Episode 16 : Creative chat with my Mum

In this special episode of The Creative Couch, I’m joined by a very special guest… my mum.

Before we headed off together to Italy for my recent drawing and printmaking retreat, I asked listeners to send in their questions for her — and this episode became such a lovely, funny and genuinely heartfelt conversation.

We talk about all the things people are always asking me about her: her creativity, her sense of style, how she manages to look so glamorous at 80, and whether she secretly has some kind of fitness regime (spoiler: she absolutely does not).

We also talk about motherhood, independence, confidence, ageing, supporting creativity in your children, and what it’s been like having a daughter who has always lived such a creative life.

It was recorded just before we left for Italy together, so now that we’re back home again, it feels like a really lovely little snapshot of that moment in time.

We didn’t manage to answer every question that was sent in, but thank you so much to everybody who contributed — there were so many thoughtful and brilliant questions.

If you have a creative dilemma you’d like me to explore in a future episode, you’re always welcome to send it to thecreativecouchpod@gmail.com

You can also find me on Instagram at @sammarshallart

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Creative Couch. I'm Sam Marshall, artist and creative coach. This is a podcast for anyone navigating the ups and downs of a creative life. Each week I respond to three real creative dilemmas sent in by listeners, exploring both the emotional side of what you're experiencing and some practical ways to move forward. And from time to time I'll also be joined by other artists to talk about their creative life, their practice, their challenges and what keeps them going. Hello and welcome back to the Creative Couch. We've got a very special guest here today. This is my mum.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Hello.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

So I thought it would be um I thought it would be nice if we did a podcast episode featuring uh the wonderful Jane Marshall. So we're just about to go to Italy on a week of printmaking and drawing, and um we're heading off tomorrow. But I thought what we could do before we leave is uh record a quick QA with the wonderful Jane Marshall. Um and you guys have been sending in your lovely messages, uh your lovely questions for mum. So um yeah, thank you. We've been inundated. I've got like a really long list, and mum doesn't know what questions are coming up, so um yeah, so you know we don't know. We don't know how this is gonna go. Um it's really funny. And yeah, so this is gonna come out when I'm back from Italy. Um, and normal service will resume with the dilemmas. So if you do have any dilemmas you'd like me to answer, then do send them in to the creative couchpod at gmail.com. Right, let's get on with the questions. Um, I'm gonna start with a question from Andrea. Okay, so the first question that comes in is Um, what's the best thing about being Sam's mum?

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Oh well, wonderful. Yeah, it's um I think it's because she's so interesting. Um, every day is different. No, it's lovely. It's been a lovely, lovely journey with her, actually. I'm so interesting.

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Every day's different. Yeah, yeah, okay. We like that one. Um, okay, so let's go on to uh Sam's question said, uh, how do you always look so glamorous?

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Ah, well, I don't think I do. Um, but a lot of I think it's because I wear lipstick all the time. I you know what, I do think that is something, and you've always got your nails painted, haven't you? And I've always done that, ever since I've been a teenager, and I've always said the day that I get up and don't put my face on, you'll know that there's something seriously wrong with me.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Okay, okay. So we did have another question from somebody else said, um, could we have your oh uh hang on, what was it? Um could we have your beauty regime? Could we have your um oh here we are? Um can we please have your skincare, makeup, and style tips?

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Yeah, the cheap, cheap and cheerful, cheap and cheerful, okay. Nivea um face cream, that lovely soft one. I absolutely love it, and over the years I've spent so much money on face creams, and I cannot beat it.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

So the one that comes in a big tub. Yeah, oh okay, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

It just does everything, does it?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

And you put it you put it on your face as well.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah, oh it's well, yes, okay, and you can put it all over, but it it is so lovely.

SPEAKER_01 3:35

Okay, and then makeup makeup. So, what do you do? You put foundation on it.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Oh, yeah, foundation and a blusher and my eyeshadow and do my eyebrows.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Because mum hasn't got any eyebrows. Yeah, I've got really good eyebrows. Look at my eyebrows.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

Yeah, but I used to I plug mine when I was uh uh I was a teenager and they've never ever grown back. So mum pencils in our eyebrows. So I can't have them die because it's not in there to die. But but as for makeup, I just play around. I don't necessarily have the same things.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

I just, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

I mean, we do we do get the Liberties calendar every year, don't we?

