John Raynes’ primary interest is in searching out salient shapes and seeking structure, form and pattern within the landscape. "I believe such patterns are usually only subliminally experienced but the artist's (well this artist's!) job is to filter them out and, by simplification, bring them to the surface. While all vision is of course either perceived by light reflected from objects (including the sky) or directly from the sun or man-made light, the patterns made are primarily produced either by the impact of forms silhouetted against the prevailing light (contre jour) or by the shapes of colour and form as revealed by direct light."

He embraces the complexities inherent in the Cornish coast line with its coves, promontories and jagged, rocky geography. The variations in the light between sunrise and sunset provide, sometimes unexpected, challenges for him to explore but, as a very generalised rule, if he is looking for strongly contrasted coastal light patterns he heads for the south coast and for more overall colour and structure he makes his way to the north.

John observes, "A characteristic of this beautiful county of ours is the relative proximity of north and south coasts. When looking out to sea on the north coast (therefore with the sun for much of the day behind you) the beach, the sea, anything on or near the sea will be frontally lit. Thirty miles or so south, sometimes less, the converse is true. The southerly view on the south coast is contre jour. Rocks, boats and quays are silhouetted against the light and at times the orb of the sun (and its reflection in the sea) enters the picture. Two completely different sets of shapes and patterns so easily accessible."

John works from life where possible but supplements this with information provided by photographs that he takes as part of the creative process, manipulating the images electronically, searching out images from which the most significant shapes can be selected and developed.

He uses mixed media, usually watercolour and oil paint, working on several paintings at the same time to allow the layers to dry but also to "keep the vision fresh".

He has made one major painting for each location and an accompanying collection of smaller paintings as well as rarely exhibited drawings. The value of drawing, composition and colour founded in his early education at St. Albans School of Art, and his exposure to and experimentation with abstraction is evident in his search for abstract shapes in a primarily figurative series of images.