Darren Reid - The Long Way Home, Original Artwork, AOAP Projects

2026 Acrylic on panel 15.2 x 10.2 cm framed Signed on VersoDarren Reid (b. 1971, Derbyshire) is a self-taught painter whose intricately detailed landscapes find beauty in the overlooked. Working in acrylic with extraordinary fine brushwork, each painting takes around 250 hours to complete. Reid is drawn to quieter, less-expected subjects — empty roads, the British countryside, stretches of California — treating each as a place that simply says 'paint me'.His compositions are never direct copies of photographs. Working from his own references, he invents and adjusts: removing elements, rethinking perspective, building towards a final image that captures something felt rather than simply seen. He describes his practice as 'self-teaching' rather than self-taught — an ongoing process of discovery rather than a finished education.Reid was shortlisted for the John Ruskin Prize in 2014 and shown as part of the V&A's Recording Britain exhibition that same year. He is represented by JD Malat Gallery in Mayfair and Plus One Gallery in London. His work is held in private collections across the UK, Europe and the United States.About the WorkThe Way Home belongs to Reid's ongoing series of British landscapes — scenes that might be passed without a second glance, slowed down and made permanent in paint. The title carries a quiet emotional pull: the sense of return, of familiarity, of somewhere known and deeply felt.