By Tricia Tomiyoshi
Lodi Living Editor
Last updated: Saturday, Mar 12, 2005 - 07:58:03 am PST
Call David Jon Foster a modern day Renaissance man.
A painter, poet, writer and photographer, Foster has been experimenting with different forms of art for the last 25
years. Over the last year, abstract expressionism has captured his imagination and he has added some bold,
colorful, almost tropical-style visions to his growing portfolio of pen and ink, charcoal, plexiglass etchings and
artistic photographs.
Q: How did you get into painting?
A: Last year, I bought some canvas and began
working with watercolor and acrylics. Some of
my paintings are all acrylic or all watercolor or
I combine the two together and maybe throw in
some oil or charcoal. My sister-in-law is an artist
and an art teacher and she encouraged me to
do more artwork.
Q: Where do you paint?
A: I have a studio at home. Some day, I hope to own my own studio and gallery full-time.
Q: Do you listen to music when you are creating your artwork?
A: I listen to a lot of acid jazz, jazz fusion and smooth jazz. Mombo has a lot of concerts and I've been helping out
with some of the shows doing sound for them. I started getting into taking pictures of musicians in the show and
combining it with my artwork. Just capturing something in the picture to express the emotion of the performance. I
use graphics and different filters. There are quite a few examples of my work in the backroom of Mombo's.
Q: Where do your ideas come from?
A: My ideas come from emotions. Most of it is an expression of some emotion.
Q: Do you take art classes?
Q: Who are some of your favorite artists?
A: Escher. Hans Hoffman. He's an abstract artist. And Salvador Dali.
Q: What do you look for in a good painting?
A: I look for a person's emotions rather than their technical ability.
I'd rather see their work is an expression of joy or freedom,
something that means something to them, art that they don't
want to part with. Not just a painting that someone does to
sell it for $100.
Q: Tell me about your poetry.
A: It's very emotional. It's abstract but it's not very happy poetry sometimes. It's an exploration of the mind so
what's there is there. There are lots of stories behind them and a lot of it comes from pain. Sadness tends to
move me to write more than happiness. I just want to warn people about that.
Q: You seem to experiment a lot with your work.
A: I don't want to do something just because it's popular. A lot of artists experiment to find their style but once they
find it, they keep doing the same thing. I guess I'm still trying to find my style but this is a lot of fun.
For more information, visit http://www.davidjonfosterart.com/.
Contact Lodi Living Editor Tricia Tomiyoshi at triciat@lodinews.com
