It is often said at Possession, Praslin, that before you see Daryl, you see a bottle of Seybrew. For sure he likes his beer, and perhaps that’s his inspiration to be such an accomplished and versatile artist.

Daryl Kirchner is the son of Myriam Lablache de Charmoy, who passed away last year, and German Peter Kirchner, who died four years ago.

He is also the cousin of Raymond du Buisson of Anse La Blague, an artist who certainly needs no introduction.

Daryl, 40, says while both of them have been self-taught, their styles differ though to the casual visitor there are many similarities with the use of a lot of bright colours.

He lived for 23 years in South Africa and several more in Australia, but has also been in and out of Seychelles. For over three years now, he has been settled at Anse Possession, where he has his home.

This versatile young man built much of the place himself, to house his ailing parents, after living for a while in South Australia.

He kept a room for himself, which he uses as a sort of studio, occasionally venturing on to the seashore to buy refreshments and seek inspiration from the scenic view of the bay of Anse Possession and Curieuse island, another natural habitat of the legendary coco de mer, spread out barely two kilometres away.

Daryl paints only oil on canvas. He does no abstracts and calls his style “semi-realism”.

He can, however, also do custom-made paintings. “If a client absolutely wants a purple sunset – which does not exist – I can do it, if that’s the choice.”

At the Café des Arts at Cote d’Or, where his paintings are on display, it is obvious that Daryl loves nature a great deal. There are beachscapes, sunsets and tortoises.

A striking one is of breadfruit and a big green lizard, lurking under a leaf.

Pierre Harter, the owner of the Café des Arts, seems to like his style and regards him as a promising artist. The large nature scenes sell for between R10,000 and R12,000.

It was during his years in South Africa that Daryl became interested in taxidermy – the art of preparing, stuffing and mounting animal skins so they present a lifelike appearance.

He has albums full of photographs of the animals he has stuffed and mounted abroad. These include wild game, which people like to adorn their sitting rooms with. Some are pets – dogs, cats and others – which the owners want preserved on death, knowing that their loved ones are still around.

Obviously this is a skill that cannot be used in Seychelles, where birds and most of our fauna are protected.

When not painting – or enjoying a beer – Daryl likes fishing, that is demersal fishing well outside the marine park.

And he is always sharing a joke with friends. All work and no play would make him a dull boy.