Estimated for Release on 29 October 2026 or before.

Four new oil paintings by Joanne Short and ten new paintings by John Dyer bring together two artists’ responses to an extraordinary expedition through central India. Indian Summer grows from their time in Pench: its dry tropical forest, its wildlife and the Gond communities whose lives are closely connected to this landscape.

For John, much of that connection began at the easel. Many of his paintings were completed during the expedition, working in the tiger forest and in Gond villages. Painting here meant looking carefully, working quickly and responding to life as it unfolded around him.

At Kolitmara, the journey to paint began with a crossing of the Pench River. Children and villagers gathered around John’s easel, while a nearby wedding brought bright saris and movement to the scene. In Piparya, he painted a village house with red flowers growing on its roof, with local children watching as the picture took shape.

The forest offered a different rhythm. With special permission and forest staff accompanying him, John worked among trees and rocks and beside a quiet lake, where birds and butterflies animated the surroundings. These were places to experience through sound, stillness and the awareness of wildlife nearby, as well as through colour.

Joanne’s four new oils bring her own artistic response to the expedition into the collection. Alongside her painting practice, she documented the journey in photographs, films and daily diaries, recording the encounters and observations that give this shared experience its personal depth.

The journey formed part of Last Chance to Paint’s Land of the Tiger expedition, hosted by the Satpuda Foundation and supported by Born Free. Its school workshops invited local children to paint their own homes, animals and forest: a reminder that this landscape holds many stories and many ways of seeing.

Indian Summer brings fourteen new paintings together at the John Dyer Gallery. Discover India through the distinct eyes of John Dyer and Joanne Short, and the places and people they encountered along the way.