John Dinan

John has been a fulltime artist for the past twenty five years, after switching from the world of business to follow his lifelong passion. He shares his time between mostly painting and occasionally teaching workshops.

He exhibits his paintings in several main street Irish galleries, with about half his work being sold to overseas visitors, particularly to the USA. His work is also held in many corporate collections within Ireland and abroad.

Over the years, he has been in many exhibitions, both one-man and group shows, and he has exhibited in Ireland’s most prestigious annual show – the Royal Hibernian Academy on more than one occasion.

He is most known for plein air landscape paintings, particularly of the Atlantic Way on the west coast of Ireland, but he also paints still lifes and commissioned portraits from his studio near Cong in Co. Mayo. He has a large collection of European landscape paintings of France, Italy and Spain from his many travels and overseas painting workshops.

He never wanted to be restricted to one style of painting, and his approach can vary from subtle neutral grays, through landscapes in the colours of Nature, to bright slightly abstract versions. This variety of approach also helps his insights for teaching students with many different style preferences.

As an Art teacher, he is considered one of Ireland’s most popular, and his workshops always receive great feedback, as he shares everything he’s learned over more than 50 years painting in a clear, logical and relaxed manner, and he always gives one-to-one advice to his participants based on their experience level. In 2026 he will teach at two of Ireland’s most popular plein air festivals – Kinvara on the Atlantic coast, and Wexford’s Art in the Open, Europe’s largest outdoor painting festival with a large international teaching faculty.