Modern Muse w/ Marta Roca

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How Dogs Inspire Artists To Create

Photo by Hilary Walker

About The Episode

Growing up in Barcelona, Spain, there wasn't much room in Marta Roca's family apartment. At least not for a big dog, the size her mom had grown up with and fell in love with. But while no dogs came into Marta’s life throughout her childhood, she still grew enchanted with them. As an outlet for this interest, she had an imaginary friend: Snoopy, the dog from the Peanuts cartoons.

Still, to this day, Marta has not had a real-life canine companion of her own. However, that has not stopped her from integrating a love of dogs into her life. About 10 years ago, she started a print and online publication called Four&Sons. Without personal direct experience, Marta instead decided to bring an objective and outsider perspective.

The idea of Four&Sons has been to look at our furry friends through their impact on art and culture specifically. It's an area not often highlighted or acknowledged: that dogs can often be our muses as much as they are our family. Creatives of all sorts are featured, such as William Wegman – the famous photographer known for his portraits of his Weimaraners in human scenarios.

As part of Four&Sons, Marta and former Dog Save The People guest Winnie Au have recently collaborated on a new special project: Dog-Friendly City Guides. The first two are London and New York, the latter of which our host John Bartlett is featured in. They provide a way to explore and look at these major cities through the eyes of our dogs and what’s best for anyone with a dog living or visiting there.

Currently, Marta splits her time between Barcelona and Melbourne with her husband. And while it's still not the right time for her to get a dog, she acts as a 'Dog Auntie' to many friends and family members she knows – and never passes up a chance to doggysit. One day, she'll have her own hairy soulmate, she knows it.

About The Guest - Marta Roca

Marta Roca is the Founder and Creative Director of Four&Sons Magazine, a print and online publication that looks at dogs through the lens of creativity and culture. For the past decade, she has used the publication as a way to shed light on how dogs act as 'muses' to inspire artists and what they create as a result.

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