#0040 ROSCO BRITTIN - A CACOPHONY OF CREATIVITY!

Welcome to the Creative Nowhere Land Podcast.

What can I say about the guest on this episode? 

He's an artist. 

He loves flowers and nature. He creates collages, wallpaper, T-shirts, and now 3D sculptures that I want you to all check out, and it's all absolutely beautiful. 

But as you'll hear from this episode, he's so much more than that...

He's a cacophony of creativity!

But not just creativity, he's a cacophony of incredible energy as well, and it's massively infectious. 

He's someone who wants to get the most out of life. Someone who loves progression and wants to always be growing. A glass-half-full kind of human being! And he's funny. He's really funny!

We discuss everything from having no plan, why style can be limiting, blagging your way into galleries, faking it until you make it, and even then still faking it a bit. 

We talk about love and legacy and psychology and confidence,  and why they won't remember, but I will. 

He's a big man with an even bigger heart, and on this episode, we're joined by Rosco Brittin. 

Check out the links to Rosco's website and social media to see more of his amazing work. 

Hope you enjoy this episode of The Creative Nowhere Land Podcast.

ROSCO BRITTIN WEBSITE:  https://www.roscobrittin.com/

ROSCO BRITTIN INSTAGRAM:  https://www.instagram.com/roscobrittin/

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Tease

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Hello everyone and welcome to the Creative Nobelland Podcast. What can I say about the guest on this episode? Well, he's an artist. He loves flowers and nature. He creates collages, wallpaper, t-shirts, and now 3D sculptures that I want you to all check out, and it's all absolutely beautiful. But as you'll hear from this episode, he's so much more than that. He's a cacophony of creativity. But not just creativity, he's a cacophony of incredible energy as well, and it's massively infectious. He's someone that wants to get the most out of life. Someone who loves progression and wants to always be growing. A glass half full kind of human being. And he's funny, he's really funny. We discuss everything from having no plan, why style can be limiting, blagging your way into galleries, faking it until you make it, and even then still faking it a bit. We talk about love and legacy and psychology and confidence and why they won't remember, but I will. So let's get into it.

Legacy, Humour And How We’re Remembered

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Go for it, ma'am. They won't remember, but I will. It's very romantic, but how do you want to be remembered?

SPEAKER_03 2:04

I honestly I don't give a shit. I'll be dead. It's it's the funny, the more you think about it, the more you just go, uh well, I'd like to be seen as oh but then I'm perspective of being dead, it's just like you release yourself from all that all that shit, don't you?

SPEAKER_02 2:21

I asked because there's obviously there are some quite romantic titles in there. Yeah. And I think in some ways, there's something about artists creatives legacy, wanting to be remembered for our work, maybe, but then when you put it like that, we're gonna be dead, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Well, the uh they won't remember, but I will is part of a collection called It's Only a Legacy. It just sort of relates to the fact that it's it is only a legacy, and legacy sounds grand, but it's got nothing to do with you because you'll be dead. And if anything, the closest I can get to saying what it must feel like to not be here and people say nice things about you, because that's basically what we all want. Is if you were ever lucky enough to sit at a at the dinner table that I have, and people suddenly say, Oh, Roscoe, I remember the first time I met you, and you remember when you went, and then you go, you got that kind of blank expression, like after four glasses of wine going. I remember saying that. And they just go, and you you went and you said this and that, and you go, Oh, did I? I'm a funny bastard, aren't I?

SPEAKER_02 3:24

And you that's that's that's sort of like the basic level. How you're gonna be remembered, how you make people feel, that's the only legacy.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

I think having uh made people laugh, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

That's well, that's quite the that's a good little segue you didn't know you're doing because when we met you said, Oh, I should be on your podcast because I'm really funny. So yeah, that sounds like me. You said it was gonna be fucking hilarious. So I was great back then. That was that the young me.

Collage, Flowers And Progression

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Let's talk about your art. Can you describe what it is you do? Because uh on your website it says you're the inventor of the drawing. I am, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

And no one's challenged me on that yet. I I did have someone on online challenge me on that, and it was because of the basic the the written phrase, inventor of the drawings. Someone sent me a message saying, you can only be an inventor of a drawing, not the drawing. And I just went, that's not what the history books say, mate.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

So go on then, tell us about your art, Roscoe.

SPEAKER_03 4:21

I like flares, I like saying the word flares in a very comical, cutney way. And the older I get, the more vital they are to me.

SPEAKER_02 4:30

And what is your thing with nature? Bear in mind we're sat in inner city London, not like a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Yeah, opposite this gigantic birch and Londinian plane right outside my my home, which I love. Yeah, it I think it if you be brutally honest, it came down as a way of going, people like flares, yeah. I like flares too. I know that they sell, don't they? And you start to sort of you mess up, mess about with them, and then you start to get into them, and then they become like part of you, and without even knowing it, you're just going, I'm doing this for me. I thought I was doing this to make money. I know, I know you want to be an artist and stay pure and uh and I think, but deep down, artists need to make money, they need to live. And you just think like, I like this, and I'm pretty sure other people will, but then it takes hold of you. You suddenly just go, I just want to work with flowers forever and on that level. And then you start to ask questions about yourself, which is like, why is everything almost degrading? Why is everything coming apart? Everything seems to cascade, petals fall off. I love I love progression. That's what I like. I didn't realise it up until about six months ago. I like progression. If I put a hob on now to heat something up, I've got to turn it on low. My wife comes in and says, I mean, why is it still on low? And I'm like, I want to build up. I need to build it up.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

How interesting.

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Well now, maybe it's an OCD thing. I can't. Okay. I think maybe uh both of our Creative ADHD has jumped around the place a bit. Should we talk about what the actual physical work is? I know it varies, but a lot of it is intricate collage, isn't it? It's nature, it's floral, it's botanical, it's creating getting in this flow state almost of intricacy detail. You want to build these collages up like you're turning the hob on low.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

Yeah, I I need them to grow. I need them to look like they're actually growing. I need them to look, they've they've done it themselves. So that's the key. You've that's the gem. You've got to make it look like it's grown like that.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

I'm gonna say something, but do you feel like the intricacy of your collages and the work that you're producing, because it needs such attention? Do you think that is flow state for you? It's about that shutting out the outside world, any distractions, anyway.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Yeah, it does. It does help. Yeah, it does. It is a sort of because my mind skips all over the place and it's quite difficult sometimes to focus. But when you get into that flow, it does help. It's well, yeah, like therapy, I guess. You can get into it, and then you don't want to get out. That's the best thing when you don't want to leave. So you're in it, and then it although having kids and working from home in my studio, it enables you to be able to go, What do you want? All right, okay, I'll go and make it for you. And then you can go right back into it. So it's yeah, it it teaches you to sort of be able to dip in and dip out. Do you find that balance quite easy? I do now, yeah. Now the older you get, you can I can get into it and particularly if you've got a little kid say, I just wanted some water, daddy.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

And you're like, fair enough.

SPEAKER_03 7:29

Yeah, yeah. Somebody go and get you that. That thing you need to live. Sorry, basic stuff. Yeah, but yeah, but I play on my computer one game. Just one game. Okay. And it's called Civilization 2. It came out in like 1991. It's really basic graphics, it's about dominating the world. So you you have a civilization, you could be many civilizations, you could be the English, you could be uh, you could be Aztecs, you can be Egyptians, take your pick, and then you build your civilization and you negotiate with other empires, but it's not the dominating and taking over, progression. It's once again, I like this the world building up, and you're going, look how well we're doing, making everything nice, everything's looking wonderful, and it's all building up and it's great. It's once again it's progression. I like the slow build. Where does that love of the slow build come from, do you think? Oh, no idea. I've never thought about it until about four or five months ago. I don't know where it comes from. I've started watching just last night and the night before, Das Boot. You know, the German U-boat movie. I've never seen it before, and I just thought apparently it's supposed to be a slow boat. It's two and a half hours long, and it's just about guys in German soldiers in a U-boat, and it's a contrast between the mundane boringness of sitting in a submarine for ages, nothing happens, and then suddenly you're thrust into action.

SPEAKER_02 8:49

And uh Is that how you feel about your art? It's slowly progressing, slowly progressing, but and then you've got boom, the finished article where you go, Yes, I'm finished.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Yeah, yeah. And then it is it is finished as well. I I don't I I I don't ever look at I mean I look at that stuff on the wall there and just go, it looks great. I like it. Really?

SPEAKER_02 9:07

There's no there's never a like, oh I could have just tweaked that a little bit, or if I'd done that. There's always a learning process. I go back, I'll go. But is that your progression?

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Yeah, my pro my progression again would be to just go, oh next time I'll do that. So when I'll make another one, that'll be the learning curve. I won't ever want to go, I'll take that off. I'll leave that there because I'll I'm happy with it. I was happy with it before. Yeah. But I know I can learn from that and I can do it better in the next one. Oh, yeah. Also, contrast as well. Uh not contrast, composition. Said this for years. Being a songwriter and being an artist, I know, I know where shit goes. And it's a fucking power. I don't know if you've got it as well. You know, if you're booking with collage or where things have to go, then you just go, goes there. Yeah, that's the end of it. Where does this go? That one goes there. And if it doesn't go there, I go, That's not good. You're not there, I'll wait until I've made my decision, you go there. I don't ever go, that'll do. Never. I just go, I know where it goes. And if it doesn't go, it's not the right flower. And it's it's it's a power. And when it comes to songwriting, which I haven't done in a number of years now, but I used to write songs all the time. And I know where everything's supposed to go. And when you work with other people that write songs, I sit in a room and I just go, move that line to the chorus and then put the chorus at the front, keep that line there, there you go, now do it. You go, oh, there you go. You just know where it goes, you can hear it in your mind.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

It's you find that structure, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:31

And it is also like because it's such a power, I can't be told otherwise. I just go put it that way, it's gotta be that way. You know, and then and that's the way it's gotta be. Controlling element of that, yeah, it is. But always a bit we if you do get it wrong, it's always good to go, yeah. And then that's my learning curve. I go, right, okay. But always learning still. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

And there's lots of comedy elements to your work as well. If you look within these collages, there's often funny little bits in there. Uh oh yeah, a spaceman in a in what looks like it's probably a beautiful floral thing, or there's a scud missile coming in from something. It's gotta be. Comedy's everything, man. Without it, it's just Well, you said that this was gonna be a funny podcast episode.

SPEAKER_03 11:13

There was gonna be plenty of yucks. How many yucks have we had so far? The yuck counter has gone up to five.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

But I think you are this interesting dynamic of artist, creative, comedian, musician. Love magnet, love magnets, um throw me with the love magnet thing. I was gonna say love magnet, but your words, not mine. Your love magnet. And it is this cacophony of creativity.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

Where does that come

Video Shop Childhood And Creative Inputs

SPEAKER_02 11:46

from?

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Well, I was brought up in a in a video shop in the 80s, and I'm on dad had a video shop, and I was uh I was born in it.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

You were actually born in the show.

