The following was submitted by the artist in September of 2006:

DAVE FOULGER

When I was a boy, I went to an art show that was held in a grade school not far from where we lived. I had some interest in art then. I had had it from a very early age. I don't know where it came from, but it was there. Perhaps it originated when my mother told me how well I had done in drawing a picture of a toy road grader. She had been impressed with my attention to detail, and the ability I had to reproduce such a likeness of the thing using crayons. She had shown it to the family, and even to the neighbors. I remembered that. My older brother, whom I admired, was doing some pencil sketching in those days. I'm certain this made an impression on me.
 
But this art show, near our home came up and someone suggested that David ought to go over and take a look. I think I was in the sixth grade. I went over several times in the next few days. I still remember today the feelings I had then. I was mesmerized by a few of the pieces. There was a stylized painting of a cowboy. I was interested in cowboys in those days. I remember he had a blue shirt on, and probably a sheriffs star and a six shooter. I loved that picture and tried several times to reproduce what I had seen. The piece that I remember most vividly was an exceedingly fine, realistic watercolor painting of hands done by an Asian artist. Those hands were incredible-so lifelike and real looking! I recall telling others about the hands and how they looked almost better than real hands. The works in this show were reported to have been done by professional artists. This was a little unusual for a small town like Cedar City, Utah in the 60’s.  I believe it was then that I said to myself, “I too am an artist.”
 
Things really haven't changed much for me since those days as far as my objective in painting. I am still as much fascinated by the realism that can be achieved on a two dimensional surface. While most other forms of art have always interested me I have never lost my fascination with Realism. And the more realistic the better! Its the truest form of alchemy that I know of. To transmute water and pigment on two dimensional paper into the illusion of a flower, a tree, a rock or some other dimensional form is one of life's profoundest pleasures for me. Just how close can one come to sharp focused, color saturated, hyper realism is the ultimate quest.
 
Although that crude Crayon sketch I mentioned has long since disappeared, my reputation as the family artistic prodigy has not. While growing up, the school years were frequently punctuated with projects in the graphic realm & eventually culminated with a degree in Art in 1975 from BYU. During my adolescent years our family moved from one end of the country to the other while my dad pursed his vocation as a professional forester. I was born in Idaho in 1945. Our family of six lived about five years in each of several cities in northern and southern Utah, finally ending up in Virginia for two years of high school, and then graduating in 1964 in Montana. Although those formative years were an emotional hayride, which included an episode in Vietnam, I survived, but with not much ambition to create anything more than newspaper ads or hand lettered signs. A short stint with a drug store chain doing ads, and then work in electrical and commercial sign shops consumed the next few years. About four years additional experience came in the graphic arts realm while laboring in the display/exhibit field. In 1984 I opened my own business, which I operated for the next sixteen years. These were good years spent both in travels from Washington to northern California doing promotional window lettering and studio work painting signs. Many additional hours were spent busily engaged in the wood shop fabricating and finishing exhibit and display components. While these labors were not particularly fulfilling artistically, they prepared me to wield a brush with competence and precision. Refinements in the elements of composition, color and design, and patience in the manual skills were honed. Since 2000 I have set my hand to a plow of a deeper furrow, and not looking back, I press forward with the hope and intent to produce Art in the classical sense.
                     
Education:
University of Montana at Missoula 1965.
Burnley School of Professional Art, Seattle1966.
Brigham Young University, BA degree 1975
 
"Foulger best achieves his aim of making the viewer feel present at the scene with The Tiffany, his painting of a fishing boat. The viewer can almost feel the weathered hull, hear the lapping of the murky, foaming harbor water and smell the salt air...In an art world that sometimes prioritizes concept at the expense of esthetics and technical ability, Foulger offers paintings that are visually stunning and with enough mastery of composition and other formal qualities to be enjoyed at an intellectual level."
                  Ashland Daily Tidings
 
Selected Shows:
Quintana's, Portland, OR., Group Show, 1993
Nopp's Jewelry & Art, Salem, OR., Solo Show, 1994
Nopp's Jewelry & Art, Salem, OR., Solo Show, 1995
Nopp's Jewelry & Art, Salem, OR., Solo Show, 1996
Ryan Gallery, Lincoln City, OR., Group Show, 1997
Nopp's Jewelry & Art, Salem, OR., Two Man Show, 1998
Ryan Gallery, Lincoln City, OR.,Group Show, 1999
Ryan Gallery, Lincoln City, OR., Group Show, 2000

Other  gallery shows every year since  2000.