David Forster RSW has a new exhibition of his works (his  fourth)  at the Open Eye Gallery. He is known for his great skill in the use of watercolour and acrylic as mediums creating intense atmospheres, changing light and reinventing what has been described as a ‘romantic’ narrative.Â
At the Private View, the talented but very modest, David Forster, told me about his dramatic change of career from chemistry to painting -resulting in an artistic journey from urban scenes to frozen country landscapes.  His early paintings show how David  was fascinated by the way in which nature creeps back into the city and how we model parks and planted spaces to tell stories about our collective, often idealistic view of nature and the stories which this evokes.
Two of the acrylic works which are on view illustrate a very personal artistic journey from urban scenes, sometimes banal, often with a dark side to them, to later work that moves out into the countryside and the wildness of weather – especially of snow and ice outside the towns and cities. I found this very powerful and showing the tremendous range shown in David’s ‘Journey of Passages’.
Born in 1962 and based now in Edinburgh, David’s Exhibition record reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ in a league table of exhibitions, collections and awards. He won his first award in 2001 – The John Grey Award – from the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, and has enjoyed continued success  to 2015 when the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour honoured him with the Rendezvous Gallery Residency Award. His works are in a number of Collections including the City Arts Centre in Edinburgh
******
The current Exhibition runs until Wednesday 30 March so there is plenty of time to see not only this featured artist but also works of others past and current. My personal reviews on Lothian Life are now moving towards featuring individual artists – and so do each one the  justice s/he deserves – as opposed to attempting to cover an entire Exhibition every time!  It’s so difficult to choose who to review, but I hope to encourage you to go and see for yourselves.
The Gallery is at 34 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh EH3 6QE, telephone 0131 557 1020, email is mail@openeyegallery.co.uk and website is www.openeyegallery.co.uk
The Exhibition is open Monday to Friday 10am to 6 pm, Saturday 10am to 4pm.
Published by
Christine Richard OBE FRSA
http://www.lothianlife.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Christine.jpg
Christine has over 25 years' experience in public life in Scotland in the fields of politics, education, public relations and charity work. For 12 years she served on the City of Edinburgh District Council and was her Group's leader for 4 years. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 1992 she was made an OBE. Christine is a member of the Board of The Friends of the Royal Scottish Academy. She has just completed six years on the Board of The Edinburgh International Festival.
Christine's business experience has covered the fields of theatre, economic development, science, coal mining, education and training. She has held a number of non-executive directorships in these disciplines. She is a trained and experienced personal relationships counsellor and a business and personal mentor. In 2005 Christine established Christine Richard Associates who undertake Event Management and Public Relations as well as company and individual profiling. She coordinated the 'Yes to Edinburgh' campaign on congestion charging in Edinburgh. ten years ago Christine co-founded West Lothian Women in Business, which is a network for women who are self-employed and also for women managers. Christine has now stepped down from the Chair of this thriving organisation.
For 5 years Christine was a magistrate in the District Court. She was also a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Committee on the appointment of Justices of the Peace. She has been an adviser to Government in various areas of policy, including health, local government and education.
Christine is a trained and experienced radio and television broadcaster and writer as well as an entertaining and accomplished speaker. She has a wealth of topics on which she is invited to speak. These range from witty after lunch and after dinner speaking to the more serious topics of the economy, health, education, enterprise, the Powers of the Mind and Life/work balance. She writes reviews and articles for lifestyle magazine, Lothian Life. She took part as a contestant in an ITV gourmet TV show, Chef V Britain, challenging TV chef Gino D'Acampo to cook her signature dish, Posh Cottage Pie. Currently Christine is a member of the Goodison Group in Scotland and Scotland's Futures. Also she is involved in the group Changing the Chemistry of Scottish Boards. Her first novel, Whitewalls, a modern Scottish family saga has been published by New Generation Publishing and is available on all internet books siets and from libraries. She is writing a sequel Autumn at Whitewalls.
Her leisure interests include her family, literature, music, theatre, food, wine and horse racing. She is a member of a racing syndicate, which has two horses in training.
View all posts by Christine Richard OBE FRSA