"A long awaited 'tropical garden' was going to be built the same week as our 'artist in residence' had come to paint, and I was worried the mayhem might distract him. He instantly put us at our ease, and wandered off into the garden to find a place to sit and paint. Each day he arrived early, and painted huge canvases full of vibrant colour, and every day we were entranced. Our children were captivated not only by the paintings, but by John himself, who took time to involve them. The results were magical, and perfectly captured the special atmosphere we feel living in this beautiful place, on a hill somewhere in Hertfordshire.

I have always had immense respect for anyone who chooses to take time to interpret our world for us through painting, and feel especially privileged to have hosted such an inspired artist in our back garden !

My lasting memory of him will be of him and his wife Jo jiving wildly at the party which we threw to celebrate the new garden. His paintings decorated our home for the night, but I would have gladly have given them a home for life !"

Kim Wilde

• Listen to a BBC Interview about the project with John Dyer and Kim Wilde. Podcast

• Read a magazine article on the Kim Wilde paintings. PDF Format

"Looking at your own garden through someone else's eyes is always interesting, but when the eyes belong to John Dyer then you hope that he will see something that allows him to use those vibrant colours he has on his palette. It is rare to meet someone who has the same appreciation of atmosphere, colour, texture and the magic that can be created in a garden, and in John we have found someone who understands exactly what we were trying to do. We'll be handing over Barleywood to a new owner, but we will gaze on John's images of our time here, and the garden we created, and shed a happy tear. We also have a new friend."

Alan Titchmarsh MBE

"John's work is pure painted joy -unbuttoned, jumping up-and-down, salty, earthy, laugh-out-loud, natural energy. His pictures make you want to touch felty leaves, squeeze fat fruit, push your nose into flowers and breathe deeply. It's no surprise that his paintings are popular the world over; whether he is painting a vineyard in Provence, the Humid Tropics at Eden, or docks and beaches in his own native Falmouth, he touches a very human need - the innocent thirst for light, pattern and colour. We sense in John's paintings the sheer human thrill of being alive... It has been an absolute delight hosting him at Eden, he has charmed staff and public alike with his interest and enthusiasm. We look forward to his next adventures in paint at Eden."

Sue Hill Art Director, Eden Project

Paintings from around the world. The Crops Project Ethnobotanical Series

"During May 2009 for the United Nationa Year of the Potato, CIP hosted the UK artist John Dyer in Peru while he visited the Potato Park in Pisac, and Puno and Lake Titicaca, to paint scenes of the Peruvian potato harvest, life surrounding potatoes in the Andes and the potato festival in Taquile.

The result is a series of delightful images that CIP will be making good use of in the future. John Dyer is one of the UK’s most well-known open-air painters. His work is collected internationally and his paintings have been the subject of popular television programs and a wide range of merchandise. He is also one of the UK’s best known international environmental artists."

International Potato Center, Peru