SPEAKER_03 11:56

Born in born in the shop. I was in between the thriller section and the comedy section. That's where I popped out. And that's how you've orchestrated your life. That's it. And I uh immediately signed up to their membership and I was like, I'll have this. But yeah, I was born in the video shop in the 80s in Temper Stock Place, right in the centre of London. And uh yeah, we used to have some outlandish shit. Like in the 80s, in the early 80s, you couldn't buy videos, you must have a retail outlet and you must have a licence to rent them. And they were really expensive, they were like 60, 70, 80 pounds each, really expensive things. And it was a magical world, man. Imagine like a films that your your friends couldn't get hold of, they could only get them in the cinema, and once they're in the cinema, you wait for them to be released onto terrestrial TV.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

And I wonder what inputs like obviously that film is a massive visual input and you're surrounded by yeah, it was a huge part of my life, and you know, quoting things endlessly.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

I I got my kids into it now. Uh I try and try and get them into things that similar things because with age, certain things don't hold up to time, and you you know, but I mean I put on the Mighty Boosh for them recently. Oh god, there's the weekend just gone. It has just been like round the clock, mighty boosh, and it is and I'm not I'm happy about it, but the kids rinse it out and they get to the point where you just go, I can't stand Noel Fielding's voice.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Yeah, you get sick of that thing.

SPEAKER_03 13:21

Please they're on Mighty Boosh. It's like, but yeah, so they're in it.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

Yeah. How do you think film has influenced you, your creative journey? It's I think it's everything.

SPEAKER_03 13:30

It was it was everything. It was also not only that, it was like coming of age. I mean, I I saw my first porno when I was about seven. I I knew what they were, they were kept in a very secret place down in the office, and I knew exactly what I was doing, but it was part of the like the fan like I have no idea what's going on in this film, but it's it's not, it's not I'm not it's forbidden, yeah. And it was uh it was it was exciting, and that's part of it again. Like it's uh it was an exciting place to be. You could watch like stuffing with naughty stuff where you can watch comical stuff. Even like I can remember watching my first samurai movie and how like visceral and violent it was. I'd never seen anything like it. I can still remember the sensation of watching, I think it was Rand that classic dynasty samurai movie, and it was so violent. I've never seen it, and it was like, oh, that's just quite frightening. But then I'm like, but I'm slightly excited by being frightened. Yeah, you can't what you can't look away by. Yeah, and then the same with horror. Yeah, you just used to just get into it, it was great. And then introduced to stand-up comedy because uh, like, you know, legends like Billy Connolly had just started to sort of put his videos, I can even remember the videos he had. He had video, uh Billy Connolly picks his nose, and then Billy Connolly bites your bum. That was the one we had, and it was and then I remember watching him for the first time when I was about eight, and just going, this guy is so funny.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

I mean I just wonder, because of these influences, do you think in some ways that's made you a bit of a performer as an adult? Yeah. And also the fact you did tell me that your mum was a club singer as well.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:03

She we used to see you her perform all different types of pubs and clubs, and uh so music was a big thing. You say you've written music and you play music.

SPEAKER_03 15:11

Yeah, like when I got to about when I got to 17, I got my first guitar, and then I knew I went back, I've got to get a guitar, I've got to learn how to play it, then I'm gonna write some songs, and then I'm gonna get a band. It was the just the most amazing, like once again the progression. I must do this. It wasn't just I want to write some songs, and I go, right, I need that, and then I once I've got that, I need to do this. Then I have to find, oh, I found a bass player. Okay, do you know anyone? Yes, I know, guitarist, get him. Oh, do you know anyone? Yes, I know,

Bands, Performance And Falling Off Track

SPEAKER_03 15:39

a drummer. Alright, we got one, yeah, we're in a band, and that was it. Now we have to write some songs, it's great.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Again, building something.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

Yeah, yeah, it's good. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. And I was fucking good at it. That's the that's one of the most important things about if you if you're ever in a band and you're no longer in a band, and you're 50, and you go, Were you in a band? And you're like, Oh, were you really? What were you, bass player? Because he's six foot eight, they go, bass player. And you go, No, I was a lead singer. I was a six foot eight lead singer that used to leap around the state. And uh they're like, What were the songs like? And I'm like, I have them on my Spotify all the time, and I listened to the fucking songs because I enjoy listening to them. They're great songs, and they were really well-written songs, and they're good fun.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

So did you have much success with the music?

SPEAKER_03 16:23

No, because we did. We got you know, we played places like Hack in the Empire, sort of sort of big places, and what sort of stuff was it? It's like it was rock and roll, but it was all really short, like three minutes long. Okay, and it used to be just incorrect. It was imagine like rock and roll, but with sort of m more break beats. It was just fast and full of energy, sung, lots of harmonies, and uh lots of character, you know. And if you've got a six foot eight lead singer that's just takes his top off and leaps around the stage, and all my other bandmates are all good looking guys as well, and yeah, it was a fucking good fun. It was uh really exciting. But unfortunately, I got into the sort of I liked the the the drugs and alcohol, and then got into that side, and then once you start getting into that, the work side is just you think it's just writing songs, but it's not, you've got to do everything else. Um just became just forgetful of what I was trying to achieve. I forgot the progression, basically. Is this your sort of first foray into I'm gonna be a creative? Well, when we started, I went to I went away to uni and then I came back and then I started the band up. So I would have been.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Because you went away and studied art, didn't you?

SPEAKER_03 17:32

Yeah, like graphic design and advertising though. Yeah, not the thing.

SPEAKER_02 17:35

A bit more specific.

SPEAKER_03 17:36

Yeah, like well, because I associate the art with works, you know, work is gotta get a trade, gotta get a trade boy.

SPEAKER_02 17:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

And then you get a trade and you work for a graphic design firm, or you know, you try and become an illustrator, and then you just go, fuck it.

SPEAKER_02 17:51

So is that that was your progression then? Because I mean we're just chatting away, like people know it. But you went and that was the progression you were illustrating, graphic design, yeah, trying to make your way in that world.

SPEAKER_03 18:02

Yeah, and then I found that illustrators, especially with you've got to have a uh what's the term, you've got to have a style, a specific style, and I hated that.

SPEAKER_02 18:10

I was like Can you say a bit more about that? Because I'm with you. Why do you hate having a specific style?

SPEAKER_03 18:15

Because it's style is anything, isn't it? What what person in the uh in the fashion, like Alexander McQueen? You know, look at the crazy shit that he's put together. And on a whim, like what what one fashion show was the same? It was everything was one minute he's got robotic arms spray painting someone, next minute he's got trousers that barely cover

Breaking Free From A Fixed Style

SPEAKER_03 18:37

your crotch. You're like, you do whatever you like, whatever springs to mind, and you go, Oh no, wait, I can't, unless I make it my style.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

You're like, no, fucking do whatever you want. And it's limiting, isn't it?

SPEAKER_03 18:46

Yeah, really, really much so. And and being told I've got to do it annoyed me.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

And then so I just sort of because that's quite similar in the art world, isn't it? You've you know, you artists are known for their specific style or thing. That's what they don't do. And the minute they deviate, it's like, oh I'm not sure about that.

SPEAKER_03 19:02

Yeah, I know, and I know loads of artists, uh big, big popular ones as well, where they have done specific styles and then they've ventured out and gone slightly different, and then you're like, oh wow, they're doing something different, and you never hear anything from them, and then they go back to the what they were doing before, and you're like, fuck that. Like, just keep doing it, just keep going.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Is that a philosophy again? That constant progression you're talking about, you're not gonna be sat stuck Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:30

I mean, I'm I'm doing I was doing like digital collages, then I was doing real collages. Now I'm doing bouquets made out of bits of paper that I'm actually making into a 3D bouquet, you know.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

That's how we've got there now. But how do we get to Roscoe being a full-time artist? Whereas we've just left you at like, oh fucking hell, I don't like doing the briefs, the it's limiting being an illustrator, the style.

SPEAKER_03 19:55

Well, um my wife, she's a fashion makeup artist, and she's also uh she does textiles and table linens and stuff, really amazing stuff. And uh and at the time she was she just signed up to quite a big fashion agency. So she went like I've got the space and the funds, she wanna try and develop what you want to do.

SPEAKER_02 20:15

Why do you think she wanted you to do that? Could she see that you potentially weren't happy doing the nine to five E-style?

SPEAKER_03 20:23

Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, I I I I was working in an office up until what 2007, that was my last nine to five, but I was like, fuck this. But it was getting out of that, then getting into design and illustrating, which I had some like decent success with. Um but it's like a it's a battlefield, you have to hitch your work and there's a brief. And then the client says, Can you make this? Can you change it to that?

SPEAKER_02 20:48

And you're like, Deirdrian account says, I don't like that yellow.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

Can you change it to you reckon you could change, yeah, yeah, and then you got a hunt for the money, you gotta then go right, and then you're so what does that look like? Your wife says to you. So the flashback of terror, then I was like, Oh my god, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

I thought I was there all over again. So what does that look like? Your wife comes to you and says, Look, we're in a position where if you want to do this, now's the sort of time, what does that look like for you?

SPEAKER_03 21:17

Uh it's quite freeing, you know. You just go, oh, okay, great, can we do that? All right, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 21:21

And then you But do what? What does that look like if you go, oh right, I'm gonna be, I'm now gonna be a full-time artist, what do I do?

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Weirdly, I just I went, right, okay, I'll get myself a studio. So I got myself a studio, shared it with someone, got a monster studio in uh in South Tottenham. Then started working. I was like, right, uh, what do I like? I like octopuses. Right then, what else do I like? I like stay. Right then, stick those two together. So I can like I was going, an octopus made entirely out of stars. So I did that, then I made that as a screen print, and that's how everyone went, that's amazing. I was like, Yeah, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

You have got a lot of confidence in yourself. You think so, yeah. Well, this is what I was gonna go to. You actually told me that it was all lies. So that's what I'm quite interested in. But when I speak to lots of other artists and creatives, they don't necessarily, whether it's lies or not, have the same ease of putting themselves and their work out there and go, yeah, look at this, it's fucking amazing. It's octopus beta stars. Just why do you like it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:22

That does annoy me though. And I I've experienced that with other artists. So I'll um I'll tell you a quick story. When I was, I mean, if anyone's listening to this, that this will work for them, please use it. But up until about, I don't know, about eight years ago, maybe maybe maybe seven years ago, what I used to do was I would find a gallery that I liked, then I would and I'd ring them up, and then I would put on a crappy accent and just go, I gotta I'm looking for a present for my daughter.

SPEAKER_01 22:49

Um, I've got a name here. Yeah, I'm like, Roscoe, is it Roscoe Brand? Roscoe Brand. Yeah, they're gonna think about you.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

I'm like And they'll be like, Roscoe Britain? And then then they would go, no, we don't have anything

Going Full-Time With No Plan

SPEAKER_03 23:03

by him.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

I don't think we do, and you're like, Oh, that's a shame it was I think it was a re octopus or something like that, or uh something like that, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

And they'll be like, let me have a look. And now then they would have a look and they go, no, we do we definitely know Roscoe Britain, but let me just check. He does have a website, is that just his name? Yes, it's just his name. So I was like, R or is your B-R-A-D-T-A-N. R A. I saw you about that. I saw you about that. It's very good though. Oh, I saw you about that. She goes, No, that's fine, that's fine. Okay, thanks very much. Put the phone down, and then you wait about 20 minutes, and then you get on Instagram. Ping, gallery's now following you.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

How clever.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Then you get an email going, hi Roscoe. Would you be interested in giving us uh then this edition of the subtopus? Yeah, all right. It used to work quite a few times, yeah. Really? Yeah. If you didn't get uh an email, you you definitely get a follow.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

That's brilliant. Yeah, it's a good one I wonder how many people listening to this are gonna suddenly start trying their best accents to recall up galleries, but it's a great way to get people just to sort of go, oh no, that's fine. I didn't know that person's work before, but now the gallery does know it, whether they like it or not. Someone's called up inquiring about a Roscoe Brick.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

They've gone on your website, they know you exist, and that's it. It's the first step, it's done. And then even then, if you don't get anything from them, you can still then email them 24 hours later and they'll go, Oh, there's some bloke again. Bang. And then they'll it works.

