John Elwyn was born in Adpar, Cardiganshire, in 1916. He spent two years at the Carmarthen School of Art before going on to the West of England College of Art in Bristol where he won a scholarship to attend the Royal College of Art, London. He taught at the College of Art in Portsmouth for a few years, before moving to the School of Art in Winchester. He had a passion for his childhood in Cardiganshire, with his subject matter often including rural buildings and the Welsh landscape. He won the Gold Medal for Fine Art at the National Eisteddfod in 1956. John Elwyn died in 1997.