Quotes by John Dyer

• 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.
• I want to paint big, bright, optimistic pictures of the place I love.
• In some parts of the world there is very little tidal movement.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 used to own a dingy and can still sail one if pushed, but I like the pleasure boats.
• 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.
• The lifestyle that an artist can have, the freedom to wander in the landscape with no real pressure or deadlines, was a very attractive one.
• The majority of my work is from life. I spend most fine days from May to October painting outside.
• The most amazing thing to me about the sea is the tide. A harbour like St. Ives is totally transformed in a very short space of time by the arrival or departure of the sea.
• The paintings by Van Gough and Chagall had a big influence on me.
• 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.
• My optimism for life carried through my work.
• Digital media has destroyed much of the magic and mystery of the medium.
• It's a terrible thing wishing that it can be someone else's tragedy.
• I use about 20 different colours to retain the luminance in my work.
• And he that will this health deny, down among the dead men let him lie.
• During the winter when the weather is too poor to work outside, I do use drawings and photographs, but I change my work so it is not just a time and place study.
• I apply paint directly from the tube and with my fingers.
• 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 have been surrounded by artists and paintings throughout my life. My father Ted Dyer is an artist, and from a very early age I have spent time painting and drawing.
• I have improved the way in which I paint. The colours are cleaner and there is more energy in the brush work.
• 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 love the sea's sounds and the way it reflects the sky. The colours that shimmer across its surface are unbelievable. This, combined with the colour of the water over white sand, surprises me every time.
• I paint what I see, not what a camera would see.
• I realised that if I did what I wanted to do, it would work.
• I really enjoy squeezing out a big lump of paint directly onto the canvas and leaving it; fresh, immediate and sometimes shocking.
• I still take photographs for my own use, personal studies. I do not feel that I can fully express my views through the medium and this is why I have moved towards painting.
• I have lived in Cornwall from the age of 4, so I have always been aware of the artistic heritage that the county has. I feel very proud to be able to connect to this.
• 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.