SPEAKER_02 24:22

Well, there you go. Creative Noeland listeners, take that note on. There's gonna be a barrage of people practicing their accents. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

I told you that was a shit Scottish accent. I can't believe I fell for that brick.

SPEAKER_02 24:34

Let's get him off the books. But going back to starting, did you have any plan, or was it literally, I am gonna make what the fuck I want to, and then call up galleries and create my own demand for it?

SPEAKER_03 24:46

No, that's why you need an amazing support of your partner. If you're you know, the coin of phrase, if you're all over the shop like I am, you need someone, you need an an assistant, or you need a.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

So how did that work? Did you have were you just concentrated? I just want to make this and I'm gonna make that, and then but then where do you find the outlet to facilitate funds, to pay for a studio?

SPEAKER_03 25:07

To well, you have to um I didn't always, I mean, just become an artist. I was an artist at one point, and I was I was selling espresso coffee machines as well at one point.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

So at weekends I was So selling espresso coffee machines, but you've also worked with Damien Hurst and I say I worked with him, I did the fing work, and he turned out and went, Yeah, very good.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

Fucked off.

SPEAKER_02 25:29

But so okay, can you tell us where is this all on the timeline though? Like 22, 23. So you'd all you'd already been being an artist independently for yourself. Okay. Pause Damien Hearst. What is the plan? You've got your partner. Is she coming up for a plan with you? How are you financing your art? Yeah, you just where are you selling? What are you making?

SPEAKER_03 25:51

The the plan is is work it out as you go along. Like I didn't really have a plan. We just thought, well, we need to get into galleries. How do you do that? So you you just lag it. I mean, I think it's fake Scottish accent. Yeah, bullshit. You write there was a sweet interaction, actually. I don't mind me saying them, but Atom Gallery, a great gallery, and uh lovely friends of mine. And the first time that I interacted with them was I did a uh I did an Instagram post and I got one of my octopuses that I made called Cover Me Like the Night or something. It was an octopus with all stars inside it. And then I I photoshopped it onto a wall and I was bloody good. It was way before AI, and I photoshopped it onto a wall and I made it look like I've just done a huge piece of street art on the side of a building. Fucking blinding. Even now I'm looking at it again. I've done all the torn bits and the edges, you can see where it's a bit of a crease. And they contacted me and was like, Do you reckon you could do our similar thing in our back garden of the gallery? And I was like, Yeah, sure. And then they thought from then on they just went, Yeah, yeah, sure. And they're like, also, we're interested in this and that. So blagged it. And I don't think they to this day, I don't think they realised it was a fake picture. I don't think I've told them. They'll definitely know now.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

But you you blagged it, like it's all bullshitting, isn't it? You just bullshit your way there. And I think that's my plan. It's like, you know, you could say that you've done it and then do it.

SPEAKER_02 27:08

And see, I love this attitude, Mosca. It's something I've not really thought about. It's almost like, and I think a lot of artists and creative have gone, oh, we've got to do the work, and we bow our heads and we present it to people and go, Oh, look at me. Whereas I love your attitude of like gorilla, like, no, I'm gonna ring her, put a fucking stupid accent on, and pretend that I'm interested in my own work so a gallery gets to know me. That's fucking genius.

SPEAKER_03 27:30

Well, my friend and my brother-in-law's told me this story once it's always stuck with me, and and I think this is where a lot of people are doing it now. And he was telling me that they said we need you to be able to, maybe it was After Effects or something like that, Adobe After Effects. But he was like, What? So he just went, Oh, yeah, yeah, I can do that. And he went into the toilets and then just spent 20 minutes in the toilet cubicle watching YouTube videos, and then just like the classic, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 27:54

And then he says, Can you ride horses and speak a different language?

SPEAKER_03 27:57

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

Yeah, I can do that.

SPEAKER_03 27:58

Do it, and then you came out and just went, I've got a basic understanding of it. And uh, yeah, that's and funny enough, I taught myself after effects as well. Started using special effects in some of my videos and then wandered off.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

Because your word's been described as when special effects and paper first meet. Yeah, it's a great description, isn't it? Is that one of yours, or did you coin that from someone else? No, I totally fabricate it. Yeah, I was gonna say it sounds like another blag to me now. Now I'm getting to know you, it sounds like a complete blag. No, you're getting it. The inventor of the drawing, and some say he is a mix of yeah, yeah. So that's great, I love it. And I think this is gonna be some good stuff for the listeners to take away because we're all so self-deprecating sometimes. And actually, I know you say it's lies and it's a bit of show and this, that, and the other, but if people could bottle some of your I don't want to even call it confidence, it's almost because I think you're quite open, you're not hugely confident.

SPEAKER_03 28:53

No, I do I'm six foot eight now, I'm six foot eight point five. So, as all the my tall brother and sisters that are out there, we have to put up with a lot of shit.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

In the sense of what just because you are so tall, people look at you. Yeah, fucking oh mode. You look tall. Yeah, yeah, and you get obvious.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

You want to just walk into a room and you just want to be able to walk into a room, but you can't. The world won't allow you to. So you either shrivel up like a lot of tall people, which is they become quite quiet and withdrawn. I I've always been like barrel chested, neck out, and I'll walk in and say, Nick of this!

SPEAKER_02 29:27

Is that is that something to do with the video shop, the film, your mum being a performer? Yeah, yeah. Entertaining, being able to put we talk a lot about on the podcast about being able to put masks on. Yeah, yeah. It feels like a not in a derogatory way, but it feels like a mask that you put on to go, yeah, I've got this. I've got the mask on. I can be confident now.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

Yeah, but like that David Bowie uh piece of fucking drama footage that he made in like 78, where and he was uh um what's the terminology for the the French mime. Mime, that's the word I'm looking for, yeah. And he was going, and he goes, and then a man comes into the room and says, Oh, how much for this mask? And he says, Five pounds to you, sir. So he puts the mask on, and then David Bowie puts his whole grim face on, like grinning. Yeah, and then he proceeds to take the mask off and then goes, I'll buy it, sir. And he puts the mask on, then he walks around and everyone laughs, ha ha ha ha. And then one day the mask doesn't come off. And I and I remember watching that as a kid going, all right, then so you become the mask. Who gives a shit? Who cares? That's you, like, you know, that's that's what it is.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

So do you feel like this is proper going down psychoanalyzing depth? Do you feel like Roscoe's a bit of a character when you're in that mode? Roscoe's not even my real name. My name's Richard. But does that pseudonym almost the Roscoe help you slip into character and go, look, I can be Yeah, because people I want people from this to go and look at your social media. You're very funny on social media. Jill. You make me laugh. You're there's no folks giving about getting on camera, but again, because of this mask potentially.

SPEAKER_03 31:03

Yeah. Um about about seven months ago,

Blagging, Masks And Finding Confidence

SPEAKER_03 31:06

I stepped out of a shower, and I remember stepping out of the shower and I had this epiphany where I just went, oh fucking, all those times when I was crazy at parties, that was because I was expected, that was expected of me. And I wasn't that at all, was I? I was like, oh no, shit. And I realised I was like, you know, I was quite a sort of manic guy, ah, look at me, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Coping mechanism.

SPEAKER_03 31:28

Yeah, and you just and then you realise, but that's the thing with that being tall and being having the attention thrust upon you. You can't get out of it. You just go, right, I've got to make this part of me now. So right, I am this big front run of the band. Yeah, I've got to be able to do that. And then you it builds and you suddenly go, right, I'm this huge fucking ball of entertainment. I'm not saying I I I regret it, I just say it wasn't always it wasn't always necessary. You didn't have to do it, you could just slip in and out of it. But I thought that was it was a part of me. I had to be like that.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

Did it feel like it gave you some sort of more creative freedom though?

SPEAKER_03 32:01

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, you can get you can do stuff and get away with things and you can say things as well that I think I've lost count of the amount of times people say only you could get away with saying that. And or doing that. And but yeah, it's right up until do you know what it is? If you ever think that you're a crazy guy, but then deep down you're actually quite shy. But if you're a crazy guy, then go to a party where there's someone that is a complete fucking fruit cake, you know, like putting a forehead for a coffee table, and you're like, oh yeah, that's not me. I'm actually quite on the level, you know. I've got myself under control. Yeah, yeah, I'm not that.

SPEAKER_02 32:37

Okay, so I think we never really so there's no plan, you're winging it, you're blagging your way into galleries. Because I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that you've been an art full-time artist for 10 years, and it did seem to be just like, no, now I'm an artist, and this is what happens.

SPEAKER_03 32:56

Yeah, I think I am I'm stumbling my way through it. I don't that that that's you still feel you are. Yeah, yeah, I'm still going through it all. Um, if you want to see like plan and process, talk to my wife.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

I don't want to see plan and process, I want to see what it is behind you because I think a lot of artists and creatives or anyone on a journey feels like they've got to have a plan. This is the step-by-step thing that I need to get into process. But actually, when I sit down and talk to a lot of people, we are most of us all just winging it. Yeah, we've got an idea about where we'd like to, oh, I'd like to be in a gallery. I don't know what that gallery is, or I'd like to have my own coffee table book, or I don't know, I'd do that.

SPEAKER_03 33:35

It's that feeling inside your stomach where you and you can feel it, like how sort of like all Celts used to think that thought came from the stomach, not the mind. You can feel it in there. You just go, I've got an edge and I've got something that's gonna happen, and I'll make something, and it'll progress into this, and I'll get something from it. I always feel as though I'm something that's gonna happen.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Something that is your art instinct driven, then it like you say it's oh I just fancied what do I like? Octopuses. Oh, I also like stars. Oh, let's combine the two together.

SPEAKER_03 34:03

Yeah, man, it's all instinct. It comes at to me at night as well, sometimes three in the morning, and they and I'm lucky enough to be 50 and still get it, where you just sit there and you go, Oh man, I I I went through IKEA once, I'm not proud of it. I went through IKEA with my wife, and uh, and we were looking for things like lost couples, like when you could walk around, where did we come here? And we're walking around going, Oh, candles, uh cushions, and then suddenly I saw a picture framed, and it was a woman with an afro, and uh and it was I just went, shit. And then I went, I'm gonna do a better one, and that was it. So I made a woman with an afro made entirely out of leaves and bits of wood, and then I gave her a halo, and then I did like another one, and uh, and they really sold and that that's I'm never forget that. That was a kind of be inspired by shit as well, that's it. If you see stuff and go, that's shit, I'm gonna make one like that, but better. That's a good philosophy as well, isn't it? You'd be inspired by like also the things that pop into your head for like two seconds. That's an idea. What's that? You know, spontaneous two-second thoughts.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

Um do they often revolve around collage, though? Or is it you allow yourself to go, oh, I want to paint something more?

