and rolling hills. Funnily enough I'd done something quite similar for my own (step) granddaughter Wren last year...

If you would like a baby name painting or a painting for a child, please get in touch...kirstyhosking@hotmail.co.uk

This painting is a wedding present for a couple getting married near Trebarwith Strand, my old stomping ground. The brief was simple this time, the happy couple, the beach and a few significant objects; a chicken, some whisky, a knitted slug and a pink Jesus statue (photo supplied!)
Gotta love that statue!
After the wedding, the couple sent me a photo of them holding the painting, I love it when that happens!

This commission was for a Christmas present....the original brief wasn't for a map but there was a humungous collection of places and pubs and things to go in. I had no idea how I was going to put them together in a picture that still looked attractive! Then I was struck by a brainwave that everything could be loosely dotted around a map of Cornwall and suddenly it all came together perfectly. So here is the scarily long list of things to go in....

The Anchor pub in Helston, famous for its home brewed 'Spingo Ales', (also to feature)
The Kings Arms in Stratton
The Tree Inn in Stratton
The Port William pub in Trebarwith Strand
The Bude Rats Running Club
Hampsons of Hayle Pasties
St Michael's Mount
Bude Chess Club
The Bude Barrel Monument
Manchester United
A pile of second hand cars used for spares
A pint of Guinness
Earl Grey Tea
Dominoes
The much loved pet dog
A jug of driftwood with heart ornaments hanging from it
A collection of loved friends and girlfriend

Once I had been rescued by my map brainwave, this daunting list of things could now fit together easily. I researched lots of old maps and was reminded that they always have an impressive compass included, as well as often ornate panels with extra information. The panels around the map made perfect mini paintings to put the people in and I found a lovely compass image on an old map of England to borrow. I was able to trace the outline of Cornwall in the perfect size directly from my road atlas, which was a relief as my Cornish friends would soon grumble if the outline wasn't right!

It was a real joy to put together, and the lady who commissioned the piece sent a photo of her chuffed man with the painting on his lap giving me the thumbs up on Christmas Day! He also took the time to send me his own thank you email. So we all were delighted, that's job satisfaction and customer satisfaction all rolled into one!

This was a joyous commission to paint. I had a request from someone wanting a painting of his daughter jumping off the infamous Fisherman's Point at Trebarwith Strand in Cornwall. For those of you who know Trebarwith, the sight of local youngsters jumping thirty feet into the sea at high tide is a familiar one. I did it myself about 10 years ago. I have never been so frightened in my life; I shook for a full twenty minutes afterwards...
But the kids will jump, swim back to shore, run up the cliff and keep on jumping until the tide drops (after which it gets too dangerous in case you hit the bottom.) I hope the painting captures the height of the drop; you definitely have time to waggle your arms and legs in desperation before you hit the ocean!

This commission was from someone wanting a painting for her daughter's 30th birthday present.
The original brief was for a painting of Trevone Bay in Cornwall with the following things included:

The daughter and her man
Cows wearing jumpers
Gandalf riding a flying filofax
Flying pigs
A school badge
A stethoscope
A violin
A surfboard
A blue Fiat Pinto
A saxophone
A hockeystick
The daughter doing a bungee jump

All the objects were relevant to the daughter's life (although I still don't know what Gandalf on a Filofax was all about!) At first I tried to incorporate all the things into one picture, but as you can imagine, it all looked a bit peculiar...Luckily I had a brainwave and decided it might be better to put everything in a border around the edge, which worked much better.

The daughter's lovely mum kindly sent me photos of her daughter unwrapping the painting and told me her daughter had said, "This is the most thoughtful and  very best present I have ever had"

For me, knowing a painting has touched the recipient, is always the best bit of the whole process. Hurrah!

Ahhhh, this one was for a person who wanted a special present for her best friend's fortieth birthday. It charts their long friendship together; it begins at school and goes on to make reference to their holidays together with funny shared moments along the way. As a centrepiece it has the two of them at her friend's home with their husbands and children it, and at the bottom, the two of them as grey haired old ladies in deck chairs, still enjoying their friendship... so sweet! It was a joy to paint and kind of cool as I went to the same school albeit 5 years earlier, so did a lot of reminiscing inbetween deciding what was to go in the picture.

The commissions are mounting up and I currently have a 12 week waiting list before I can start any new ones...so if you are thinking about having something painted, book in as soon as you can so you ensure you get it in time. You don't need to give a deposit or anything, you just need to get yourself booked into the queue!