example of his humor, in responding to what I now know is an often- asked question, I learned that in making watercolor paintings in places like Everest, to keep water from freezing Tony blends in gin. “Why not vodka?” I asked. “Gin is my preferred drink,” is his quick response. Watercolor can be a rather unforgiving medium that is difficult to master but is easily portable and ideal for travelers. Tony’s paint tin has about 24 small squares of pigment and is roughly the size of the palm of your hand. It is a tiny container, yet from this he can paint the world. For centuries, artists have filled sketchbooks with field notes that would inform large paintings made back in the comforts of a studio. This is how virtually all artists of the past made large landscape paintings in oil. Tony’s finished works, on the other hand, are the watercolors them- selves, which he finishes largely or entirely on-site. These images take days or weeks painting outdoors, often after spending equal amounts of time hiking, climbing, or kayaking to his chosen locations, all while carrying in needed gear and equipment. Tony works in the elements, contending with difficult terrain, extremes in weather, dangerous or just curious animals, and poisonous or simply annoying insects. As he rightly observed in one of his diary entries, it “...seems an extraordinary, ridiculous way to make art...” 5 While many paintings are completed on site, with the largest works he creates the painting’s structure, organiz- ing the composition, adding color notes and written messages that allows him to finish in his home studio. The written passages remain, often visible through the translucent watercolors. The amount of travel Tony endures to make his paintings is nothing short of astonishing, and his travel is part of the process and part of each visual story. After crossing continents and covering great distances, he searches for hours, days, or weeks through desolate areas just to identify the right spot for a painting. Each watercolor is a complete work in itself, while several come together to make an exhibition, what Tony calls “Journeys.” He states, “Each one is philosophically a journey. Everyone’s life is a journey.” 6 If we accept this approach and replace “exhibition” with “Journey,” the inherent element of time is made clear. Exploring Time: A Painter’s Perspective is Tony’s 19th Journey, and Journeys take time. Each Journey is an accumulation of slow, yet steady progress, bringing to mind the old Spanish saying, “Poco a poco se va lejos” — ”Little by little, one goes a long way.” While working on that exhibition, I began to know Tony as more than an exceptional artist. I came to know him as someone who cares deeply about the world and the impact humans have on our planet. He is charming and friendly, a bit stubborn at times, with a great sense of humor that often comes through in the diary entries in several of his works. In the entry for the museum’s Grand Canyon painting, he wrote: “...word must have spread that an artist is at work — several visitors — some bearing gifts of chocolate, beer and cookies as if I am some feral animal to be tempted back to civilization…,” a line that always makes me smile because it seems to contrast with the seriousness of the painting. In another, a work of a mountain range in Colorado, he observed, “...open hunting starts today — a succession of unlikely characters in noisy vehicles clatter past — the local wildlife doesn’t seem to be in much danger unless it is blind & deaf...” 4 One final Tony Foster, Dibé Ntsaa/Black Mountain (Mt. Hesperus) Looking 80° East from Echo Park, 2010, Sacred Places: Watercolour Diaries from the American Southwest Journey. Watercolour and graphite on paper, crushed obsidian and brass cartridges in a glass tube, cork, sealing wax, carved fetish (Picasso marble, turquoise) by Daisy Natewa, map, feather, jet, stone arrowhead by Homer Etherton, beads (jet, turquoise, glass), cotton thread. 44 1/2 x 46 1/2 in. / 113 x 118 cm Collection of The Foster Museum Wednesday 13 October 2010 · with BB · RJ · MP · find campsite at 10,200' · set up · draw until 6.30 · return to camp frozen · restored by hot rum + steak by the campfire · 14 October · draw + paint badly · wipe most of it out at 4.00 · 15 October · Clark’s Nutcrackers have discovered our campsite + constantly raid any small object left unguarded · a cold, clear starry night · coyotes howl + owls hoot · 16 October · open hunting starts today · a succession of unlikely characters in noisy vehicles clatter past · the local wildlife doesn’t seem to be in much danger unless it is blind + deaf · 17 October · from a clear sky 64° to snow 38° in an hour · stop work at 5.00 · 18 October · pack + leave in deep snow · the mountainside a dazzling display of autumn colours · 4 Tony Foster, Dibé Ntsaa/Black Mountain (Mt. Hesperus) Looking 80° East from Echo Park, 2010. (See below for more information.) 5 Tony Foster, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Ama Dablam Looking North East from near Syangboche, 2005–2006. Woodward Collection 6 Tony Foster, quoted in David Schendel, Exploring Time — A Painter’s Perspective (San Francisco: Schendel Films Production, 2025), film short 24
