Tony Foster was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1946. His home is in Tywardreath in the county of Cornwall, though he travels extensively to make his work. Since 1982 Tony has created a series of 'watercolour diaries' in the world's great wildernesses. Travelling mostly on foot, by raft or canoe, his adventures have resulted in ten major exhibitions, and material from seven exhibition catalogues is featured on this website. His exhibitions usually tour galleries in Great Britain before going to the USA where most of his work is sold.

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Tony at work above Gokyo (17,500')
Photograph copyright © 2005 Mike Nathan

The focus for Tony's last major exhibition which showed at the Royal Watercolour Society, London, before touring to Santa Fe, Dallas, New York and Phoenix Art Museum was "Searching for a Bigger Subject" contrasting two of the world’s most powerful subjects - Mt. Everest and The Grand Canyon.

Tony with unfinished 6' painting above Gokyo (17,500')
Photograph copyright © 2005 Mike Nathan

Filming "The Man Who Painted Everest"
at 13,400 feet (4084 M)
Photograph © Kurt Ohms 2006

Tony's next exhibition is a major, world-wide, cross-cultural project: SACRED PLACES - Watercolour Diaries of Philosophical Journeys. Full details are on the News page.

Prayer flags on Everest (detail)
Artwork copyright © 2007 Tony Foster

In order to make his Watercolour Diaries - some very large - up to 6 feet long - he treks into pristine wilderness, camps and works on the spot. The resulting paintings are a visual record of what he encounters on his journey - not just the landscape, but flora and fauna, notes, souvenirs and anecdotes.

Perhaps many of us would feel we had done something exceptional if we were to stay alone in a wilderness for over a week. Tony Foster does this for a living. Articles by or about Tony Foster have appeared in many publications. His work has also been the subject of a television documentary and a Radio broadcast. See Tony's CV for details of Tony's forthcoming and current exhibitions as well as a summary of selected solo exhibitions since 1985, a summary of his major journeys and a summary of his media appearances.

Tony Foster's work is represented in Phoenix Art Museum, the Autry Center for Western Art, Los Angeles, Yosemite National Park art collection, Sierra Nevada Museum of Art, Denver Art Museum and in many private collections internationally, including that of Mr and Mrs Paul Mellon.

In 2002 the Council of the Royal Geographical Society conferred upon Tony Foster the Cherry Kearton Medal and Award for artistic portrayal of the world's wilderness areas. The Medal and Award were presented by the President, Professor Sir Ran Cooke, at the Society's Annual General Meeting on 10 June 2002.

In 1988 he was awarded the Yosemite Renaissance Prize. In 1994 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Tony sketches each picture and gets about a third of the painting done on site. He makes copious colour notes to enable him to complete the work back at his studio in Cornwall.

Everest from a high point above Gokyo (17,500'>
Unfinished Painting 6' x 3'

Studio paraphernalia
Pencils, brushes, and, partially visible in the extreme
bottom left corner, his diminutive paintbox

Wall lined with samples picked up on his travels

In Tony's Studio - three diminutive paintboxes


Studio photographs copyright © 2005 Tony Foster