SPEAKER_03 35:16

That's a good question, man. I've recently started, I went back to I've gone back to college. I'm a student and uh I'm doing wood carving because I want to try it, and I think whatever I can make on collage, I'm actually genuinely make my hands and try and carve it out of wood. It's very interesting. Yeah, it's gonna be fucking great. But again, that progression, yeah, exactly. Yeah, the progression the want to learn, the progression. Yeah, and and it seems natural progression as well. And I'm starting that a couple of weeks' time, and the nature context, yeah, wood carving, everything's nature-based, and I'm also doing I'm doing acting as well. This is very interesting, isn't it? Yeah, I'm really I've only done two lessons, and it fucking a if anyone's thinking about doing an acting lesson and it's out of your comfort zone, I can do it anyway. I've we've got two people in there that are doing it, and they are the shyest people, and it's amazing watching them suddenly just just come out the right the whole bloom.

SPEAKER_02 36:06

So come on then, what ten years as an artist, now woodcarving, and now acting from someone that says that Roscoe is a bit of a character. The you definitely seem like a character on your social media, there's lots of funny stuff. The comedy elements. I've done stand-up comedy as well. The music performing for an introvert, you like to put yourself in the forefront.

SPEAKER_03 36:31

Yeah, the yeah. I think it's part of being seen, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

Um is that you leaning into the stuff that was difficult as well? Like you said, the tall man problem where everyone looks at you, like, well, if I don't fucking lean into this, it's it's absolutely I think it is. I think I've never really thought of it about that before. I mean, obviously, I'm a normal human side. It just said I'm a normal human. I'm a normal human. But again, that again, that whole thing is putting something yourself in someone else. What six foot eight is pretty monstrous. It's disgusting. No, it's uh but I find that very interesting that it's actually become this character, this coping mechanism that maybe stemmed from your height, from being like you say, it was thrust upon you. People, you don't get a choice whether people look at you in the street or in a bar or in a club, or but if it's under your control, does that make it easier? I'm the front man of the band, I've put myself there, I'm doing stand-up comedy, that's put me there. I'm putting myself to be an actor, to put myself.

SPEAKER_03 37:31

I think you're absolutely right. Yeah, I think you bang on the money. I think it when I'm put into situations, I don't, just like my old man, if you put him in situations he doesn't want to be in, you go like, no, I don't want to, oh okay, I don't really want to go out, and then I suddenly go, I'm being forced into something I don't want to do. I think I can do anything as long as I'm at the forefront of going, this is what I want to do.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

But that's interesting. As long as you're in control of it and you've made the decision.

SPEAKER_03 37:56

Yeah, it's gotta be. Yeah, no matter how scary.

SPEAKER_02 38:00

No matter again, through the fear.

SPEAKER_03 38:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

I mean, I know you've done it for yourself, but for anybody listening, how would you suggest people get over fear? Is it just do the do?

SPEAKER_03 38:11

Uh I think it's a bit like when you I mean, I in the last two years I started swimming. There's one guy there, a lovely guy called Ben. When if you ever turn up and you just go, if I turn up and go, I don't I don't feel it today, man. And you're standing in the pool and he just goes, You here, that's the most important thing. And I always think about that. You go, just go for it, and when you're there and you go, fuck, I want to leave, just you're already there now. That's it. Just put yourself through the door, scream,

Facing Fear Through Action

SPEAKER_03 38:38

go and run through the door. Take the first step. Yeah, and then you're already there, and then if you don't like it, then leave. But it's that conscious decision you have to make. You go, Well, I'm already here now, so fuck it, let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 38:49

Has that been a thing for you as well? I call them inputs on the podcast. The inputs affect the outputs, but trying all these different things to swimming, woodcarving, acting, comedy, being an artist, collage, black blagging galleries, whatever those things are.

SPEAKER_03 39:04

I was lost in your words then. I like that. Yeah, yeah, you you put yourself through the door, you've got to be in control of it.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

And yeah, doing the do, like taking the first step despite the fear. Yeah, yeah. But again, it's that progression. You you always seem to be wanting to continually learn, continually push yourself out of you. Not many people at 50 go, I tell you what, I'm gonna do wood carving. I've never done that before.

SPEAKER_03 39:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:28

Because we do get stuck in our ways and we get all change, or don't like change. Yeah, it's very adaptable, like super adaptable.

SPEAKER_03 39:34

I I know I I swim with all these old guys lesson, uh, and they're good friends of mine now at the swimming pool. Like, I'm I'm the youngest person there by about 20 years. Uh, and uh there's a there's a lovely uh guy there, he's a GP, and he said to me the other day, he said, So you're doing the actor rasto. And I said, Yeah, yeah. And he went, uh, oh yeah. You're doing the wood carving, eh? And I was like, Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he just said, You know, I uh one of my patients when I was a GP, she was she was 78 years old, and then she was convinced she was gonna die when she was 82 because her parents died. And uh I said, So, you know, we can check for those things again. She went, really? And yeah. So I checked her blood pressure and her heart rate and some of her cells and some of those. And it came to be that she was gonna, she had the minimum of 98. That was gonna be her age. And she suddenly went, and she said, the GP says, and then she suddenly went, Oh god, I I was gonna do all these courses. I guess I've got to sign them up for next season now. Oh, I mean you're gonna continue doing them. She went, Yeah, I really thought I was she really convinced she was gonna die when she was 82. So she signed up to these courses and she died when she was 110.

SPEAKER_04 40:41

Really?

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Yeah, and I said, What? So was she still compass manager? She went, Oh, yeah, she was up and about doing the courses right up until she was like 108.

SPEAKER_03 40:48

And I was like, There you go, you've got fucking like two more bloody decades of like three more decades on it.

SPEAKER_02 40:55

But but where does that come from? That is that a progression of your own evolution, you want to be better, you want to know more, you want to continue personal development skills.

SPEAKER_03 41:06

Evolution is all that's all it's all about.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

That's what I believe. I hate the people that go, Oh, I'm looking to find myself. When the minute you find yourself, you'll be a different person 20 minutes later.

SPEAKER_03 41:13

So yeah, you've you've got to progress. You've got I tell you what, right? I'll tell you about this this this gem really. People always used to ask me, uh, and it always used to be at parties, and you you've heard it all the time, and it pisses me off. You know when people go, ah, so I guess you're the glass half full, then Roscoe, and you're like, Yeah, everyone bloody is, and no one says they're the glass half empty. I said, but I said, this is what the philosophy is, right? The glass is half full and half empty. It's anything you want it to be. If the glass is half full, you are not content, you want more out of life, right? So you go and get more. That's great. You're you're a glass half empty person. I want more out of life, and that is great. If you're a glass full, then you are content, and there's nothing wrong with that. Wherever you are in your life, if you're 30, 40, 50, I'm a glass full. I'm happy with what I've got. But if you're glass half empty, you want more. So you can be both. You could be, there's no negative. Fucking yeah, it's like be anyone you want. And I for me, I'm half empty. I want, I want to fill it up. That's it. Not a better, isn't that a better?

SPEAKER_02 42:23

It's such a wonderful attitude, though. Way better, isn't it? It makes way more sense to me. Leading with joy, leading with happiness, leading with well, leading without the worry and the stress that seems to be so wrapped up in humans these days. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's probably, I mean, this is a great chat, but we're not really talking much about you, you're R. We're talking about how people could bottle up some of this Roscoe energy.

SPEAKER_03 42:47

Yeah, I'm spoken for now, so you can't bottle me out. If you want to have a piece of me, then I'm sure there's a line, but my wife might have something to say about it.

SPEAKER_02 42:55

I'm sure she would. But I think this is the big talking point. Look, I will be sharing Roscoe's work. You can go and see it, it's absolutely incredible stuff. But I didn't quite think this was going to take this turn, but I do think that this ability to recognise in yourself, this ability to put on a mask and be a character and aim for this glass full life. I don't know how we do it, but what I want people to take away from it is this energy, this idea that we've got one shot as far as we know, unless you're Buddhists.

SPEAKER_03 43:28

Yeah, also, yeah, and also don't forget to do fuck all as well. Okay, say more about that because never forget to do fuck all. I did a bit of acting once where I was a monster on a theatre production. I played Wilbur Wheaty, I think. I was just a deformed monster, which kind of fits me. Um I was second hand as well. I wasn't the first call. The other guy backed out, and I was like, Do you want to be? I was like, Yeah, I'll fucking be a monster off stage. And yeah, and I spoke to the guy that wrote it, lovely guy called Dave Dawkins. And I remember he said to me, I said to him, like, Oh, I'm gonna send some stuff to you when. Whatever it was, an email he went, Oh, I don't work on Mondays. And I went, Oh, really? It was yeah, don't work on Mondays. So I went, What do you mean, like three-day weekly? He went, Yeah. I went, Oh, fucking great. What a great idea. And I've I don't really advertise that, but I'm like, Mondays is always like, yeah, kids to school, tidy up the place. I'm like, fuck Mondays.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

You have that ability to switch off and just Yeah, sometimes just like just forget to fuck all. Just sit back and just go. See, I'm a hand on heart. I have a problem with that. If I'm not productive, I'm like, oh god, I'm not being productive. What am I doing? I should be. And that's quite that's a stress maker, probably for me.

SPEAKER_03 44:36

But tidy up the house and then fuck about on the piano for a little bit, and then I'll just go, might watch the end of Das Boot.

SPEAKER_02 44:43

But you don't put yourself under pressure to do it.

SPEAKER_03 44:45

Oh, I've got to make it if there's something if something's definitely needed, if someone's like ordered some artwork and it's I'll send that off, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:52

But I see again, this is where I need to take the lessons, Roscoe, because I have a real like with my photography day job, podcast, me trying to make art just for myself as well. I very rarely switch off and I have a lot of people in my world going, look, you need to fuck all slow down, do fuck all.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

It's fucking great. Like living near Hampstead Heath, you just go get a coffee.

SPEAKER_02 45:14

I don't want to know what you're doing on Hampstead Heath. Just lots of sex. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03 45:18

Only with animals. Not fucking weird.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

Oh, yeah, you it's your thing for nature, right? Yeah, exactly. They love it.

SPEAKER_03 45:23

Yeah, shag flowers all the time. Um, but I get I drop the kids off and I get a coffee, and then you do that weird thing where you go, I go for a walk, and you go out to the top of Hamstead Heath, you just go up to the top and then just sit down and go, I'm sitting still and drinking a tea.

SPEAKER_02 45:37

It's strange, isn't it? We live in a time where everyone needs that constant dopamine fix that you actually, when you oh, I'm just drinking a tea, I'm not looking at my phone, I'm not speaking to anyone, I'm just present. Yeah. I think that's a problem that a lot of us modern society have, but I guess especially self-employed creatives, I always feel like we need to be doing something, otherwise, oh god, we're not gonna progress. But actually, that's a beautiful bit of advice.

SPEAKER_03 46:02

Just have a day where you fucking yeah, play play, get the PlayStation out, fucking put it in. Play your civilization, sit there for two hours and go, take that as text with me again.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

But we should probably get back to some of the art because it's as I say, you've had group exhibitions, solo exhibitions of your work. As much as we're a bit blasé about it, you are a full-time artist. You are working, you earn money through your art, you've had gallery exhibitions, you sell on your own website, you sell in other galleries, you do collage prints, but you also do wonderful wallpaper interior stuff, and now t-shirts as well.

