Clarence Douglas Brear

Clarence stated he was born August 3, 1931, at a neighbor’s farmhouse with a doctor and mid-wife present, the nearest town was Burk’s Falls Ontario. His parents were: Archie and Minnie & he had a brother and 3 sisters.

Clarence recalls that his “hair lip” was repaired in Toronto at 6 months. States his Dad and cousin took him in a 1921 chevy on the all-day drive to Toronto.

Remembers doing tasks at school: chopping wood, shovelling, sweeping & leaving school at grade 2.

At age 27 in 1958, Clarence was working on a grain farm in Trochu, Alberta. He was starting the augur motor, putting the V belt back on when his gloved hand got caught. “The sides of the pulley of V belt are like a knife” and his left index finger was cut off. He went to hospital for one week, his family didn’t know. He stayed on at the farm and a couple of weeks later went back to work to a new job - feeding 300 head of cattle.

Worked various jobs in Alberta on the roads/farms – cleaning sides of highways for example. Went north to Fort McMurray & worked in oil related industries doing different labour jobs.

He moved to BC and found work in sawmills and in the fishing industry – but not on boats! He rode his bike from northern BC to Vancouver in1985 and stayed.

Clarence was referred to our clinic in 2014 and shortly after getting to know our team started to bring in handwritten poems and jokes and give them to the staff at the front desk. Over time these notes became drawings. Early drawings depicting flowers and fish were treasured by staff. Then he would order images from staff and produce large collages with these pictures combined with his drawing – usually in a series of 4 or 5 – all the same & made by hand. The Gallery Gachet in the DTES had a show of his work in 2015 that he titled: “My Art is My Lifehood, My Art is My Life Achievement”.

Clarence’s work depicted stories from his past, his love for the natural world, for large structures such as bridges, and for activities like bike riding, swimming, & holidays. He had opportunities to show his work in several different venues and sold a lot of the work to staff & community members. Through his art he met other artists and built a network around himself. His generosity with his work was pivotal to this connecting that he did with others – at S2 Café on Hastings, at Opus art supply, with organizers of the Vancouver Outsiders Art Festival.

At age 90 just after celebrating his birthday he brought his art supplies to the clinic and stated he was retiring from art – he kept his word and didn’t produce any more work.

He had a long hospital stay following a fall from his scooter, was moved to a care home & died there January 8, 2024. He is missed very much by our team at the Downtown Community Health Centre and by all those moved by his art and creative spirit.