Warm brown eyes. Shiny black coat with white spots. This is Spock. You can now view his adventure of a life story in beautiful oil paintings by Spock’s mom and artist Clare Thorbes. Rescued: A Painted Story is the first solo exhibition by the oil painter, now on display at Happy Goat Coffee in Sandy Hill until December 15.
“Ready for Adventure,” by Clare Thorbes. Photo provided.
“There have been dog-related art shows in various media, and of course lots of movies and books about a particular canine. But I don’t think anyone has ever painted a dog’s life story before,” shares Thorbes in a press release. We spoke with the visual artist in an interview to learn more about Spock’s story and what drew the painter to create this collection of works.
Spock, a lab mix, was rescued from a shelter in Halifax. Spock’s previous owner put him and his mom into a cabin in the woods and fed them once a week. When the dogs arrived at the shelter, they were in terrible shape. While Spock’s mother was adopted quickly, the younger dog spent three months in the facility before finally being adopted by Thorbes. She was immediately drawn to his calm demeanour: “He was so self-contained and he walked beautifully on a leash. I remember when we finally brought him with us, he put his head on my lap in the car as if he knew he was going home.”
The exhibition covers Spock’s 15 years on earth, from living on an eight-acre farm and freely roaming around to living in an apartment in the city and keeping Thorbes close company. When Spock started to decline in health during the last couple of years of his life, Thorbes was devastated. Losing a pet is often dismissed in our society, yet the grief and mourning around losing these profound relationships is absolutely heartbreaking.
A painter of animal portraits and landscapes throughout her life, Thorbes combined text from her journal entries during the first couple of weeks of intense grief with oil paintings of moments in Spock’s life: “I wanted to make a painted story, an immersive experience in chronological order, in both English and French.”
Clare Thorbes. Photo provided.
Painting from coast to coast, Thorbes has been preparing for this solo exhibition for years, from studying how to exhibit in Victoria to expanding her experience on the East Coast. She spent five years studying art with Glenn Howarth, a pillar of Victoria’s arts scene and a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts. Then came a two-year studio-based program at the Victoria College of Art, where Thorbes graduated with a Diploma in Fine Art in 2003. Interested in all the arts, the painter also worked in book publishing and editing and is a certified Creativity Coach.
Today, Thorbes is proud to share Spock’s life story with us in Ottawa: “I hope that by viewing the exhibition, people realize that this animal had his own life and experiences on this planet—I wanted to offer a window into his life.” At the opening, viewers emotionally bonded with the series, with the raw emotion in the early journal entries after Spock’s loss resonating deeply.
View Rescued: A Painted Life Story on display at Happy Goat Coffee at 317 Wilbrod St. in Sandy Hill. Explore more of Clare Thorbes’s works here and stay tuned for a daytime event at Happy Goat for the general public to discover the exhibition.
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