SPEAKER_03 46:40

Well, that was um, I got that inspired by Blam uh from uh Gra. He was he's brilliant actually as an entrepreneur. I don't know whether you refer to himself that, but he's definitely got

Wallpaper, Prints And Selling Art

SPEAKER_03 46:50

an entrepreneurial brain. He's constantly looking for neck things, how can I improve that? He's really good for that. It's always good talking to him on the phone because they'll always say, Hey, I haven't had idea. Hey, right, the other day, like and you just say, Here we go, this is gonna be a blinder, and you just go, Can I nick that? And you go, Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've I've made him sound like an old Yorkshireman then from a Hovis advert, but I didn't mean to, sorry, Blam. I mean previous podcast guests and introduce. He is definitely an introducing guest.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

Yeah, he is. He's opened my world up to so many people that he was like, Oh, this person would be great at the podcast. Yeah, he's like, this person would be great on the podcast. Oh, you've seen this person's work, very different, but they'd be great on the podcast. Yeah. He should be, well, he he does get a good shout out from us anyway.

SPEAKER_03 47:34

But yeah, I I like artists like that. Like Hackney Dave as well, Dave Gonabready. I I've rung him up before. And like someone's asked me for some uh artwork, but it's like a lot. Oh, I've rung up uh Anthony Rugman and Yeah, about being done for using an imagery that wasn't mine. Like what do I do? And I like the idea that you can ask sort of older artists, like in your time of need. I think that's another thing. People don't like to ask what to do. You don't look like a cock. Even if you've been doing artwork for a decade, you suddenly go, I can't ask. I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_02 48:08

It's quite a solitary thing though, isn't it, being an artist? And that's what previous guests have said. And I've found it you sometimes spend a lot of time on your own.

SPEAKER_00 48:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:15

There's no outside voices unless you invite them in.

SPEAKER_00 48:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:19

Are you any are you good at that? Do you like having a network of people that you do you bounce work off people or do you just is it more business side of off my wife, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:29

I do miss working with people to be honest. I I like I do I love my own company. I can sit here and I can I can I don't even know if you're real. I could be just talking to myself right now.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Completely AI.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

Yeah, I I could just be you can't be.

SPEAKER_02 48:41

Oh, you're in a schizophrenic moment.

SPEAKER_03 48:42

I could be like, oh shit, I can know how long have I been here? Or talk to myself. Um but I'm I'm very happy to sit on my own and talk about things and get work done and yeah, but also I like working around people, I like working with people, I like yeah, I like interacting with people. Where does the wallpaper come from then? I think it's my wife's idea.

SPEAKER_02 49:04

I was gonna say, is that was that your wife doing the textiles?

SPEAKER_03 49:07

She's got the best ideas for that. Yeah, it's all her idea.

SPEAKER_02 49:10

And talk to us about the wallpaper. Is there a different process to you designing the wallpaper than there is to uh uh sale piece?

SPEAKER_03 49:17

It's more disciplined, yeah. You have to In what sense? Well, you for the rotating shapes and you know keeping it in a wallpaper style.

SPEAKER_02 49:26

Where does your because a lot of your collages come from old wallpaper, scanned wallpaper? What is this? I'm using wallpaper in wallpaper. It's mind blowing. It's mind-blowing, Rosca. But where does that did you just find that was source images that were great, or did you go, oh no, wallpaper?

SPEAKER_03 49:44

Um well, I used old vintage wallpaper uh in the artwork, and then just thought, well, I can use these again.

SPEAKER_02 49:50

Just as a one-off, you found a roll of vintage wallpaper, or you literally went out and tried to source it because you had an idea.

SPEAKER_03 49:55

Literally finds just old stuff that has was made in the sort of 40s and 50s and 60s doesn't have a sort of copyright to it. The artists probably hung themselves, I can only assume, and uh they don't have an estate, and they're penniless. So dive in on that and uh take that as an advantage. But it yeah, the discipline of it is different. You have to sort of work out how the the foundations of wallpaper, you have to rotate the image, make sure that it all connects up, which can be fucking infuriating. But um I've been wanting to do wallpaper now for a while where it doesn't match up. Okay. And it you can just put it anywhere. I at the minute I've been doing these types of wallpaper that just work in strips, so you don't have to line them up, they can go anywhere they want. Like uh, I've got ones called Little Fat Birds, and they're just yeah, and you can line each roll up anywhere you want. They don't have to be connected. No, they can be any pattern. And um that's what I like. I wouldn't less stress with wallpaper, you just put it where you like.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Is there something about the wallpaper? It's a more accessible form of artwork. If people buy a roll of wallpaper, they you're buying my artwork as well. Yeah, that's what I mean.

SPEAKER_03 51:02

But if you're buying my artwork, you put it on the walls. It's uh it's the same thing. That's what I believe it is. It's it's my artwork, and I spent a long time on it, and the wallpaper, I spent immense amounts of time.

SPEAKER_02 51:11

They're so intricate though, mate.

SPEAKER_03 51:13

They are, yeah. And and also you forget the amount of times they have to bounce back between the printer and they get the colours wrong. Yeah, it's a lot of manic, but it's a different kind of buzz, though. When you get the when you get your wallpaper through and it's a whole role. In a roll, and it's got your name on it and your logo, and you're like, oh my god, I'm aroused. And what's the demand been like for that wallpaper? It's great. I've taken my foot off the pedal off it for a while now, and I've got to get back on it just because the artwork took over again.

SPEAKER_02 51:39

And doing all the- And does it go in phases like that, or is that because you do work in phases? It's because I'm not pushing it, I'm not pushing it as much. So But do you continuously make the wallpaper or is it is it easier to make the art prints and then go, right?

SPEAKER_03 51:52

I'm gonna have a there's there's rules to wallpaper. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's seasons you can like, but you know, it's it's there are rules to it. Uh there are rules and it's it can be complicated, whereas artwork is quite free, and you can just smash something together and go, look at that.

SPEAKER_02 52:07

The wallpaper is one of those things where I do see it in you could very easily go to a bougie London hotel or uh one of these sort of crazy bear bars or whatever, and you go, I look at wallpaper. Oh, that's really beautiful. It's floral symmetry. Oh, hang on a minute. Why is there a spaceman holding uh little thing?

SPEAKER_03 52:25

I like stuff that you can pull you in like that.

SPEAKER_02 52:27

And again, that goes, does that go back to the little what do they call them in films? The Easter eggs. Yeah, little Easter Easter eggs in films. Yeah, yeah, you can you can you can call them Easter eggs, little critters and but would you reference that your knowledge of growing up in the video shop? There's always those little things. I know Spielberg did it a lot and Hitchcock did it a lot, those little things.

SPEAKER_03 52:48

Well, they're they are my things now. The little animals I put in are my things. I guess you could say that that is my style in a way to put little creatures in it and make made-up creatures. But the best thing I've noticed is that when you start to develop, you know, when you're on the fucking right track, right, is when other artists start doing it, and you go, now I I'm not gonna name names because I know I've seen people's artwork uh and I've just gone, I want to do that.

SPEAKER_02 53:11

But I've done exactly that, I've looked at some of yours and gone, oh, I've got a great idea, I'd love to do that. There you go. And I and I go, Oh shit, but I'm gonna be blatantly riffing off Roscoe.

SPEAKER_03 53:19

I've seen loads of I've seen quite a few artists that I know that that have started doing the sort of traditional old-fashioned renaissance paintings with little creatures floating around. I know it's a lot of artists that I know now are doing more floral stuff than they didn't do before. Um but that's fine because I've got a huge floral piece, uh a renaissance piece that I made called To Bring You My Love. It's 80 by 80, it's about this big. Wow. I mean, I know I got inspired because I saw uh there's an artist friend of mine called Oli Fowler, and he did something, but it was like a screen printer, yeah, screen printer. Great, brilliant screen printer. And he did like a an oil can, an old vintage oil can, and he stuck loads of flowers on the top. And I looked at it and just went, and it pops in there, and then I never forgot it. And then my wife showed me this photographer, and she makes photographs look like Renaissance paintings, so she arranges the flowers. So with that, I looked at that, she showed me on Instagram, and I went, I'm gonna do that. And went on the computer. I've got loads of cuttings that I've scanned in on my computer, and then I thought about Ollie Fowler's right, and I combine the two together to make this gigantic Newton vase full of over-brimming flowers and creatures all hanging off it. And uh and that was this the kind of vintage renaissance floral thing that I do.

SPEAKER_02 54:34

But you're not precious about ideas and other people.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

Do you find that flattering or yeah, because not everyone wants to say that that's because I've I've got my ideas from everyone else as well. Again, I've got to. And also it's collage. I've they're all bits of vintage wallpaper. I've nicked them from fucking.

SPEAKER_02 54:48

We're all influenced by those inputs, aren't we? And I think is that where not being tied to a style really helps? You can see an artist and go, oh, Oli Fowler's a screen printer and he did this, and then oh, I've just looked at this Japanese artist and they're doing that, and oh, it's giving me an idea to amalgamate the Yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 55:05

You might not be as popular if you're thinking about selling them and stuff. It might not be as popular, but you just keep doing it.

SPEAKER_02 55:11

But in what sense? Is that because galleries, etc., are looking for a style, or do you think people, art buyers, find it safer to go, oh, I know what Roscoe does. It's XYZ, and he doesn't deviate from that. When I've oh Roscoe's suddenly doing sculpture. What? It could be doing wood carving.

SPEAKER_03 55:30

Yeah, exactly. That it could, but you've got to find the you've got to find the crowd that like that.

SPEAKER_02 55:35

And is it always about making art for you first and foremost?

SPEAKER_03 55:39

Yeah, it's what I like, yeah. But it's not, I can't say that I have a free spirit and I must create. I also just go, I wonder if I'll sell any of these. I advertised one over the weekend and it was I got all my uh graffiti tags out that I made when I was a kid, and I I made a collage out of them. Took me fucking ages, uh, trying to make a collage out of graffiti tags, and then I put flowers around it, and it looked fucking brilliant. My wife said, I'm gonna drop her in it, she just went no one's gonna like those. And I went, alright, and I'll put it up, put it online, and I sold four or five, and I sold some over the weekend. And uh it's just you just yeah.

SPEAKER_02 56:15

How do you think you found the people that like your art, or do you think that they've found you?

SPEAKER_03 56:20

I think they they found me, yeah. I think overall, I think if you're talking about social media, I think people think I'm funny and then they like my artwork.

SPEAKER_02 56:29

I was gonna ask that. Do you think people come to your account and instantly know you're an artist?

SPEAKER_03 56:34

No. Let's just think maybe he's a big fat baby.

SPEAKER_02 56:39

Because you did a bloody hilarious running in front of the TV screen at the London Marathon the other day. That was real, I really ran that. I'm sorry, Roscoe. I fucking won. It was you that have had the fastest marathon time, no one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But with those legs.

SPEAKER_03 56:51

Didn't break the sweat. Exactly. Fucking hell, one step.

