Darling Always — Original

Acrylic on canvas. Original, 1 of 1. 61 × 76 cm (24 × 30 in), unframed.

Delivery: this painting hangs in the Safe Home exhibition on 11 September 2026, so it is delivered after the show closes. You buy it now, it stays on the wall for the night, and it comes to you the following week. Insured courier, £25 UK, or collect in London for free.

A study in loss, and how the memory of loved ones who have passed stays on.

This piece started with an image I found online, an old Irish man with a goat on his back. It catches the eye for the obvious reasons, but it was the look in the man's eyes that took me off guard. At first glance he seems happy, which he is, but there is a layer of sadness underneath, the kind of look you see in someone speaking fondly about a loved one who is no longer with them. Joy in the memories, anguish in their absence.

So I built a story around that universal feeling. The man has lost his wife and cannot bear the weight of her absence; there is no joy left, and no meaning in a life without her. Then, one day in his grief, he realises there is a goat in his house with no idea where it came from. He shoos it out. It doesn't work. Over the following days the goat keeps appearing, following him to the shops, sneaking back inside, turning up in his local pub. Each time, he pushes it away.

But as it keeps returning, he develops a fondness for his new friend. He lets it walk with him, keep him company as he drowns his sorrows, sleep beside the fire. The goat is not just a pet he comes to tolerate: it represents loss, pain, and learning to live with grief. We never "get over" losing someone. We learn to live with it, and find ways for their memory to keep bringing us joy.

The typography tries to complement that feeling. "Darling Always", the whole of it, in two words.