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I paint people not because of what they are like, not exactly in spite of what they are like, but how they happen to be.

I get painted quite a bit as a tragic figure because of some of the stuff that's happened in my life.

It has bothered me all my life that I do not paint like everybody else.

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.

All my forebears worked for a living. My grandfather painted portraits. My mother too. My aunt painted seascapes.

Painting is not what my life is about, but it is very important to me, and I am very lucky to be able to give some time to it.

Everyone in my family has some kind of artistic tendency. My great grandmother was a jewelry designer, and her daughter was a ceramic tile muralist.

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 paint. I still do it every day. I never neglected it. It's a gift. It's almost like religion for me. It's the quickest way for me to become still.

And I started with this: I have not painted at all my childhood. In fact, I never painted. But I helped my father who was a house painter and decorative painter. He made stage sets, he made glass paintings, he made everything.