Interview with Artist and Actor Jacob Rolfe

It doesn’t happen all that often, but for this edition of Garden Culture Magazine, we looked outside our small team for our cover design. The artwork you see on the front jacket of this issue is courtesy of Jacob Rolfe! Jacob is a Canadian artist, actor, and lover of the great outdoors. When he’s not creating art or appearing as a series regular on the Canadian sitcom  Trailer Park Boys, Jacob can be found dodging housework on hiking trails or travelling the globe. Our executive editor, Catherine Sherriffs, caught up with Jacob to chat creative processes, mycophobia, and…cats.    

C: What was your inspiration for the cover of this edition of Garden Culture Magazine? 

J: Mushrooms are the source of inspiration. I’m actually a bit of a mycophobe in my real life. I don’t eat mushrooms at home. I mean, I don’t know about phobia. That might be overstating my level of fear, but I don’t eat mushrooms at all. But I do indulge in magic mushrooms from time to time. I’ve been drawing mushrooms for this video game I’m working on with a guy. There’s a mushroom planet with mushroom characters, and they come up in my doodles and drawings. I’m drawing inspiration from different parts of my life, as well as what I’ve gleaned from other people who cultivate culinary mushrooms. 

C: We know you’re an artist; however, another claim to fame is that you’re an actor and a series regular on the Trailer Park Boys. You star as Jacob Collins. Tell me a little bit about that experience.

J: It’s super fun. They actually just filmed a 13th season of the show last month, so the dynasty continues. Back in grade seven or so, I went to an acting camp. We were doing some acting, and it culminated with a stage play at the end of the week. And I was so mortified to be on stage, having severe stage fright. And so I was like, Oh my God, I never want to do this ever again. So acting wasn’t something I aspired to, but I was living in Halifax back when the show started in 1999. And I just happened to be working at a bar there and ended up being asked to do a small part on the show because I guess I looked ‘trailer park’ enough.

Being on set was really nerve-racking. And I thought, after the first scene in the first season, oh man, I was so stiff, they’re never gonna ask me back. But then season two, it was a similar thing. I was a clerk in a store for the first bunch of seasons. My character was established as a nervous, awkward guy, which is my style in front of the camera, so to speak. And yeah, the rest is history.

My part expanded in season seven, and I’ve been a regular part of the cast since then.

C: What is your art medium of choice?

J: I really enjoy screen printing, and I used to only produce my work as screen prints. I draw with pen and paper to start, and then I’ll scan that into the computer and work on the image, assemble it, and add colour. The last couple of years, I’ve been moving into more reproductions to supplement the screen prints. I try to keep my art affordable for regular folks, and by selling reproductions, I can sell them cheaper than screen prints. I guess I sometimes think of myself as a psychedelic doodler.

Check out and purchase Jacob’s artwork at baaam.ca

C: What is your typical creative process?

J: I’ll usually get out my sketchbook, smoke a joint, and just start drawing lines and see how it develops. Sometimes, the first drawing might be what ends up being the final project. Sometimes it takes a few passes to get something to gel. 

C: A lot of your artwork involves plants. Do you have a garden?

J: I don’t. I have like a brown thumb, if any, or a black thumb. I don’t know what the opposite of green is. Red thumb? Brown thumb sounds a bit…off. I blame the coastal environment here. Like I tried to grow basil a couple of years ago, but it never got any bigger than the little plant that I bought from the garden shop. Similarly, my brother gave me some peppers this year. They’ve grown a little bit. I’ve gotten only one pepper off them so far. He’s got giant bushes back in Toronto, where he lives.

I’m not a natural farmer by any means. So, maybe drawing plants is my compensation for that. If I can’t grow the plants, I can at least draw a picture of them and, you know, put that on the wall or on a shelf.

C: What about cats? Do you have cats? Because I noticed you enjoy drawing cats.

J: No. Maybe a similar thing, compensation for not having any of my own. We grew up with a lot of cats when I was a kid. Like we probably had five cats at one point, all at once, and different cats coming and going over the years. My mom would always feed stray cats if they were outside. She couldn’t bear to let them go hungry, and we’d end up adopting them sometimes if they just ended up moving into the house.

C: Do you like to cook? 

J: I like making lots of bean or lentil dishes. That’s sort of my base thing, like soups or stews. I also really like spreads and sauces that are very flavourful, like making a black olive or black and green olive tapenade. I just made a spread called Zoug. It’s a coriander- or cilantro-based sauce with cumin, cardamom, garlic, and lemon juice. I’ll make a pizza from scratch if I’m feeling a little bit junk foodie. I live alone, so there’s a risk that if I make a pizza, I’ll eat the whole thing, and then I’ll end up regretting it. I can’t pack away the courses like I used to.

C: I find it really funny that you’re doing our mushroom edition and don’t eat mushrooms.

J: Yeah, it is. I do find mushrooms super fascinating. If you look up weird mushrooms online, there are so many weird mushrooms, things you could never even imagine. So I do find them fascinating, but also, you know, kind of repulsive on a certain level.

C: Do you like to travel? 

J: I like traveling a lot. The last couple of years, I spent time in Thailand during the winter. I spent a lot of time in India over the years, which I find to be a really exhilarating place to travel. Although it can be kind of overwhelming as well. I’m going to Nepal in a couple of months to hike in the Annapurna mountains with a buddy this year. I have to start training for hiking in the Himalayas. I realized that I turned 50 last year, and I can’t just take it for granted that my body’s going to cooperate. So yeah, I’ve been doing a bit of jogging for the first time in years, like just starting off real slow, you know, doing some planks.

Watch for the full, unedited interview with Jacob Rolfe on our YouTube Channel @gardenculturemagazine