All these encounters have provided me with the foundations for my idiosyncratic career. It would be invidious here to attempt to list all the people who have helped to influence me, but some cannot escape mention. I am now entering my eighth decade, so I realise that this may be the last exhibition on this scale that I will create. This is therefore a time for reflection, so I hope I will be forgiven for acknowledging the contributions made to my life’s work since 1982, in addition to those who contributed directly to this exhibition. I am particularly proud to have been befriended by some of the world’s most respected scientists. Professor William (Bill) Brace (1926–2012), former chairman of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric + Planetary Sciences at MIT, and Professor Winslow Briggs (1928–2019), former director of the Carnegie Institute for Science, Department of Plant Biology at Stanford University, volunteered to accompany me on many early journeys. I learned enormous amounts from these two men — a debt that I can never repay. Since that time I have been honoured by the attention to my work paid by Professor Sir Ghillean Prance FRS, former director of New York Botanical Garden and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Professor Sir Stephen Sparks CBE FRS, vulcanologist and winner of the Vetlesen Prize. Professor John Haldane of St Andrew’s University has written about my work on several occasions. For the Exploring Time exhibition, Professor Dorothy Merritts of Franklin & Marshall College volunteered to be on hand to correct my misunderstandings and curate advice on technical details. All have written insightful and authoritative essays for this catalogue. It can be no coincidence that Jane Woodward, patron of The Foster Museum, Palo Alto, is also a distinguished scientist. Her determination to achieve all her many goals is legendary amongst her colleagues. It was she who conceived The Foster Museum and steadfastly created it. I’m biased of course, but I think it is extraordinary. I could never have dreamt of being the subject of such a fine institution. Creating the paintings in this exhibition has, of course, been my sole responsibility. It is my job, not just to come up with the concept, but also to decide on the paintings to elucidate it. In this I fell back on my usual routine — I consulted knowledgeable friends and travelling companions. Once we had decided upon the structure and the list of appropriate subjects, all I had to do was go off and do the work! In my 45 years working in the backcountry I have probably lived in a North Face Tadpole tent for 7 or 8 years so I know to expect exhaustion and delight, balmy days and frozen nights, barbequed fresh trout and un-rehydrated slop, butterflies and bugs’ bites, starlight and pouring rain, conversation and a hot rum toddy round a campfire. For this exhibition I have shared these experiences with Martin Beck, Professor Bill Brace, Ann Briggs, Professor Winslow Briggs, Rachel Burton, Ann Foster, John Frazier, Rowan Halkes, Mattias Lanas, Chris Mazzola, Kurt Ohms, Joe Pavlo, David Schendel, Ang Phuri Sherpa, Ang Nurbu Sherpa, Ram Pandy, Professor Stephen Sparks. Filmmaker David Schendel has been making a documentary, Painting at the Edge, about my work for several years. He proved to be an excellent travelling companion and a very reliable friend in the backcountry. Foster paints Nevado Sajama, an extinct volcano that is the highest peak in Bolivia, in the snow for his Ice and Fire: Watercolour Diaries of Volcano Journeys, March 1997. 12
