Meet the 'British van Gogh', an artist who is the spitting image of the famed painter - and even lives on the same street.<br /><br />Carl Stafford, 59, says he is often told he looks like the late Dutchman.<br /><br />Staff at a van Gogh exhibition even did a "double take" when he turned up and put on a straw hat, Carl says.<br /><br />Eerily, the grandad-of-four also lives just yards away from where van Gogh briefly stayed in Ramsgate, Kent in 1876.<br /><br />Carl said: "When I went to London I got a few photos taken of myself with the straw hat. <br /><br />"The lady on the reception desk said she had to look twice because she thought it was Van Gogh sitting in the corner.<br /><br />"I know I'm not Van Gogh come back, but I can definitely empathise with him.<br /><br />"It's crazy to think he was also a struggling, unknown artist living on this same street.<br /><br />"I'm kind of in the same position he was. I've got lots of talent yet I feel like I'm on the bottom of the pile, drowning in a sea of technology.<br /><br />"We definitely have different styles of work but we have lots of other things in common.<br /><br />"I can definitely empathise with him. It feels like a real honour and privilege as an artist to have so many similarities with him."<br /><br />Van Gogh briefly lived in Ramsgate during a short stint as a teacher at a boy's boarding school in April 1876, when he was 23 years old.<br /><br />When the school, based on Royal Road, moved to Isleworth, London in June 1876, van Gogh followed.<br /><br />While van Gogh's stay in Ramsgate may have been fleeting, Carl has been determined to make the town his artistic home.<br /><br />He has even turned his flat into a piece of art - with each room being decorated in a different theme.<br /><br />The full-time artist, who describes his style as "surrealist", holds open houses and has had over 100 people come to see his flat.<br /><br />His kitchen is entirely ocean themed, completed with turtles and fish, while his living room has an ancient Egyptian theme.<br /><br />He says his four grandchildren love spending time and playing in his flat.<br /><br />His landlady also does not mind the changes he's made and says they are "improvements".<br /><br />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.<br /><br />"It was amazing as an unknown artist that had just moved here to find that out. <br /><br />"The flat hadn't been painted in about 20 odd years. The landlady didn't mind me painting - she said it's an improvement.<br /><br />"It's like walking into a gallery. I love it and I think van Gogh would have been impressed."
