Highly-acclaimed artist and illustrator Peter Froste has died at the age of 86.
Mr Froste had a long association with Essex and Colchester, having gone to school in Braintree.
He went on to study art at Cambridge Technical College, Chelsea School of Art, and Maidstone College of Art before completing a post-graduate degree at Leicester.
But his involvement with Colchester began as a volunteer digger in 1971 at the archaeological site that is now Lion Walk shopping centre.
From there, Mr Froste went on to play a key role in the town’s rich archaeological scene as an illustrator who came closer than many to bringing Colchester’s Roman history to life.
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Mr Froste’s role as an archaeological artist started by chance.
Philip Crummy, director at Colchester Archaeological Trust, learned early on of Mr Froste’s artistic talents and asked if he could make a sketch of the archaeology site for curious onlookers to gain an idea of what it was archaeologists and excavators were uncovering.
Mr Froste’s role was to create a sketch of what was being discovered, as well as what had previously stood beneath the ground thousands of years ago.
It turned out to be a remarkable stroke of luck for Colchester’s archaeological scene and it marked the beginning of Mr Froste’s 50-year long association with the town.
During his role as a freelance artist and illustrator, Mr Froste produced dozens of sketches and paintings which depicted the discoveries of Colchester’s archaeologists.
In a tribute to his long-standing friend and colleague, Philip Crummy said there was little doubt that Mr Froste would go down as one of the most highly-acclaimed illustrators in the profession.
He said: “I’m no art critic, but for me, Peter was a brilliant artist and surely the best in his field.
“He didn’t just recreate long-vanished buildings and places, but part of his great talent lay in his ability to animate his images and bring them to life.
“This is why his best work was where he could weave people and animals into his pictures.”
Much of Mr Froste’s work is in the Roman Circus Visitor Centre, which stands on the site of Britain’s only known Roman chariot racing track.
An exhibition of his work, called Reconstructing the Past – which includes a full-size modern circus mosaic designed by Mr Froste – was mounted in 2018.
Mr Crummy added: “Peter’s versatility was a great boon.
“He could work with all sorts of materials and tools – water colour, acrylic, pen and ink and air brushes – and in a variety of styles, such as traditional reconstructions, abstract works, and cartoons.
“He particularly liked working in oil because, as he would say, this allowed him to change things if he needed to as he went along.”
“Peter was a lovely man to work with and know – he was a great friend who, it hardly needs to be said, will be missed by all of us.”
Mr Froste married his wife, Mary, in 1967 and is survived by two sons.
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