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Phuket police hang custom painting by American artist at station

For many foreigners in Thailand, encountering police can be a scary and life-changing experience.

But beneath the officers’ rough façade lies a side that often goes unseen, as 38-year-old artist Aaron Cossrow discovered.

Three weeks ago, the American artist staying in Phuket approached a police station asking if he could paint a portrait of the officers there.

On 11 June, he showed the completed painting to the cops, who were so thrilled about the finished product that they decided to hang it on their wall.

Source: Reddit

One of the officers even removed the police patch from his uniform as a gift for the artist, who jokingly called it a “get-out-of-jail-free card”.

He shared his story on Reddit, where it was warmly received.

Artist walks into police station asking for permission to paint

Mr Cossrow, who was previously based in Seoul, South Korea, now shuttles between the United States and Thailand as he “wanted to leave the city for the island life”.

On 20 May, while in Phuket, he decided to finally pull the trigger on an idea he had been contemplating for a while.

He wanted to paint the police officers, whom he describes to MS News as a “piece of Phuket culture”.

“It was also a challenge for myself to walk into the police station and ask them to model for some photos,” added Mr Cossrow.

Through a series of posts on Instagram, the American artist showed the moments when he walked into the Bangla Road Police Station on Patong Beach.

Despite his initial anxiety, the police were open to the idea.

After Mr Cossrow showed them his portfolio of oil paintings, the officers told him to return that evening during the shift change, where they would pose for a photo for him.

Capturing each officer’s personality

Around three days later, Mr Cossrow made a post showing a time lapse of his progress.

“I wanted to capture the difference in personalities within the team,” said the oil painter about his process.

Over the next few weeks, Mr Cossrow would slowly and steadily add to the 80cm by 120cm painting.

In his Reddit post, he said he would spend a few hours each day on the painting — sharing that the amount of time spent on the painting reflects how good its quality will be.

Finally, three weeks later, Mr Cossrow presented his finished painting to the officers. In a clip he shared on Instagram, the officers can be seen excitedly discussing the painting with each other.

Source: Reddit

“I think the officers really liked the painting,” Mr Cossrow said. “I hope they keep it at their office for the next twenty years.”

He added that this was the exact reaction he wanted. Seeing his effort rewarded with acceptance and joy was a “damn good feeling”.

Source: Reddit

Mr Cossrow told MS News that he donated his work to the officers without asking for a dime. However, one of the officers did give him a police patch from his uniform as a gift in return.

“We call it a get-out-of-jail-free card,” joked Ms Cossrow, who added that he now has some friends on the beach.

His post was warmly received on Reddit, with one commenter even joking with Mr Cossrow to paint some emergency workers and judges so he could “get away with anything”.

Also read: MS Features: He only pursued art at 60 — now, this 103-year-old’s work is in National Gallery Singapore for the first time

MS Features: He only pursued art at 60 — now, this 103-year-old’s work is in National Gallery Singapore for the first time

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