SPEAKER_02 56:55

But yeah, I mean, I don't really know what I'm trying to say there, but I will I love your Instagram account and your social media because it's bloody funny. But I wouldn't necessarily I would say more, oh yeah, stand up. Rather than say artist or creative.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

Yeah, well, I I mean I did that. I was thinking about going back into doing that again. But uh yeah, I like being funny, I guess. It's a safety safety net, isn't it? You just try and be comical. I I do object to the kind of dancing monkey that is Instagram. You have to be an artist, you have to be a dancing monkey now. You I I do fucking hate all that. But if I have an idea that I think is funny, that's the magic of it, where you just go, God, that's really funny. Oh, I let I I have the tools to create this sketch. I thought of a really funny sketch. I can now do this on my Instagram and put it out there. That's the fucking magic of it. The side where I have to dance as a monkey to fucking sell

Social Media And The Dancing Monkey

SPEAKER_03 57:47

my artwork, that gets on my tits a little bit. What do you mean by dance as a monkey? You have to perform, you have to lab, you have to hold your artwork up and you have to you have to read this. That that weird slow turn. You have to do things like that. I can't I I object to that a lot. And I thankfully I see a lot of artists online from around the world talk about the whole like dancing monkey thing. I don't I just want to be an artist, can't I just be it? And you're like, yeah, you can be.

SPEAKER_02 58:13

And uh But is the comedy, the sketches, is that not all part of the performance? That's it.

SPEAKER_03 58:18

I Roth Scope. I'm not I'm lucky to be that. I I like performing. I like I I've done I've done comedy, I've been a salesman, I've done acting, I've done the music. So I I'm not I'm not afraid of that, but I imagine for artists that don't want that, it must be fucking horrible. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 58:35

I spoke to we both know Carl Stimpson, don't we? And he's very much the opposite, very much introverted. He wouldn't want to put himself out there in terms of the quote unquote performing monkey.

SPEAKER_03 58:46

Yeah, he is but he's I think he's braver than he thinks he is. I think he's definitely got what it takes. He's been interviewed on Russian TV before that man has. Yeah, very true.

SPEAKER_02 58:57

And he's been on the Creative Noeland podcast, which is obvious the pinnacle.

SPEAKER_03 59:01

The pinnacle. But he's uh yeah, I think that you think he's more outgoing than he than he portrays. Yeah, but I I I think for for people that are more reclusive than him, uh I mean Blam Blam is quite uh he doesn't want to put his face out there. He wants uh, you know, I was like, you put yourself out there, and they're like, oh, you're supposed to go in large in America, man. He's like, yeah, but it's not about me. And I believe him, you know, he doesn't want to be seen as Oz face, and that and I think that's totally commendable, but I want to be, I don't know. I uh I think I mean, do we deep down do I want to be seen or does my artwork want to be seen? I think I I think I'm level. I want to be seen and my artwork at the same time. Interesting. Yeah, I'd like to be seen because um I thought if I didn't have a talent, then I would probably go, I'd let my artwork, but I feel as though I have a talent that isn't just my artwork. Um I'm quite quick-witted, I'm a good artist, I'm comical, I can act, I can sing. That's the thing. Like you're if you're an all-round entertainment.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:03

The Renaissance man. Yeah. But where does that lead? Do you have any long-term goals in terms of encompassing all of that renaissance man?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:12

No way, man. No way, man. So again, no, still no plan, just embrace that's just like see where it goes and see and see what happens. It this is the thing about if you like if you start doing a course in acting, you're only gonna sort of connect with someone else, aren't you? The only theatre production I ever did was, I think, because I did a radio advert. I did a voiceover. Because of my listener was boy. And I did a radio advert and did some radio training for it. Then the person that was there went, I'm putting a play on. Did you wanna do that? Okay. And then I did that, and then met one of the one of the people that was on it was one of the uh actors from Horrible Histories. Now she's gone on to do all the shit. Um, so you get to all these fucking interactions. That's what I believe in. The interaction. Sometimes you don't have to fucking plan. Sometimes you just have to go, right? I'm gonna go do a college lesson, I'm gonna meet a guy that's teach me how to carve wood, or an actor, and then that person there will then go, I'm doing this. Do you want to do that? I'll do it. It's not really my thing, but I'll do it. And you go, okay, and then from that you go, I've met someone.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:14

That's that's it, that's all you need. Fucking peace. But if you were an introvert, those doors probably wouldn't open. Do you think you've got quite a lot of courage? Because I see you saying yes to things, oh yeah, I'll do that.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:26

Yeah, power of no as well, always don't forget the power of no, yeah. That's another thing you'd be able to turn things down. But yeah, for intro introverts, it must be you must rely on your talent alone of being either a singer or an artist. And you if you can't put yourself out there, it must be gruelling, it must be really difficult.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:44

Because you do find it very easy to put yourself out there, don't you?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:47

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh, you know, having a big fat loudmouth voice as well and being six foot eight, it's there's only one outcome. I've got I've got to be as big as I am, big.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:59

Yeah, no, I I fair enough, but like you say, I I know some tall people, and a lot of them are quite introverted because of that. And I guess you've leaned into the bit that was probably uncomfortable when you were younger, maybe, or just and just went with it and go, right, well, everyone's looking at me anyway. I've got something to look at. Walk into the room like you're famous, that's it.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:21

And you have got that kind of aura about you. That's the way you've got to be, man. But I bumped into quite a few celebrities and I've talked to them about it, and I've I've said, like, you know, I know you think you got it, buff, but try being six foot eight. I said, you could be a famous celebrity, and someone will go, I think I recognise him somewhere. People just go, I don't know who he is.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

Look at the size of that part.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:41

Yeah, it's different, and they've all laughed and agreed, like, yeah, it must be hard. It is, it's difficult, but not every day you're up for it. But I've always got a snappy retort for them. That's the most important. Yeah. Do you have trouble finding clothes? No, keep them in my cupboard like everyone else. Do you play basketball? No, manage your goal.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:03

Should we talk about Damien Hurst then? Because I am intrigued. I mean, if it sounds like you were a worker on the factory, yeah, did the little did his little pills, crafted his little pills.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:13

But how did that come about? Friends went, You want to do some work at the weekend? You're like, yeah, alright. And that was it. It was it was just there was nothing more to it than than that. And what did you come away from from that experience? A few other pills. Did you? Yeah, yeah. It's amazing how you go to the club as well, you go, you want to buy a pill?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:31

Yeah, go on, eh? Don't eat it though, made that 14 grand into Damien Hearst. So a tenor, nice fine. Don't eat it,

Damien Hirst, Copying And Art-World Myths

SPEAKER_02 1:03:38

it's made of clay, all right? Yeah. But so what again, you took an opportunity, came up suddenly working Damien Hearst. Yeah, you want to do it, yeah. But yeah, and it's a team of. What did you take away from that? Like being in that environment.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:50

The art world is bullshit. It's uh, you know, you can fucking fake it till you make it, and even when you've made it, you can still fucking fake it.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:56

And now he's doing poppies and flicking paint, flicking paint flowers and henny additions and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:04

Do you know what? At the end of the day, I and I know what route I'm going down, I can hear myself doing it, which I go, I didn't want that shit. Yeah, and then suddenly I hear my dad's voice just go, do that to him. You didn't think of it, did ya? And you go, and I go, I always go.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:17

I suppose we can only now slag him off as people do, because we've had people on the podcast moan about Damien Hurst because he is that he's like the factory, isn't he? But yeah, yeah. Same with Jeff Kuhn, same with those people, they've got reams of people that work for them. He's fucking he'd made it and let him do what he wants.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:31

I mean, like Hotley had to go and say he's he's got his factory, he's got his minions working on him. But also, there's not just that, as well. I I I've known a friend of mine, the same person that hid in the toilets and learned how to do those things on on the on his phone, same guy, he was an artist, good artist as well, uh at York, and um he created a piece of artwork, and he had Damien Hurst's press officer come to his exhibition, his end-of-term exhibition. And then two months later, we saw an identical piece turn up at Damien Hurst thing, and York showed me the picture, and I went, This is mine, and I was like, right, and then he went two months later. This turned up and it was a picture of a crow with a square next to it, and I was like, Fucking hell! I said, What did you do about that? And he went, I I spoke to a gallery owner and they went, they do it all the time. They have associates come by, take pictures of artwork, take it back to the artist. I'm not saying he did, I'm just saying, wow, that's a fucking end-of-term university graduate's artwork, and then there was you know another artist's artwork, very similar.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:37

Not even like enough derivatives or differences to go, oh, it was inspired by fucking exactly the same. Exactly the same.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:44

Because like we were saying earlier, we're all inspired by stuff. I I've had people at me on Instagram saying it looks like a Roscoe Britain to me. And then you go, it's very nice, and you look at it and go, it does look like mine, and then you do a little bit of research. Is what I mean. Do just do a little bit of research. Doesn't take more than 90 seconds, and you just go, Oh, they've been doing their thing clearly five years longer than I have.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:08

So, you know, like it's called something, isn't it, where you think an idea is completely yours because you've basically forgotten the influence that it's come from what that word is.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:17

And you have to message them going, just they've been doing it longer than me. I appreciate the support. I'm 63 years old.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:24

Yeah, making quite a lot of things.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:25

Can you can you just, you know, before you just go into the sort of keyboard warrior, just do a little bit of research. Do you know what I mean? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:31

But yeah. So where are we now, Roscoe? You're making art, you're woodcarving, you're acting. Uh what's next? What I want to try and promote you in some way, but you're your own promotion machine by those things. But we haven't really spoken much about your art, but people can come and find it and look at it. It's beautiful work, it's yeah, really inspiring.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:53

I love it. Next, I'm just gonna I'm just gonna keep plugging along. I'm doing my bouquets, 3D bouquets, do more 3D visual stuff that you can actually hang up. No frames, just uh an actual piece you can hang up by itself, and I'm gonna try and push them, still do the prints. I'm gonna do some more music, I'm gonna start up a band. I feel as though I'm 50 now and my vote my vocals are changing, and I don't want them to go because I've got a good voice. And um my mummy says I have the best in her field.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:22

But is that again like creativity? It's just a muscle if you don't keep working.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:26

Yeah, fuck you, yeah. It's like a line I heard in Rocky Balboa, uh, the movie, the last one they did, yeah, where he was just going, You know where you are, I got something in the basement, you know I got something. And I was like, Fucking yeah, I know you that Rocky fella, me and you, mate, we know each other. I've got something in the basement as well, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:41

Something you want to do, something you want to share, you don't know what it is, and it can come out in a million different ways. Yeah, and I think it sounds mad. For some reason, I'm in the back of my head where, oh, we haven't really spoken about Roscoe's art, but Yeah, we have. We have, but actually, like I say, it's you, it's your energy. It's that's what I want the listeners to take away. Sex appeal as well. Sex appeal. It's sex huge sex appeal, and I want them to take some of this energy, some of this confidence, some of this. It's not no fucks given, because I think you give a lot of fucks.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:14

Oh, I fucking hate that fucking phrase.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:16

That's what I mean. I it's like no fucks given is so wrong because I can think you I care a lot.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:21

You care so much. I can see that no fucks, zero fucks given. No, fuck off. Yeah, no, I I care a lot about stuff. I fucking if anything, um, yeah, yeah. I get that.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:33

I get that. Introverted but outgoing. There's this sort of insecure overachiever, you've done lots, but yet you still want to do more.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:42

Yeah, and also I beat myself up as well. Don't forget that. It's not all confidence, doesn't come out with a backlash. Confidence comes with a waking up at four in the morning going, You're a fucking piece of shit. And then you wake up at six and you go, fuck what all about? Oh, that was the fucking filter that has to come out, doesn't it? You you can't be like, you can't be confident all the time. You've got to get like a sort of an balance. There's an exhaust pipe that comes out of you where it comes out at night where you go, it's just badness is gonna exhaust out and go like, oh, you're it's a shit. And you go, Oh, I've done that, and you wake up at six and you go, that was weird. It has to come out. And you don't you you you don't go through this life going, I'm amazing, otherwise you'd be a psychopath. Yeah, you know, you do have your sort of down days. That's the brain works.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:24

You exhaust your dopamine and you're do people have that misconception of you though when they meet you and they go, Oh no, Roscoe's just like this all the time, but never has a down day. Well, is it like living with them?

