Earth Day: Meet Artist John Dyer

This Earth Day, we’re catching up with artist John Dyer, who will be teaching an upcoming course, ‘Painting St Ives: Your Narrative’, in September. However, tutoring is just one of John’s many ongoing projects, and today we are discussing his incredible work with regards to Last Chance to Paint, a not-for-profit project supported by the Eden Project and the Born Free Foundation.

Meet the Artist

As a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an Artist for the Earth with EarthDay.org and the artist in residence for the Eden Project, John has had the opportunity to explore some of the world’s most exciting subjects through his art – with expeditions and residencies taking him worldwide, where he has painted the stories of the places and people he has encountered.

Through his travels, John discovered the need for a project that championed the equality of tribal culture, biodiversity and wildlife through creativity – and that’s when Last Chance to Paint became a reality.

“We connect children to the environment using art and exhibit their work in our World Gallery, to highlight what we all stand to lose”.

Last Chance to Paint

John, can you tell us more about Last Chance to Paint?

Last Chance to Paint aims to create meaningful connections between children from around the world and the environment & people of some of the most endangered locations on the planet. We believe that once a child feels they have a personal connection to the environment, then we have enabled that child to have reasons to tread gently on planet earth as they grow, become a careful consumer and make good decisions for our world.

Art is a brilliant way to achieve this, and it can give every child a reason to be better than the previous generation as they will have created a special connection with the people, animals, and places within these environments. Through our expeditions and live webinars, schools are able to access engaging and exciting content which will inspire them to create art based on meaningful and beautiful subjects.

Each year, Last Chance to Paint engages with 400+ schools and 50,000 children across 32 countries.

Where have the expeditions taken you so far?

The Amazon – ‘Spirit of the Rainforest’

In June 2019, myself and members of the Last Chance to Paint team travelled to Yawanawá tribe, who live in the Acre region of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Alongside my friend and Amazon Indian artist Nixiwaka Yawanawá, the ‘Spirit of the Rainforest’ project was broadcast daily, through video diaries, music, photographs and blogs for schools around the world to access.

The aim was for young people to connect with tribal culture, and experience the Amazon rainforest, enabling a personal connection and bond to it, by creating their own piece of art on the theme of ‘Spirit of the Rainforest’. Featured: Rainforest Tree House by John Dyer.

Borneo – ‘Person of the Forest‘

In September 2019, we travelled to meet the Penan tribe in Sarawak and explored their culture, knowledge and music. Palm-oil plantations are creating a huge loss of rainforest, over 80% in Borneo, and adding many animals including the orangutan to the critically endangered list.

We painted with the Penan tribe and learnt about the monumental changes that have occurred over the last 50 years, with well over 90% of the rainforest being cut down in that period.

We then headed to the far south of Borneo to Central Kalimantan, and with the help of the Orangutan Foundation and permission of the Indonesian Government, we were allowed to travel deep into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve to meet and paint wild and orphaned orangutans.

Schools from around the world were able to combine our paintings, with daily broadcasts to immerse children in the subject of the Borneo rainforest, encouraging them to reflect, connect and to then create their own piece of rainforest inspired art. Featured bottom right: Orangutan Sunset, Borneo by John Dyer.

Kenya – ‘Precious Africa‘

In 2023, artist Joanne Short and I travelled to Kenya to visit the Maasai communities living around Amboseli National Park, before travelling north to Meru National Park.

Working alongside local people and guided by Born Free’s education team, we worked with community members and local school children in both locations to create some truly unique works of art. We glimpsed some of the wild animals that call Kenya home, including the last two northern white rhinos left on earth. During the expedition, satellite communications and WIFI allowed schools to participate in Q&A’s, and daily broadcasts were uploaded to inspire children from across the world to connect to tribal culture and the environment.

Plans for the future

Do you have any more expeditions or webinars planned?

Yes – we have quite a few plans for new expeditions. I am planning to be in Australia in October running ‘Homeland’, our aboriginal expedition that will visit remote communities in the tropical north and also in the hot red centre of Australia. There is a long and difficult story to tell, and critically endangered species to highlight, and the remarkable aboriginal art to explore and learn from – I can’t wait!

I also do three webinars every year in conjunction with Born Free – so schools and home educated children should look out for those. The next one is June 12th and it is all about Tapirs in the Amazon rainforest!

The most important thing is to keep it optimistic – the world is not ending any time soon, and we should all aim to inspire our children, not frighten them.

John Dyer

If you could offer one bit of advice for teachers and parents with regards to educating children on climate change and the environment, what would it be?

Get involved with Last Chance to Paint! We have such rich resources and all our webinars are available to watch, but the most important thing is to keep it optimistic – the world is not ending any time soon, and we should all aim to inspire our children, not frighten them – so let’s enable them to start looking after their own back yard whilst understanding they are making a positive difference to the lives of their contemporaries worldwide. They are going to live through one of the most exciting, innovative and remarkable periods of human history, I am sure.

Let’s hear more about your practice…

Which place have you enjoyed painting the most throughout your career?

Gosh, that is hard as I have painted all over the world, but if I have to choose one then I think it has to be the island of Tresco. I love the island and the wide vistas, iridescent colours and the extraordinary flora of the island – it’s a painters paradise!

How do Cornwall’s and St Ives’ landscapes inspire your work?

Every time a cloud drifts away from the sun and allows the rays to reach the coast of Cornwall I am inspired, the landscape and coast literally light up with vivid colour, families rush out to enjoy the coast, seagulls dive bomb for ice creams and dogs get to play.

It’s a colour filled, narrative driven landscape and I love it! My work is very much a study of place and time – so much can happen during a day of painting in St Ives and I love to include it all.

I would love the students to really feel safe to put on canvas what they really love, rather than what they feel they should paint.

John Dyer

What do you hope people will take away from your upcoming course, ‘Painting St Ives: Your Narrative?’

I really hope I can open a window into their artistic soul – to pull back the curtain to reveal who they are – to give them the confidence to embrace what they love.

It will be a supportive, reinforcing culture to allow dreams to grow and for honesty and individuality to thrive. Of course there will be certain techniques and ways of applying paint I can help with, but I would love the students to really feel safe to put on canvas what they really love, rather than what they feel they should paint.

You can find out more about Last Chance to Paint via their website and discover more of John’s work at The John Dyer Gallery.

Take a look at John’s upcoming course with us, here.