SPEAKER_00 4:15

We get we get lots of nice things out there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

So we get lots of nice um blushes and yeah, but also we get like fancy things for our skin, don't we? Yeah. Which I kind of rather I just I just put anything on, really. I mean, I ever I mean I'm not sure if anybody wants to know my beauty rating regime, but I always wear SPF. You don't wear no mum doesn't wear sunscreen. I always put SPF on, and I always wear foundation and I have a little bit of blusher. Well, I like a little bit of blusher, and then I do my eyes as well, but I don't wear lipstick. I think I did make a you did, I did, didn't I? I'd made a resolution a couple of years ago to wear more lipstick, and I think I managed it for about a month. Um, and I don't paint my nails.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

I mean, even though I've got I've got lovely nails, but you have, but uh with with your job, it's difficult, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Okay, right. So um let's go on to right. This is a really great question from Debbie. What recommendations can you give to parents who child whose child is showing a creative flair?

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Just go with it, really, and and and and just uh fight for them, basically. I mean, I can remember when Sam uh started out at the high school and uh they wanted her to go to Lincoln Art uh college, and she was adamant that she was not going to go, and we thought through it, and she was the first student that got uh people to go to the London ones.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

So, what mum's talking about is that when you do your A levels, if you want to do a foundation course, you technically to get your foundation course free, you have to go to your local foundation course. This was back in I don't know, 1980 something. But I really wanted to go to London, I didn't want to go to Lincoln, so I just said no, I want to go to St. Martin's to do the foundation, and yeah, I booked all I booked all the rules, but um yeah, but you've always been you and dad have always been supportive of me. You never pushed me down. I mean, because I was quite I was very good at English, wasn't I? And one of my English teachers wanted me to apply for Oxford to do English. I mean, I don't know how or why, but um, that was never gonna happen.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

But you always always love always reading, reading every day, yeah, yeah, which is so important, I think.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Yeah, no, absolutely. Well, I mean, you've passed on your love of reading to me because I was, you know, I'm an only child, so it's really important that you guys know that I'm an only child. There's there's no more of me in the world, is there? It's just me. No, and I'm special very special, and I did have to, you know. I mean, I was lucky because I lived on a street with lots of uh families, and you know, I had lots of friends, and so I was never alone, lonely, but I did spend a lot of time by myself reading, drawing, making things, playing, you know. So I was always yeah, uh sort of one man band, wasn't I? Okay, um, please share a funny memory of Percy the Peacock.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Oh, lots of them, really. I mean, he he can't, in fact, he hasn't even come back for his supper tonight. He's he's too busy up the road, um uh poking his nose or his beak into somebody else's business. Oh really? No, I mean Percy's just Percy. Percy just rules the roost, really. I mean, he's he's into everything.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

So, those of you who don't know, uh mum and dad have got a resident peacock called Percy who just appeared one day, you know, just walked up. And how long have you had it? Twelve years. Twelve years. And so what happens with Percy is that in the day he comes into the house, he has the downstairs toilet all to himself.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

That's only in the winter time.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

That's only in the winter time.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Oh, summer time is out all the time.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Right, and he's just hanging around the garden and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Yeah, but then at the moment he's trying to find a lady friend. Right, okay, showing off with all his feathers.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Okay, right, so Adette said she would like to know a little bit about your mum's life in her late teens and twenties.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Oh, that's a long ladder, isn't it? Uh my life. Well, I um basically worked at a building society uh when I first left school. Um and I did very well there actually because they wanted me to become the manageress and I loved my job.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

And then I fell pregnant with Sam, so yeah, but that was you but yeah, but you didn't get you weren't you didn't have me until you were about 28, did you?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

No, but then um then we decided to buy a shop, didn't we? So we started off um with just a green grocer shop basically, but then uh we in the end we had three shops, but that got a bit too much, and then we started in the flower trade and I took up floristry.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

So yeah, so we've had a few questions about the floristry thing because uh yeah, one somebody asked, How did you get into floristry?

SPEAKER_00 9:15

Well, basically by um first getting the shop and getting more interested in flowers. Um I wasn't trained, um, I just basically um did my own thing. That's I do with uh my drawing and whatever. Um but it worked, it worked. I mean, I had an interflora agency and we got quite big in the flower trade, really. Such hard work.

SPEAKER_01 9:43

How did you but you must have you must have done some courses, you must have surely you had to be like didn't you have to be tested to be an interflora agency? Sure didn't you have to like show examples of your florists, your your bouquets and stuff? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 9:56

Well yes, but I always got I always had a trained florist working for me.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Oh, and so you learn from there?

