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The Whole Salmon: Watercolour Diaries on the Salmon River

In June 2002 Tony Foster, with a group of companions from Sun Valley, Idaho and his brother, Steve, from England, travelled the entire length of the Salmon River (406 miles) in order to make a series of watercolour diaries which describe the river in all its aspects.

Foster started the journey at the source of the river 9,000 feet up in Idaho's Sawtooth mountains - and hiked, then kayaked, transferred to a small raft, and finally ended the journey at the confluence of the Snake River in a larger inflatable oar boat.

Read full artist's statement

The journey took 26 days and each day Foster worked on a painting 10" high and between 10" and 30" wide. He also took notes, collected 'souvenirs', wrote a diary, researched the cultural and industrial history, the geology, geography and biology of the river. These 'findings' form an integral part of the finished paintings.

The resulting series of works, each the same height, form a continuous 'ribbon' around the gallery and tell the story of the river and Foster's journey down it.

The 27 finished works are approximately 23" high and from 20" to 36" wide (framed).

Each picture has a handwritten diary entry about Tony's experiences while painting. For example:

"At the headwaters looking 20°N downstream · 13/14 July 2002 · with PM · hiking through untouched flower filled meadows · a Golden Eagle is mobbed by a pair of Peregrine Falcons · they dive at tremendous speed from a great height · the Eagle turns over and presents its talons to the attackers which veer off in the last split-second"

Displaying 1-8 of 16 paintings
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Displaying 1-8 of 16 paintings
Show all