Krum, Texas is an hour’s drive and a hundred years from Dallas. It’s a frame of mind, more than a town, and it’s really quiet. You can hear coyotes from the front porch where Foster and his wife, Penny, enjoy a home-brewed beer after a full day in their studios. 

Foster was raised in a conservative, Protestant family and though he does not embrace the religion of his childhood, it has left him with a love for the Bible, its stories and the deep thoughts that inform his art work.

He calls his signature works, “fonts,” sculptures that range in height from 2’ to more than 7’. They have a deliberately primitive quality and evoke tribal artifacts, particularly African. Carved from wood he salvages, the fonts are characterized by a tall pedestal upon which he rests a turned bowl.

Foster’s fonts reference ritual bathing, a practice found in nearly all the world’s cultures. The elements are often embellished with rusted wire or beads, and frequently feature intricately carved patterns. The patterning is significant to Foster, for pattern and rhythm are integral to life. “There is a rhythm, a pattern to life, a cadence, a suspending and preserving of the beat. The pattern evolves, but the rhythm continues, as we work our way upward through life…”

Foster’s work reflects an interest in the spiritual, rather than a specific orthodoxy. His “Three Views” is a purely sculptural work depicting three towers, each with a window facing a direction different from the rest. The three polished wooden towers represent Islam, Christianity and Judaism and share a large stone base, the story of Abraham, the roots of all three.

In recent years, Foster has completed several commissions for churches near his home. They include church entry doors, a lectern, altar and furniture. The church doors were a collaboration with his wife, Penny, a stained glass artist with whom he shares a studio.

One senses a quiet humility in Foster, a bit of the solitary frontiersman. He is disinclined to explain himself or his work, but speaks with reverence for “the endurance of common things…They take on a sacredness with usage….”