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Oh okay. Basically. But you were the head florist, weren't you?

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Oh yeah. Well, not the head florist, but I was head over the shop. Um but I and I went to one or two sort of local flower arranging courses, which sometimes are as good as you know that's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

But when with Interflora you'd get you you would would you wouldn't you get like a a a catalogue of how you're about to make up the bouquet, so it'd be like do this, do that. Okay. But I do remember you being quite stressed about it.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

I do remember such hard work, really is. And uh because ours was a fairly small shop, um, they still expected you to have all the really uh expensive top of the uh market flowers, which you couldn't always get rid of. So you know it was it was a hard business to be in.

SPEAKER_01 10:55

Well, I remember, you know, because I think both you and dad, I mean dad dad well you bought the you bought the dad had a green and a green green grocer's van, didn't he? Dad used to drive around. Dad left school really uh young. Um he was, you know, he didn't have a dad. His dad was Canadian, he never never knew his dad. So dad really had to look after his mum, didn't he? Financially. And so dad left school really, even though dad's very, very intelligent, he he didn't do very well at school because he was dyslexic, didn't he? He left as soon as he could and just worked really hard, worked on the land because mum and dad both live in Lincolnshire, both grew up in Lincolnshire. And and then when he met you, you got this greengrocers' van, didn't you? And dad used to drive round like all of the local villages with his greengrocers van, and then um and then he bought the shop, the first shop you see. Um, so that's how that sort of that was that story, wasn't it? Um okay, so then um how did you get into art?

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Well, basically, it was uh through you, wasn't it? Because I was following your journey, so I got really interested and and uh tried to follow what you were up to.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

Well, no, but you yeah, but when you retired, you um you did your first started off with your watercolours, didn't you?

SPEAKER_00 12:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

So so why did that come about? Why did you suddenly thought, right, why did you suddenly think I'm gonna do a w watercolours?

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Because it was something that I'd always wanted to be, and I met a friend one day, and she said that she went to this um uh painted thing, and I thought, oh, I'll give it a go. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it. Um but I mean the teacher used to despair because none of my things ever ever turned out right.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

I mean, well, I mean, mum doesn't use watercolour in the traditional way that you're supposed to use watercolour. Mum uses watercolour like acrylics, so there's none of you letting the white you do the work. Um you just use it as normal paint, don't you? And mum's mum's mum's work has always been quite quirky, but you know, you've you've you how many years did you do that for?

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Oh I should think six, seven years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

And every it was every Tuesday, wasn't it? Yeah. Every Tuesday you used to go on on that. You used to really enjoy it. Okay, um, right, so and then so okay, so then when did you begin sketching and painted and what pro what prompted you to begin? So I think we've kind of discussed that, yeah. I remember when I was on the drawing year, we went to Siena together, didn't we? I did.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Oh, and that's that's the I've still got that in my bedroom. Yeah, the very first sketch that I ever did, and you framed it for me.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

No, I didn't, no, no, didn't you? No, I did uh no. What I did was I did a print of it, so I did an etching of the drawing that you did. So it's it's uh it's uh I took your drawing and then I did an etching of it, and that's what you've got. You haven't got the drawing.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

No, and that was the first time that I really really did anything like that. Yeah, and that was just absolutely loved it.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

So we we went to Siena and we got I think we sort of sat on a rooftop or something, didn't we? And we did some sketches.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Remember it overlooking.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

And that was what that was when I was at the Royal Drawing School. So that was when I was drawing like all the time, and I think you then got interested in that, didn't you? Um, and then I guess from so when I had this idea about the book, the sketch, the sketch, sketch, which is here, you see, um I knew that I didn't want to do a traditional how to draw book. I knew that I wanted it to involve uh, you know, other people, and I'd already got the core members of the sketch quad figured out. And then I don't know what happened. I just suddenly thought, oh, I wonder if mum would be interested. And I thought, I don't know whether she'd be up for it. And I as soon as I mentioned it, you were totally up for it, weren't you? I mean, there was no question, there was no kind of hesitation. I did say to her, look, it's gonna be a commitment for a year, you're gonna have to follow all these exercises, you're gonna have to learn how to use Zoom, you're gonna have to have an email address. And um goes a bit wrong sometimes. But you managed it, didn't you? You actually managed it. I loved it. Okay, right. Okay, um, I've got another one here. Uh please describe Sam's personality as a child and any of her art creations that you recall. My personality.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Ah uh Sam was um what shall I say? She was very, very strong-willed. Very strong-willed. You really, really had to wind her in sometimes. Um, she was always very, very creative. You could, you know, she was always up to something. Um, she'd rather be messing about doing that sort of thing than going out with her friends having a good time. And what about any any uh what's the first piece of art that you can relevant? How do you remember? I uh you painted me in the nude. Oh god, yes. So for my how do you remember art teachers were absolutely amazed, weren't they? What amazed that the what the painting? Oh no, so I would do it.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

