4 T ony Foster’s art has always been inspired by the beauty of wild places. Exploring Beauty: Watercolour Diaries from the Wild, created over nearly a decade, is an opus on this theme. Here, Foster argues for the need to return beauty to the arts, as well as to our daily lives. Viewing the breath-taking landscapes Foster pre- sents, it is hard to imagine how one could possibly dis- agree with his assertion. Beauty, by definition, is pleasing to the senses and perhaps even necessary for health and well-being. Foster’s work inspires a quiet calm deep within our souls, which are often harried by contemporary life. Foster’s sixteen wilderness journeys have been described as producing an earthquake of emotion and a call for action. It is based on this response that the Foster Art & Wilderness Foundation was established. By keeping together the multiple works that make up journeys like Exploring Beauty (52 paintings) and sharing them in their entirety with audiences in a vari- ety of public venues, we hope to inspire reflection, discussion, and education about art, wilderness and the natural world. Staging Exploring Beauty as an exhibition was made possible by the dedicated efforts, and creative support of our amazing Foundation team: Heidi Hackford, Director of Communications and Operations; Kristin Poole, Artistic Director; Julie Muñiz, our founding Curator; Dan Saal, Design Director; Mattias Lanas, Program Assistant; and our CFO, Jon Cosby. I would like to thank all current and past board members who helped steward the Foundation through the launch of this exhibition: Holly Knapp, Paul Salisbury, Natasha Skok, Peggy Propp and Edie Barschi. Sarah Greenberg assisted us with outreach to the press, and Elise Maar, Director of Community Engagement, built an enthusiastic audi- ence for this exhibition at the Foundation’s home in Palo Alto. Thank you to Tonia Boeye, my Executive Assistant, who provided gracious support. Tony Foster’s work has attracted an accomplished group of art and wilderness leaders with national and global reputations who serve as advisors to the Foundation. I would like to extend my gratitude to them for their support of this exhibition and of the Foundation’s mis- sion: Jim Ballinger, Graham Beal, Michael Engl, Peter Fairbanks, Peter Hassrick, Duncan Robinson, Gail Severn, and Annie and Bill Vanderbilt. This book cannot fully capture the awesome scale, color, range of subjects and, of course, sheer beauty of the exhibition. Let it serve as in invitation to come and see it for yourself if you have not already and to learn more about Tony Foster and his art. I hope that the power of Exploring Beauty: Watercolour Diaries from the Wild inspires you to reflect on the beauty in your own life. Excelsior! Foreword Jane Woodward FOUNDER, FOSTER ART AND WILDERNESS FOUNDATION Our mission is to share artist-explorer Tony Foster’s powerful exhibitions of watercolor journeys to inspire reflection, discussion, and education about art, wilderness, and the natural world.
