Darren Hughes was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, in 1970, and he is one of the rising stars of Welsh painting. He studied at Gwynedd Technical College from 1989 to 1990, and went on to study at Falmouth School of Art & Design from 1990 to 1993. In 1994 he did his one-year post-graduate degree at Cyprus School of Art, Paphos.

He lives in Bethesda, Wales, a dramatic slate mining town on the edge of Snowdonia. It is a landscape that constantly changes, stone is removed, light changes, and Darren captures this all with a striking honesty.

He has had solo shows in Wales, and has work in the National Library of Wales and the Royal Cambrian Academy in Conwy. In 2001, he was awarded Young Welsh Artist of the Year at the Royal Cambrian Academy. The master landscape painter, the late Sir Kyffin Williams, was an admirer of Darren's work, and indeed, he invited Darren to exhibit alongside him at his last London show. Sir Kyffin said of Darren that he: "… loves the landscape around his home in Bethesda, he loves the houses, the mountains, the gates and the stone walls and slate fences. Consequently he is able to communicate that love to others."

In Darren's own words: "I seek to reflect and encapsulate a sense of place and explore the structure, permanence and geometry of the landscape that immediately surrounds my house and studio in Bethesda." In Byd o Liw, Darren chose a location at Brynsiencyn, Anglesey from which to sketch Caernarfon castle – in fact, the same location used by John Brett in the original work. Perhaps Darren's work will be used as inspiration in 2135.