Yeah, so yeah, but that was that was my A levels. I mean, like yeah, that was for my A levels, but like right way back, can you I can remember the first thing that I did that really I just thought, you know what, I love doing this. Can you remember? Can you remember? It was a sketch, I think it was a sketch of a Springer Spaniel. Can you remember there was a sketch of a Springer Spaniel, and I copied that sketch, but it must have been about 10 or 11. And I remember I it was it was a pretty good copy, and I remember thinking, I love doing this, I remember that really clearly. But yeah, so when I did my A-levels, I did these really big paintings, didn't I? And I made I sort of made sculptural kind of there were kind of sculptures with panels, weren't there? And there was like naked. I mean, I didn't do your head, I just did your body, didn't I? And oh god, that was fascinating. Yeah, so you did pay, yeah, you did that quite a lot. I forgot about that actually. Um okay, uh which print of which print is your favourite of Sam's uh favourite of Sam's and why do you like it?

SPEAKER_00 17:02

I really don't have a favourite, I just love her work. I just think everything she does is wonderful. It's the best answer, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 17:14

That's so that's so that's so lovely. Okay, Anne's asked, what's your favourite time of the day and why?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Just after lunch when I can have a sleep.

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Oh yeah. Well that's not quite true. That's only been in the recent past sort of.

SPEAKER_00 17:34

Yeah, I do get more tired than um what's my favourite time of the I don't know, I don't really have a favourite time. I just go with the flow, really. I do love this time of the year, I don't particularly like winter time.

SPEAKER_01 17:46

No, but she Dan wasn't asking for your favourite month, she was asking for your favourite time of the day. Very interesting question, Anne.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Um I love that question. Yeah, probably when we had Coco the dog, I used to love it when we'd had our evening meal and we used to go out walking probably six, seven o'clock time. And it was lovely because we've got a field at the back of us and uh a walkway, and uh by that time of night it was surprising what else came out, like deers and owls, and and I loved it. Lovely. I don't go walking so much now because I haven't got her anymore.

SPEAKER_01 18:32

And that leads us on that leads us on to the best question that's ever come in from Chris.

SPEAKER_00 18:38

What's your usual fitness regime? Oh, I'm always keeping fit, no stopping me.

SPEAKER_01 18:46

She says, Do you use the pool a lot? And she said that Chris says she's a real fan of yours.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Well, no, I don't uh funnily enough, because I've got arthritis, I know this sounds funny, but it doesn't help me with swimming. Um, and one of the doctors told me this, so I don't really use the pool as much as I should, but now I spring out of bed and you know, doing press-ups and oh yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

No, but you never really I mean I have to say, I mean, it's interesting because I'm so uh fitness oriented, you know, I've it's been part of my life for years, hasn't it? I mean, I remember when I was God, when I was at school, I used to get up in the morning and do like step aerobics classes, Jane Fonda worker. I mean, I've always been really into health and fitness. I mean, I was really overweight as a child. I mean, there's all sorts of stuff to talk about there, but not won't go into it today, but it exercise became a really big thing in my life and has always been a big thing. But you've never really it's never been a big thing in your life, has it?

SPEAKER_00 19:46

No, because I think you know, when I had the shop, it was such hard work and such long hours, it was difficult really to put anything like that in.

SPEAKER_01 19:56

Okay, so that brings us to the next question. Um, Sue asks, how who does Sam get her work ethic from?

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Oh, definitely Dad.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Well, both of us have always worked very hard, but Dad especially, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

I mean he's he's a grafter, isn't he? Dad, I mean the thing is mum and dad now are are wealthy, but dad, then you both came from nothing, didn't you? Both came from really, really poor working class backgrounds. Um, you know, and dad especially, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:28

You know, but so I'm really proud of what he's done.

