John Dyer

“I want to paint big, bright, optimistic pictures of the place I love.”

“I paint what I see, not what a camera would see.”

“The paintings by Van Gough and Chagall had a big influence on me.”

“In some parts of the world there is very little tidal movement.”

“Digital media has destroyed much of the magic and mystery of the medium.”

“I use a wide selection of colours. It is impossible to produce work like mine using only the primary colours as they only mix a certain range of colour.”

“My great love is my home county of Cornwall, I love to sit and watch people enjoying themselves on the beaches and in the harbour towns of Cornwall.”

“I apply paint directly from the tube and with my fingers.”

“I used to own a dingy and can still sail one if pushed, but I like the pleasure boats.”

“I studied for my degree in London and consequently ended up spending five years away from Cornwall. I deliberately moved away from the coast to experience a different way of life.”

“I was told I was talented when I applied to Falmouth School of Art and that I should consider skipping the course and proceeding directly to degree level.”

“On my return to Cornwall I discovered that I was living in a tropical paradise. For now I am content to explore my own home and our nearest neighbour France.”

“I decided to become a painter when my first four paintings where all published and attracted a great deal of interest. I exhibited one of them and it was sold.”

“I really enjoy squeezing out a big lump of paint directly onto the canvas and leaving it; fresh, immediate and sometimes shocking.”

“My father is a well known artist, Ted Dyer, who has been painting for many years. Our work is very different, but growing up surrounded by paintings, paints, easels and art books does have an effect.”

“It's a terrible thing wishing that it can be someone else's tragedy.”

“St. Michaels Mount is a favourite place of mine; people will walk across to the Mount all day and assume they will be able to walk home. The spectacle of hundreds of people realising that the path they walked over on is disappearing under several feet of water is very amusing.”

“While I was at college studying design I decided to paint. I was also greatly inspired by the colours that I had seen on my travels in the Brazilian Rain forest.”

“I realised that if I did what I wanted to do, it would work.”

“Painting is really good fun, I have always enjoyed it. As long as I paint what I want with the freedom that I enjoy, I never tire.”