WORKING -- John Foster

-- Story by Deepa Bharath; photo by Greg Fry

HE IS

Putting the pieces back together.

MAGIC AND MASTERY

John Foster sees art in everything -- the old, the new, the beautiful

and the broken.

His customers bring in the remains of their shattered memories or

prized possessions. Be it a Disney figurine or a 4,000-year-old Egyptian

jar, he literally picks up the pieces and makes it as good as new.

No, he can’t pull rabbits out of hats or make the Great Wall of China

disappear. But Foster, 38, is an art restorer at Pick Up the Pieces, a

Costa Mesa store that does exactly that.

THE ART OF PATIENCE

Foster has a degree in art history, but it takes more than that to

master the art and the science of mixing and matching colors and

chemicals. It calls for passion and a lot of patience, he said.

“You need to be resourceful,” Foster said. “You have to learn to

appreciate different art forms, from oil paintings to wood and bronze to

jade. You have to undo the damage without intruding on its existing

condition.”

And that’s easier said than done. Foster starts each project with

research about the piece. Then the excitement begins.

“It’s a joy to see it progress and take shape,” he said. “The sense of

exhilaration and accomplishment you get in the end is worth it.”

Some of the work takes months to complete, said Foster, recalling an

8-foot Chinese vase he put together recently.

He has also managed to get his hands on a few of those Academy Awards

that fell off their bases right before the presentation.

HANDS ON HISTORY

Foster works on artifacts from all over the world -- the items’ values

range from a few hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand.

His most challenging work was an Egyptian oil jar from a pharaoh’s

tomb that was retrieved from a shipwreck.

“Its history was amazing,” he said. “But what’s even more amazing is

it survived for 4,000 years and then somebody knocks it off the counter.”

His biggest satisfaction, of course, comes from seeing the smile on

his customers’ faces.

“It could be something that may not be worth anything money-wise,” he

said. “But to them it has sentimental value.”