SPEAKER_01 20:31

Yeah, um, so yeah, Sam does follow suit that I think I also yeah, I mean I'm always thinking about things to do, I'm always thinking about new things to do, hence doing lots of things. And I do get that from my dad. Dad's always got a project on a go, hasn't he? Hence the studio at the moment. Um, there's always things ticking over in his mind, and you know, and I think when dad retired. So dad retired, how old was dad when he retired? About 74, 75? 75. Yeah, and he and we saw a real change in him. We, you know, he he got really depressed, didn't he? And I think he was really um uh uh mourning his last life, really, you know, because he didn't have because the thing is, I think I had a question here from Angela saying, What was it like being a farmer's wife? And the thing is, Dad was never really no, he wasn't really a farmer, it was not like he's gonna be out in the land tilling the fields. No. Um, dad was uh I mean, I say he was a cabbage farmer, I mean he did grow cabbages, didn't he?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Yeah, but I mean mostly other people grew them for us, yeah, and dad was a trader.

SPEAKER_01 21:38

Yeah, so dad would then so we would have lots of fields of cabbages, and dad would store the cabbages, and then dad was like, you know, on the phone in the morning selling the cabbages to um you know Dutch all over. It's a big business, wasn't it? And I mean, but what was interesting is that my dad, dad's a real risk taker, he's taken risks throughout his life, hasn't he? I mean, he's you know, there's been times when financially. Ancially it looked pretty shaky, didn't it? Because Dad just he just gambles on things. And the cabbage trade was very much like that. You know, one year he would do really, really well, and then another year, and it was all dependent on the crops, it was all dependent on the weather, wasn't it? And I remember when I was at the slade, my final year, one of my final pieces was like I did these big photographs of cabbages, and it was a bit like them uh what they call pimp, not pimples, you know, those um machines where you get the yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:27

Anyway, um that was really good, yeah. That was great, wasn't that?

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Yeah, okay. Um uh what's the nose? Okay. Right. Okay, this is interesting. Um, what's your favourite food to eat, or which dishes do you crave the most?

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Oh, I just eat anything.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

No, but you've got to have a favourite food. You've got to have something that you really what would what would if it were your last meal, what would you say? Gosh, that's it.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

I don't know. My last thing.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

No, well, I mean, if I had to say to you, Mum, tonight you can have whatever you like, what would be your favourite thing? What would you like me to rustle up?

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Um I like pasta dishes, um, which I don't do very often because uh dad's not that uh interesting, but just a nice um chili cum carni or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Oh, okay. Yeah, okay. Interesting. I don't think that's your favourite food though. I mean one of your I mean one of your comfort foods is if you're by yourself and you've got to rustle something up, you said to me that you'd have like salmon and rice salmon and rice. So tin salmon and rice.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yeah, yeah with soy and soy. Lovely, right, okay with grated cheese on top.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Okay. Um have you ever been to Japan? If yes, please describe an experience you enjoyed there. No, never been to Japan.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

No, and um long-term uh travel now is getting too much, so I'd never do it. But it's lovely to follow Sam when she's uh away.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

Uh and then Jennifer says, if no, please describe an experience in a non-English speaking country that you visited.

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Well, you've you've been we've travelled quite a lot, haven't we? We've been to um uh the Caribbean and all those sort of places, but I can't ever think. The only thing was when we were away when I had uh neuralgia.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Oh yeah, so we went to it aventura, didn't we? Um perhaps three or four years ago, and then mum, you developed this terrible pain in your jaw, which was neuralgia, and it would just oh my god, it was it was it was traumatic, wasn't it? Okay, um what types of family traditions do you have for holidays, birthdays, etc.?

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Tradition. Do you have a do we have any traditions? Well, we have a uh we have a lovely normal Christmas, don't we? Yeah, I do have to have my lovely Christmas tree at my hall. Yeah, and we have a really nice traditional Christmas. Yeah, that is a must.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Yeah, mum's big on decorating. I haven't got that, I haven't got that interest. I don't do anything, but you've always been you've always liked doing that, haven't you? Sort of making things nice and yeah, and mum's a great gift giver. I mean, you you know, all mum's presents are beautifully wrapped up, and you know, I haven't inherited that either. Um get a bit of brown paper and a sticker on it from me. Um, yeah, that's yeah, you've always gone to you you follow that, you yeah. I mean, I mean everything in terms of Christmas, Easter, we do all the we do all of the traditional kind of things, even though we're not we're not religio religious. Um okay. Okay, um okay, having been having having been involved with Sam's book, do you still sketch often? Yes. Yeah, you do.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

Very often, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Well, yeah. Well mum does the sketch club every month, don't you? Every month um mum joins us for a couple of hours of sketching every month.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

And I very often do pick up uh my pencils, and uh the trouble is I get so carried away. Um the afternoon could just fly. Yeah, that's great, that's great.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Um, and then uh have you always drawn now? We've answered that question. Um, I love this one. How do you keep mo how do you keep motivated and fresh with a sense of purpose in life? I'm not sure about that. How do you because okay, I think she's asking because you always come across as really positive and cheerful. And how how uh is that just generally you or what do you think?