SPEAKER_03 1:09:34

Uh yeah, no, I can be a right miserable bastion as well. You can because you can't you can't be on top all the time. You've got to you've got to that energy depletes, right? Yeah, you've got to go away with your battery back up. Yeah, but but generally it's people that fucking pull me out of it. I know I say I like my own company, but if you do spend too long on your own, you do go inwards and then you forget how to communicate, and then just like my old man, my old man, my dad used to take me to school, and he would just go, uh, yo, I mate, yeah, yeah, I see your boy slush the other day. Yeah, all right, cock, yeah. See, like I'd be looking at you and go, Fucking hell, he's such a chewy bastard. I'd get up in the morning and go, I've got to do that. I've got I've got to do that. I'll take my kids to school, and when I get there, I'm like, How you doing, you alright?

SPEAKER_00 1:10:16

I saw your boy slush the other day.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:19

And I go, There you go, just like my old man. The mask that we all have to put on though. It is, but it's like revel in it. Like, enjoy it. Don't fucking don't think like who actually am I? Just fucking enjoy the mask, like, you know, wear it and don't think of it as a sort of just enjoy it. Like, it's all it's part of you.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:39

Do we think I mean, do you think we take life too seriously? Everyone takes life a bit too seriously.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:44

Yeah, yeah, definitely, man. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Almost every aspect of it. Look around you, it's fucking council tax and um bills fucking war, famine, bloody horrible shit going on. No, I I know about Palestinians that are being wiped out over there, whereas six months ago I didn't know anything about it, but now they're an integral part of my life. I've got to take this on.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:05

Yeah, it's it's all crazy. Do you have a good filter about what you take on and what you don't take on? No. Really? No, no, terrible.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:14

Yeah, I take on yeah, return. You take on stuff that you yeah, sometimes I have to have conversations with myself, particularly in the shower, where you have to say out loud, leave, I'm not having this conversation now. Yeah. Oh, you go away. I'm not nope, I'm done. I'm done. Bye. Thank you. I leave and tell them to go. Because you can't this this energy doesn't come with it without a negative sign. You can suddenly someone can go, remember that prick that said remember you were 12 when that R soul that fucking prick. And then you just go, no, not doing it.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:45

Bye-bye. And you tell them to leave. That's again quite a talent, how you speak to yourself, how we all speak to ourselves. Yeah, you get it. You seem quite disciplined at that.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:53

No, I I'm getting better when I'm here on my own. I can I can see things online. That's the thing, you do things online, and you just go, fucking hell, I can't believe. You honestly believe that if nope, you're doing it again, yeah. That's how we would talk. I would I the guy upstairs must think, no, I've got multiple people living with me. He's always arguing with someone. Oh, really? Yeah. But you tell them to leave, you tell them to go, and it generally leaves you alone. Goodbye. Do you feel a lot then? Yeah, man, yeah, yeah. You got it.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:21

Because it's that thing, isn't it? It's I think for a lot of creatives, it's a blessing and a curse to feel so much.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:26

Yeah, it is. It's uh like empathy as well, it gets you through a lot. Otherwise, if you don't, you're you're you're you're a psycho. And kids help me to sort of understand feelings a lot more. You know, you have to sort of remind yourself that there are seven. What'd you do that for? You know, I always be seven. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:44

What do the kids feel? Because obviously both mum and dad are creatives, makeup artists and the textiles and the patterns, and obviously dad being artist, musician, actor, woodcarver. You can't husk it's coming as shit.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:57

You have to pick up tons and tons of fucking drawings. And um no, they're good, they're good. They got into their sort of YouTube a bit now, and you know we've had to trim it right down.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:05

But do you see creativity in the world?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:08

Yeah, we've had yeah, the the youngest one he likes to draw. He's starting to get into guitar now with his older sister, but my oldest, my my ten-year-old, she is like uh oh yeah, she's she's on it, man. Well,

Self-Doubt And Raising Creative Kids

SPEAKER_03 1:13:20

I've just cleared away some of her stuff. I don't know what she's building, and she's just making and creating before she goes to school. She made this as well, this Lego Wildflower. Isn't that great? That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:30

Yeah, I just keep it there.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:32

These are all hers as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:33

Beautiful drawings and illustrations over the wall. Yeah, she goes in it like I'd call if there's a project to do at school, it's just I need clay. I need clay. Has she got that intensity as well? I've got an idea, I need to make it.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:46

You've got three weeks, it's not due until the end of term. Oh fucking now, I need to make it now. She has to get it out of and also she cuts corners.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:54

But I guess like you, I I guess that's similar to you, right? Yeah, yeah. When you have an idea, you just go, boom, I've got to make it. That's exactly that. Yeah, you've got to get it out there. And uh that's cool. That that creativity is coming through and the and the kids are and the kids are getting that influence. Do you see them potentially, or are you not putting any pressure on them to do anything creative? Uh I do like to put a bit of pressure on.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:16

I think being creative is proper important. And uh but also like Why though?

SPEAKER_02 1:14:20

Why do you I mean obviously I know we're both creatives? Why do you feel it's important for them to be creative?

SPEAKER_03 1:14:25

Because it's an integral part of my enjoyment of being alive. And that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:30

It's an integral part of my enjoyment of being alive. It fucking is. If I don't sound by that, I'm gonna fucking idiot. Fucking hell.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:37

If you ever want to see what it's like to be creative, watch a watch a little kid draw when they're drawing and they're sitting there going, you're like, I remember that sensation. That purity of yeah, and I I've still got my hyperactive kid thing. I I still do this and I push my jaws in to the point where all my my skin gets dry here. And if I have a really good idea, I go, Really? Yeah, it overwhelmingly it hurts. I have to push my jaw in. And I've done it so much that all my back molars here are all bent in like that. I've done it since I was a little kid, they're all gone back. My dentists just say, You suck on a pacifier, and I was like, No, I do that a lot.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:15

Really?

SPEAKER_03 1:15:16

And he was like, Oh, that's quite mad. And I'm like, You're the first person I've ever told this to.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:20

Now every every creative neural land listener's gonna know about your strange face pushing.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:25

Yeah, yeah, it hurts sometimes. It's my way of going, fuck no, that's a great idea. And then I get excited, and then I have to sort of push my face in with my fists, but I've done it since.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:36

There is such a there is that childlike enthusiasm. You've ranted on about how you're 50 a number of times in this podcast, but you've still got that wonderful childlike exuberance, which is just infectious.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:47

The most important thing I is I don't look 50, but I think one of the parts of that is just to be like just to be a bit of an idiot. Like, dare to be stupid, is weird Al Yankovic once wrote. Yeah. Dare to be stupid. I like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:59

I I know it's a silly song, but I just thought it's an underrated power being able to some not embarrass yourself in the right world, but be comfortable with being Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:10

My one of my two rules, I'm the only thing I ever learned from being like going on dates and going out with people, the two rules I'd ever say to anyone young that is wanting to sort of get in a dating game is the two words is confidence and self-deprecate. If you can make someone laugh by saying, Oh yeah, I earned this amount the other day, and uh, I bought myself a new car and uh oh when I shit myself. Yeah, it's just we had such a laugh.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:36

That was the day.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:36

It's brilliant. So you can self-deprecate and be confident about what you do. It mix that together perfectly. Obviously, you don't have to use my example, but it was it's the key to life, it's uh how you get through life as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:48

Confidence and self-deprecation.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:49

Yeah, yeah, it works, it works for whoever you are.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:52

Like if you're and again, I think that's some beautiful words of wisdom that people listening to this, they're probably listening, going, Oh fucking oh, opportunity to this to find out with this incredible floral collage artist. Yeah, and we've just gone in deep about psychology and confidence, and I think that's actually been more important.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:08

Yeah, they'll get to my Instagram and just go, Oh, is that it?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:11

Not at all, not at all. I because your work is pretty special, but there's a lot of those correlations, like I said. I understand why it's so intricate, potentially because your super creative brain needs to focus in, because I'm exactly the same. That's what really is. I did a lot of stuff with collage. My day job is photography, so at the end of the day, the last thing I wanted to do was take any more photographs for myself. So I'd pick up magazines and I'd collage, and I'd just exactly that, get into that flow state where I was, oh, that needs to go there, that needs to go there. I'm working on four collages at the same time. Oh, I've got a series. How did that happen?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:44

And I've been there for two hours just on an evening because I didn't want to does your one flip between the next, so if you're working with photography, you just go, That'd be a great collage. Or if you're working on collage, you just want to. Do you know what's interesting?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:54

Sometimes I think I'm too close to my own photographs, especially because a lot of the time they're commercial, they're too a brief. But I've often thought I'd quite like to do some collage of I mean, I've got 20 years worth of photography on hard drive, so there's bound to be stuff that I can make into collage, but I almost feel like I'm a bit too close to it. But because of my fashion background, my mum always collected vogues from when I was a kid, so I've got stacks and stacks of vogues. So I'd literally just come in, pull a vogue out, go, right, I've got an hour. I'm gonna make one collage, put some limitations on myself and make one collage. And it's really sad actually, because I was speaking about this with someone. I've got a lot of collage work that I still have and I want to present to people, but 80% of the stuff that I made probably just got thrown away. Because I was like, oh, I just made that for me in the evening to get my head out of being in the photography job, and then the next day I'd go on to another photography job. And yeah, it's silly, it's silly. I just do magic. Yeah, lost track. I've done well, I've got lots of my fashion collages which I'm trying to. I don't know, I think this is a good one for me, Roscoe, because I've hit a bit of a wall. I've been trying to share my art as such, but I've hit resistance from myself and barriers and that imposterism and all that sort of stuff. But again, it's things like sitting down with someone like yourself who's got this confidence that's not I wouldn't say it's inherent, but it's something that you've learned through situations. It's um you yeah. And that means that we can all learn confidence.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:22

Yeah, yeah, but it but also don't forget that just because if you beat yourself up and you doubt yourself, that's still part of it. As I said, it's like a it's like a it's an exhaust. You've got the engine, but then there's a filter system of the engine in the car that has to filter out the shit at the back, you know, and you do have those moments where you go, like, now this is shit, or what am I doing? But that's part of the f and that's where I am.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:48

I'm sort of more leaning down those realms. Fuck, actually, I need a bit more Roscoe and just go, fuck it, put it out there. It's not for me to explain it, just let it go. See what happens, man. Yeah, just just keep going.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:58

Pursue it to its furthest logical conclusion, whatever that may be. Very rarely do I ever start a piece of artwork up and I just go, fuck it, it's not working and stop. I just go fucking keep going. And then it comes to the end, and you just go, that was a waste of time. No and then you just get to the end and just go, right, it's it didn't work, why not? I'll do something else and I'll put that aside.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:18

