A struggling artist has seen his career take off - after being told he looks like the late, great Vincent van Gogh.
Carl Stafford, 59, had been compared to the famed Dutchman for years.
But his own paintings didn't get the same recognition - until he did a story about his likeness.
Carl says that, since the article went out, he's seen a surge in interest - with more than 100 people turning up to a recent open house.
He's also sold a few pieces - including one for £500.
Carl said: "It's been amazing - I've had such good feedback. I sold one painting for £500 which I was really chuffed with.
"A professional artist came round, he was very surprised that nobody had taken me onboard and helped me out."
Carl, a grandad-of- four, said that he is now taking life "day by day" - but loving the rebirth of his career.
He said: "It is mind-blowing - you can't put it into words. It is such an honour to know that your work and name are out there as an artist.
"The biggest thrill any artist gets is that his or her work is on someone's wall.
"I have an exhibition lined up for next year but I am taking things day by day.
"You have to be realistic but I have a few ideas running around in my mind."
Carl had been compared to van Gogh for years, and says staff at a van Gogh exhibition once did a "double take" when he turned up and put on a straw hat.
And the comparisons aren't just visual.
Carl, a grandad-of-four, also lives just yards away from where van Gogh briefly stayed in Ramsgate, Kent in 1876.
He lives in the town during a short stint as a teacher at a boy's boarding school in April 1876, when he was 23 years old.
When the school, based on Royal Road, moved to Isleworth, London in June 1876, van Gogh followed.
While van Gogh's stay in Ramsgate may have been fleeting, Carl has been determined to make the town his artistic home.
His kitchen is entirely ocean-themed, completed with turtles and fish, while his living room has an ancient Egyptian theme.
Carl said: "Once I saw this flat I fell in love with it. When I realised Van Gogh had lived here it was even better.
"It was amazing as an unknown artist that had just moved here to find that out.
"The flat hadn't been painted in about 20-odd years. The landlady didn't mind me painting - she said it's an improvement.
"It's like walking into a gallery. I love it and I think van Gogh would have been impressed."
Carl Stafford, 59, had been compared to the famed Dutchman for years.
But his own paintings didn't get the same recognition - until he did a story about his likeness.
Carl says that, since the article went out, he's seen a surge in interest - with more than 100 people turning up to a recent open house.
He's also sold a few pieces - including one for £500.
Carl said: "It's been amazing - I've had such good feedback. I sold one painting for £500 which I was really chuffed with.
"A professional artist came round, he was very surprised that nobody had taken me onboard and helped me out."
Carl, a grandad-of- four, said that he is now taking life "day by day" - but loving the rebirth of his career.
He said: "It is mind-blowing - you can't put it into words. It is such an honour to know that your work and name are out there as an artist.
"The biggest thrill any artist gets is that his or her work is on someone's wall.
"I have an exhibition lined up for next year but I am taking things day by day.
"You have to be realistic but I have a few ideas running around in my mind."
Carl had been compared to van Gogh for years, and says staff at a van Gogh exhibition once did a "double take" when he turned up and put on a straw hat.
And the comparisons aren't just visual.
Carl, a grandad-of-four, also lives just yards away from where van Gogh briefly stayed in Ramsgate, Kent in 1876.
He lives in the town during a short stint as a teacher at a boy's boarding school in April 1876, when he was 23 years old.
When the school, based on Royal Road, moved to Isleworth, London in June 1876, van Gogh followed.
While van Gogh's stay in Ramsgate may have been fleeting, Carl has been determined to make the town his artistic home.
His kitchen is entirely ocean-themed, completed with turtles and fish, while his living room has an ancient Egyptian theme.
Carl said: "Once I saw this flat I fell in love with it. When I realised Van Gogh had lived here it was even better.
"It was amazing as an unknown artist that had just moved here to find that out.
"The flat hadn't been painted in about 20-odd years. The landlady didn't mind me painting - she said it's an improvement.
"It's like walking into a gallery. I love it and I think van Gogh would have been impressed."
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FunTranscript
00:00 I'm Karl Stafford, artist.
00:02 I would class myself as surrealist.
00:05 Salvador Dali, Escher, and all the surrealist movements
00:10 is I really like.
00:12 When I first saw the flat,
00:28 I didn't realize Van Gogh lived in this area
00:31 and he taught in this area.
00:32 We had a look at the flat and decided I was gonna have it.
00:46 And then we sat in the park, Spencer Square,
00:49 and we noticed that there's a bust about that high.
00:53 And we went, "Oh, that's Van Gogh's."
00:55 We read about it.
00:57 Then realized he actually lived here.
01:00 And then he taught here,
01:03 a boys' boarding school across the road.
01:05 And then I looked like him.
01:08 So it was like, "Wow, this is amazing.
01:11 "I'm an unknown artist.
01:12 "No one knows who I am."
01:14 And Van Gogh was kind of like the same.
01:18 No one knew who he was.
01:20 No one recognized him.
01:22 He had no money 'cause it was Theo that kept him,
01:26 his brother.
01:28 So I'm kind of like,
01:30 what do you call it?
01:33 On a par with him, even though it's 300 years ago,
01:38 that he's the same,
01:42 that when he lived here, no one knew who he was.
01:45 And I'm the same, and no one knows who I am.
01:48 And we're kind of like clicked in that kind of way.
01:55 But when I first came to the flat,
01:58 it had students in it, and it was trashed.
02:02 - You said that you looked like him.
02:03 Did you ever get sort of mistaken?
02:06 - I did when I went to the Van Gogh thing in London.
02:11 I took my other half's hat, straw hat,
02:16 and I sat in the room with this straw hat,
02:20 and everyone's looking at me twice.
02:22 And then when it kind of finished, we went to reception,
02:26 the reception lady said I had to look twice,
02:29 'cause I really thought that was Van Gogh
02:31 sitting in the corner with a straw hat on.
02:35 So every now and again, if I put my straw hat on,
02:38 I look like Van Gogh a little bit.
02:40 And I like to think that I'm his kind of like brother
02:43 in the 21st century.
02:45 Good luck.