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Yes, I I I know that I've always been quite a positive person and take every day as it comes. I I do find now that uh things, you know, we're losing friends and this sort of thing, and life is getting more traumatic. But you know, we you just have to get up and and get on with it basically. And thank goodness what what we've still got.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

I think well, I think I've got that from you. You've always been really I mean the thing about mum is that she's a really good listener, you've got lots of friends, haven't you? You've got lots of lovely friends, and mum is the person who will listen to anybody and and offer advice. Um, and I think I've got that from you. I think I've got your empathy skills and your ability to yeah, kind of like be supportive, but also, you know, you give great advice and you're very reassuring. I mean, it's yeah, yeah, I think you're very level, really. Emotionally, you're quite level, I think. I mean, there are times when you've had rough times and you've been, you know, especially when dogs have died or cats have died, you know, animals have, you know, but you uh overall, I think you maintain a really good, you know, um, and it's not easy because because mum lives with dad. Oh dear, oh dear.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Yeah, I can only now.

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Yeah, anybody anybody wants Roger Marshall? Oh dear, okay. Let's just I think I've got a couple more on the thing here. Let's just quickly get to these. I've just got a couple more and then okay. Um okay, what's your favourite medium to work with? Junior. Uh what what like with between drawing and sketching?

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Uh what do you mean watercolours? Yeah. Um well as Sam said, I don't really use watercolours like I should do. Um but so really I think probably my pencils and my watercolour pencils.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Yeah, okay, yeah. Um what did you what was the best thing about being part of the sketch quad?

SPEAKER_00 28:41

Well, I think it's lovely because you all sort of get together and um exchange ideas. Um yeah, I thought it was very, very good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

And we oh, here's Marple. And um we all everybody got really friendly with each other, didn't they?

SPEAKER_00 28:57

And we've all kind of that was lovely when we had that day in London. Yeah, and you took us all out for a meal. Yeah, yeah. That was lovely. Well, we actually met each other in flesh.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was lovely, yeah, yeah. Okay, and one final question, I saved the best one till last. Um, Kate asks, How proud are you of Sam?

SPEAKER_00 29:18

Oh, it'll be absolutely proud. You couldn't help be, could you? That's lovely. You know, it's so nice to think it. I think Sam has got it because she loves what she does. How many people can say that they've got a job that they absolutely love? There's not many people, no, I know, and she makes the most of it.

SPEAKER_01 29:39

I do, I do make the most of it, I do, but I I couldn't have done it without your support. I couldn't have done it without you and dad.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

The art world is is can be very tricky. Um, and there's a lot of very talented people out there that um unfortunately uh don't make it, do they, because they can't afford to.

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Yeah, I mean that mum and dad have helped me no end, you know, especially when I've changed careers, you know, they've helped me out and supported me like when I couldn't pay my rent and I took big gambles with my life, you know. You've you guys have helped me over the years, haven't you?

SPEAKER_00 30:13

But then again, you've always tried, you've always done we used to take do uh take people swimming, didn't you? And you've always done odd jobs on the side. Yeah, I taught swimming for many years, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:24

Anyways, and uh what are you most looking forward to about Italy, Mum?

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Oh, well, everything really. I mean, Sam has described last year, and it sounds absolutely wonderful. So I'm gonna be in there.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah, yeah. Have you bought your swimming suit? Of course I have. I've packed mine, yeah. Anyway, well, thank you guys, thank you. I hope you enjoyed that little conversation with uh mum Marshall. Marple's here to come and join us at the end. Uh-oh. Oh, good guess.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

She's beautiful to be daddy tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

She's going to see daddy tomorrow, aren't you? Um, yes, take care everybody, and um do send your dilemmas in to thecreative couchpod uh.com. That's wrong, isn't it? The creative couchpod at gmail.com and uh do let us know any comments below um as to the uh what you think of this video. Thank you. We need to kind of get closer so we can take a screenshot of the uh perfect. Bye! Bye, okay, okay. Let me just stop the recording, Marple. Stop