My father, John Foster, who has died aged 88, was an artist and teacher. “With hindsight I have never been a creative enough or dedicated enough artist to make a niche,” he told me in 1985, but he was in thrall to his craft. Always distracted by the landscape around him (he fortunately never drove), in retirement he created a substantial body of beautiful work primarily from walks on the Quantocks – where he worked alongside his close friend David Macfarlane – the Brendons and West Penwith. His art speaks for this thoughtful, complicated man.
Born in Thornaby-on-Tees, then in the North Riding of Yorkshire, to policeman Robert and domestic servant Doris (nee Kemp), he and his three siblings moved regularly around the region. Bright – Ampleforth primary school got the day off when he won a place at Malton grammar school – sensitive and clearly artistic, he did not fit in easily.