Or alternatively, oh shit, that really worked. I persisted and I just kept going, and something magical has come for me.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:24

What do you like out of that? Yeah. I like that bit there. Okay, well, that's good enough then. That was worth it. I like that a bit, and then you can take that there.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:32

Fucking hell. I wish we could bottle some of this, Roscoe, and just because we'd be millionaires, we could sell it on the Creative Noeland website, all these artists who doubt themselves and have this imposterism. I'll tell you what you can do, man.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:42

Like get a picture of yourself and look at the picture and a picture of yourself, and then point out things that you like about yourself. And it's uh it's great. And when you realise and just go, you look at your own face, and you just go, that's a nice straight name.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:57

Nice cheap end.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:58

And uh some bicycle bottles as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:01

God, I can imagine a lot of people finding that very uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:06

You'll see it, like you'll see one thing, and then you'll see, and then that thing is generally connected to the next thing. What wonderful advice. It fucking works, man. Yeah, I just wish people would point out my broad shoulders, you're tall, isn't you? I haven't my fucking shoulders, they're fantastic, you assholes. No one ever does.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:24

Is that a good place for us to try and pull all this together? As I say, we've been on more of a motivational chat than an art creative chat. But we do have a closing tradition on the Creative Noeland podcast where I ask you for some sort of quote that resonates with you, and also a guest in your network that you think might be interesting to come on the Creative Noeland podcast in the future.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:46

Well, I mean, to be honest, my wife is fucking pretty interesting. What she's done, like from the fashion industry to now making these table innings.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:59

I like the idea of doing this because she sounds like

Love, Partnership And The Final Quotes

SPEAKER_02 1:22:02

she's been quite the advocator for you. She was the supporting network that said, Look, I'm in this situation, you can push your artwork. I think all of us are looking for that partner in life that we can build something with, grow with, experience the ups, downs with, and you've clearly got that. So yeah, if you two want to shine a light on each other, maybe they are too.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:22

It would definitely, yeah, she's got that brain where she can just click things together and you're you need to do this, you need to put that to there. And you know, it we do clash sometimes because she knows more about the business and she knows what works.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:37

And when you create in what sense you you're sometimes trusting your gut too much in the things that you've created, like the graffiti thinks you well, that's not gonna sell.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:44

Yeah, yeah. And then you go with just your gut, and then you spent like three days on it, four days on it, and you haven't been working with your orders. That's that kind of like you need to be working on that as well. Oh, she keeps you in that balance, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's she's got a good brain for it, but but also like all her the table linen, you know, she's been in the fashion industry for for a while now. And she was like, I can't keep turning up and hanging around with 21-year-olds, and it's great. Because she's a makeup artist, right? Yeah, fashion makeup art. Amazing one as well. Like, really good. And um, and then one day she just went, she's got a little lino print and just cut a tomato out. And oh, there they are, look, she just cut these out. Look, look. Oh wow. These like plum tomatoes. Oh, amazing. And she did them straight off the bat. She went, What do you think of that? And I was like, okay, that's fucking brilliant. You just do that. How'd you get the degrading colour? And she went, Oh, I just did dark at the top, and then it and then she roly pinned it with the line out. See, I don't know the telling the lino, and then she's printed on paper, and then she went, Shall I sell these artwork? And so we tried doing that. When I did uh an art fair, I took her stuff along. We sold a couple of things, and then she went, fabric, right? Fabric. I tried on fabric, she did on fabric, that worked. Then she did it on table linen, and then fucking kaboom. Really? Fucking unbelievable. You ain't seen anything like it, like bang.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:06

And that mixed in with your wallpapers, the interiors, yeah, it's flown off now, and she's just going, I'm doing this now.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:13

This is what I do. Now she's got thousands of pounds worth of fabric. She's now got digital prints of it, which took her absolutely ages to get right. Really? And uh I said, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna about my wife now, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:26

Again, brilliant to have that partner in your world that's just Nick Britton, Nicola Britton, I should probably say too. Yeah, that's great. And I can't wait for that, chat, because there'll be synergy for us, obviously, me being from the fashion world and makeup artists and stuff, we all cross over. So and again, interesting story to see her moving out of that world and into something new, just trying. What do you think you bring to Nicola to the table, apart from obviously fun, character, and a bit of uh moral support? I used to be quite good dead.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:56

What happened? I forgot it. I should have written the notes down. Notes to Roscoe in future. This is how you kickstart Shagging. Oh, just because you'll forget and you're like, oh, I have forgotten.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:08

What was the question again? She sounds like she brings a lot to you and your art and stuff. What is the other side of the coin? What do you think you bring to her and her textile design and Oh man, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:21

I don't I don't think I'd like to answer that. Uh I don't know. I I think I just Oh maybe I'll have to ask her. You'd have to ask her. I don't know. That that probably that would be probably a part Where I yeah, I would very rarely like my self-doubt would probably come in there. I don't know what I bring. I I'm sort of That's interesting. I don't know what I bring. Yeah, I yeah, I don't know. I d I'm I'm very sort of You are I think you're an energy. I think I guess I am, but I'm yeah, that that's when I've put you on the spot.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:54

You this is the first time you've been a bit lost for words, so let's move on. You don't need to answer that.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:58

No, I mean it sounds it sounds sad, like I don't know what I bring, but I I know I make people laugh and stuff, but it's Yeah, I I don't know what I bring. I enjoy being around all these people, but I'm I'm a very sort of when it comes to love and affection, that's one of the things I'm a bit weird on. I say more, what do you mean? Like uh I'm just a bit, I'm a bit, yeah. When it comes to love and affection, I don't don't display it as much. I've never been that way. My my parents were never that way. My dad wasn't that way. So you when it comes to love and affection, you sort of are quite reserved on that. I can have bursts of it where I go, it's okay. And but my parents will quite reserve. Although my mum wasn't reserved, she was always like, Oh, Jackie, give me a kiss, and I almost see my dad, like going, Yeah, oh I say, you know, it's a when I come to show my sort of affection, it's it's to be a bit sort of, you know, I'll do anything for you, I'll do anything for her, and I want a nice home and I want everyone to be happy and I want everyone to have fun and we talk about what the children did.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:56

But that's interesting because again, looking at some of the work, there's an underlying old soul, a romance.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:03

There is, there is like I'm quite I can be quite old-fashioned. I mean, yeah, I turning more and more into my dad as I get older. Really? Yeah. Bloody lights who keeps where I put there's a bloody pens I put here, where are you all gone? And uh even that tone, that accent that isn't my accent, that's my dad's. And yeah, I think I said I think I said to my my youngest a few weeks ago, how did you get in such a two and eight? Such a two and eight. I was like, fucking two and eight. You didn't have pen and ink, man. Like, why the fuck? Who was your dad and if he's fifties bin man? Like, yeah, yeah. Fucking ridiculous.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:35

Like, how the fuck do I start talking like that? But these characters are all intricate in your upbringing, your world, your life, so it's probably very easy to dip into. Yeah, but I don't know whether that's a creative thing as well, because I'm I dip into a lot of accents and characters, and yeah, it's it's a strange one.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:52

But but but yeah, but showing action is is a strange one for me. But having two children has made me better. But yeah, I think I can be quite reserved. That's why I say what I bring to it. Well, obviously I bring the sort of love and and I bring attention and I bring companionship and all that.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:07

And love looks different for everybody. It's not it's it's that ethereal thing that you can't go, oh love is XYZ. No, it's it's different for you, it's different for me, it's different for Nicola.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:16

It's just a thing that's in a room that uh love is uh not to sound like two naked children cartoon that was in the 70s and 80s, but love is love is watching something together, love is just a glass of wine. Sometimes love is just which I do a lot now, is when there's something happening with the two children and a wife. Sometimes you just sit back and you have to go, I fucking I'm observing this, this is an error. Sometimes just observing this moment, you're not filming it, you're just going, just embracing the moment.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:48

That seems very poignant for you, yeah who you are, no plan, live in the moment, just embrace it.

SPEAKER_03 1:28:56

I saw that my tick two of my kids dived into a sleeping bag the other day and just buried themselves in it, and they just look like this huge fat worm in the living room. This enormous long fucking sleeping bag. And uh and my wife looked at me and went, and I went around the corner, and they were in there talking in this big sleeping bag. It's just this huge worm moving around. And I went, and I I kind of wanted to be a little kid with them again. I was just like watching them and I I filmed it as well, but it wasn't the same. It was just yeah, but yeah, that I think that's what like companionship is. Those moments where you just get you know some wonder. Yeah, yeah. Don't don't think about it too heavily, man. Just you are it's I love that. But just be be and be around and just say, Oh my god, have you seen that? I'm right. There's a new uh magnolia tree. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_02 1:29:44

But you do, you do like I've noticed that in some of your Instagram stories, you'll take pleasure in the simple things, all the blossoms out on the tree. Brilliant, look at this. I'm gonna share that with you.

SPEAKER_03 1:29:54

Yeah, it's great. Also, when you do that, your kids start to see that's the norm. Little things of beauty. How about my seven-year-old seven-year-old going, Daddy? Look at the roof. Isn't that strange? Remember, he was about four, and he said to me, 'Look at the colours of the tree, Daddy!' And I was like, Yes, brilliant. Fucking yes, mate. You're in there.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:13

You see it.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:14

That's all you want. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:15

Observation. That's amazing. And what about a quote to finish? I mean, I'm sure there's lots of sound bites that I can take from this, and I will, but is there a quote that resonates with you that you think you might want to leave the listeners with?

SPEAKER_03 1:30:30

I think I'd definitely go with the glasses half empty, half full. You know, it's they're both the same. They can be whatever you want them to be, and neither one of them is wrong. But also, I have to say that confidence and self-deprecation is the key to any relationship and joy. And um one of my favourite quotes that I came up with on the spot when I worked in an office once was when someone said to me, and I'm gonna say it now because I think it's a great line, and it may get me into trouble, but was I was working in an office, and there's about eight people around me. We were talking about there was an argument in the office, and someone said, Well, I'm more of a lover than a fighter. And I said, off the cuff, I'm more of a lover than I'm a fighter, although my love making has been described as quite violent.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:18

I thought that was great. Uh and on that note, I think we should end there because that's brilliant, mate. Roscoe, thank you so much for doing the Creative Noeland podcast. I am gonna, although we haven't spoken as as much as I probably should have done about your artwork, I think what people are gonna get from this is so much more than that. I'll share it, they'll go and find you, I'll direct them all to your social media links and all that sort of stuff. And make sure you give this guy a follow because he's fucking funny and he's just got a wonderful energy that he puts out into the podcast. Thank you so much. So Roscoe, thanks for doing the Creative Noeland Podcast. My pleasure. Thank you very much, mate. Thanks for listening to the Creative Noeland Podcast. If you found anything in this episode useful or inspiring, please consider subscribing or sharing it with a friend. You can also help the podcast by clicking the support the show link in the show notes or by grabbing yourself something from the Creative Noeland shop. And here's the bonus. When you join the community through our website, you'll get a special discount code that gives you free shipping on all orders. So, before you buy anything, be sure to join the community. Every bit of support helps us keep sharing these inspiring stories. So, thanks again for listening, and until next time, explore, inspire, and create.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:39

Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way.