Matt Dossett is one of millions of Americans who has not yet received his $1,200 stimulus check and has not been approved for unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic. 

To help makes ends meet, the Waterloo resident has turned to art by commissioning canvas artwork. 

“I have done this in the past, but right now people have been way more accommodating,” Dossett said. “I’ve been inundated with almost too many orders for me to be able to get all of them done. I think the generosity is out there.” 

Dossett, who has had an art studio for about a decade, normally teaches in-home acrylic painting classes to children. 

Since he cannot do that during the stay at home order, he turned to a different type of painting to make some money. 

“I was like, ‘anything is better than nothing,’” Dossett explained. “Even if somebody paid me $5 for a painting, that $5 could get me a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread.” 

In over a week, Dossett said people have not only flooded him with commissions but often offered to pay him exorbitant fees for relatively simple projects.

The art he creates varies from 8×10 paintings of families eyes to an “enormous” painting of the titular character in the 1988 movie “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.” 

“It just depends drastically on each person’s interest,” Dossett said of what he creates. “I do think some of them don’t even care about the artwork. They just read into my status and wanted to help. But I want to earn this money. I don’t want handouts.”

To find out more or place an order, visit MAD Hat Art Studio on Facebook.