Ian Foster 25 August 1938 – 16 January 2014

After a long illness my father passed away in January this year.  I hope that perhaps somewhere now he is now able to enjoy his art and the abstract painting that he had been unable to pursue recently.

Richard Foster

27 February 2014

Exhibition

I am showing work in this group exhibition later in the month, if any bloggers are in the area we would be very pleased to see you.

Flooded Marsh

Here is something a little more  representational than usual,

Flooded Marsh  Mixed media on panel  16" x 16" (40cm x 40cm)

Two recent paintings

Here are two recent paintings both of which are new versions of previously posted work, your critique would be welcome.

Minimal 2   Mixed media on panel  

Ancient Wall 3   Mixed media on panel

40cm x 60cm  (16" x 24")

Return to Minimalism

I seem to have strayed a long way from the minimalism that I am very keen on so here is a work that gets me back on the straight and narrow again.

Untitled mixed media on panel 60 x 40 cm (24" x 16")

January texture

 

I find texture in paintings very appealing and have been using a new technique on my last few paintings, since Christmas I have been trying to develop this further, here is my most recently completed work.

January texture. Mixed media on panel. 16" x 24"(40 x 60 cm)

Winter solstice

 

This is the first in a planned series of four depicting the seasons of the year, I hope this works out satisfactorily. I have already made a start on Spring only to paint it all out and start again, I hope for better luck this time.

'Winter solstice'  Mixed media on panel  40cm x 40cm (16" x 16")

Untitled (as yet)

 

After a lengthy absence, at last, a new painting to post, as yet untitled.

 

I am not sure this is the right way to approach titling but in this case that is the way it is.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Untitled  Mixed media on panel  16" x 24"  (40cm x 60cm)

Number 4

Number 4 Mixed media on framed panel

This is the fourth attempt to make something of this panel (hence the title). The three previous efforts have been completely painted over although much of the texture here is inherited from the three previously aborted paintings.

I had begun to think that I would have to destroy this panel but in the end I am relatively happy with it.

Adwalton Moor

This is the second in my abstract series on the major battles of the English Civil war.

Adwalton Moor 30th June 1643. Acrylic on framed panel 24" x 24" (60cm x 60cm)

This battle was fought on 30^th June 1643 on Adwalton Moor near Bradford in West Yorkshire. The Earl of Newcastle marched on Bradford with a Royalist army of about 10,000 men; Bradford was Parliamentarian in sympathy and was defended by an army of 3,000-4,000 commanded by Lord Fairfax. Despite his inferior numbers Fairfax marched out to meet the Royalist army at 9am, the battle lasted about 3 hours but the Parliamentarians were defeated suffering around 500 losses.

Breckland - April

Breckland - April  24" x 24" (60 x 60 cm) Acrylic on framed panel

The Breckland is an area of sandy heath lying in the south of Norfolk and the north of Suffolk. The Scots Pine is the predominant tree and many areas are covered with gorse and bracken.

As I was taking my son to Stansted airport in April I was struck by the lovely yellow Gorse and the dark green of the pine trees. This is my abstract interpretation of the scene.

Edgehill

Three of the four paintings that I submitted to the Wymondham Arts Centre spring show were hung so I was quite pleased. Unfortunately none were sold.

A member of my family has remarked that I have not posted anything for quite some time (I didn’t know they cared) so I thought I had better remedy the matter.

Edgehill 23rd October 1642
Acrylic on panel 24" x 24" (60cm x 60cm)

This is the first in a projected series of pure abstracts based on the major battles of the English Civil War.

In the early afternoon, Charles sent his army down the hill to meet the Parliamentary army commanded by Essex. On the royalist right was Prince Rupert who broke Essex's left flank. In the centre, reinforcements arrived and they managed to push forward putting the lives of the King's sons, Charles and James, in danger.  The battle was a stalemate with neither side able to advance.

 

Urban decline

Urban Decline  acrylic on canvas 36" x 36" (90cm x 90cm)

On Friday I submitted this painting, along with three others, to Wymondham Arts Centre for inclusion in the spring show, which runs from 13^th – 24^th April. The private view is on Tuesday evening 12^th April.

A curator will mount an exhibition by selecting from works that have been submitted, I wait with baited breath to see whether I have anything selected. I understand that there are too many submissions for all to be hung. Wish me luck. 

Skid row

Skid row, collage and mixed media on panel, 16" x 16" (40cm x 40cm)

I am sorry if this one seems a little menacing, it turned out rather more that way than I had intended. I wanted to experiment with attaching some quite three dimensional objects to the image, I quite like it, I hope you do too.

Untitled

Untitled Mixed media on canvas 39" x 39"

There is not much to say about this painting. I felt that I should try something quite different from many of my efforts and I am well aware that I need to be a bit looser in my work; perhaps this is a small step in that direction.

Shattered

'Shattered' Mixed media on cradled panel 16" x 16"

This painting started life as something entirely different until I reached the stage where I had to admit to myself that I didn’t know how to create what I really wanted, at this stage I was forced to change horses in mid stream and this is the result.

I have only been painting for 2 –3 years and have never had any instruction of any kind, so I have to learn everything by trial and error.  I closely study paintings that I like, trying to figure out how this or that effect was achieved and I also read everything about painting that I can lay my hands on. Gradually I am gathering the knowledge to create the image that I have in my mind but sometimes I run into a brick wall and have to admit defeat.

A Cautionary Tale (part 2)

Success!, she likes it.
 (see previous post)

A Cautionary Tale

Untitled, mixed media, 40" x 30"

Several months ago my daughter asked me to paint an abstract for her dining room, which I agreed to do. She told me that she wanted landscape format and her preference for size, colours and even emailed me some images of paintings that she quite liked. Armed with this information it would surely be easy.

After a somewhat tentative start I was not very happy with it but I persevered, I made several ‘improvements’ and after each I was even less happy. There followed a long period of inactivity during which time I would look at it from time to time and plan the next development, all to no avail. Eventually I painted over the whole thing and came up with this, which is nothing like what she requested. I think there is a moral here.

I am quite happy with this and one or two other people have made approving noises but my daughter is yet to see it.

I wait with baited breath.

Diamond crossing

I bought the old book from which the background of this collage is taken many months ago, it is full of engineer’s formulae, tables and diagrams and I fully expected to make frequent use of it, but so far this is its only appearance and even this has been lurking about for many weeks.

I think the poor thing has rather given up hope of being posted but as I have nothing else worthy of a public showing at the moment I will give it a try.

P.S. 2^nd Ashes Test, England win by an innings and 71 runs!!

...a thing of shreds and patches...

This is a re-incarnation of a previously posted painting called XIV, I never liked it much so I decided that it must be given a makeover or be thrown out. This is the result and I am much happier with it.

'A wandering minstrel I-
A thing of shreds and patches'
W S Gilbert  The Mikado

I planned that this would be rotated 90degrees anti clock wise but there has been some dissent in the family and for the moment, at least, my son has prevailed and it is hung with the patches at the bottom.