John paints in oils and is interested in the effect of industrial development and decay on the landscape and its people. Regeneration of industry is an important element of his work with the new modern industrial images mingling with the more familiar industrial shapes of the late 19th and early 20th century.

Throughout his work he tends to disregard familiar forms and ingrained ideas in work which is often bold and uncompromising. Colours can be strong and exercised over a wide tonal range in an endeavour to forge a link between objects which often bear little relationship to each other. This is illustrated in his series of constructions entitled 'Genesis', in which the relationship between industrial decay and regeneration is assessed in detail.