Artist. Hard hat painter.

I’m Alison Cosgrove, an artist based in Rutherford in the Hunter Valley. For more than 20 years I’ve been painting things most people don’t think of as canvases: motorcycle tanks, helmets, engine covers, guitars, surfboards, even a Yak 52 aeroplane. That work picked up many awards at car and bike shows along the way.

My style is a mix of airbrush, paintbrush and paint pens. Combining them is what gives my work its look: soft airbrushed depth, crisp brushed detail and fine pen linework, with printed logos or lettering added where a design needs them.

A hard hat is the perfect canvas for the people who wear one. It goes everywhere with them, and a painted one carries their story: the sites, the crews, the years.

Today I paint custom hard hats only. Retirements, mine rescue and competition teams, milestones, awards and memorials, for workers and companies right across Australia, including Anglo American and Glencore.