Teen who discovered her painting talent in garden shed competes for TV art prize

A 19-year-old painter from Swansea who has sold artwork for tens of thousands of pounds is due to appear on the TV art competition, Portrait Artist of the Year.

Makenzy Beard discovered her talent for painting during the Covid lockdown after she decided to try out her mother's old paint brushes in the garden shed.

She said she felt "up for the challenge" of painting celebrity sitters in front of TV cameras and a highly respected panel of judges.

Beard is currently putting together her second collection of work, which will include about 20 paintings that reflect her "view of the world" and interest in philosophy.

After completing several portraits against the clock, the winner of the competition on SkyArts gets a £10,000 commission to paint British actor and musician Damian Lewis for the National Portrait Gallery.

"I suppose I wanted to give it a go. I've watched the show and it seemed like a challenge, so I thought why not," Beard said.

Since displaying one of her first portraits at the Royal Academy Summer Show in 2021, she has sold paintings for thousands of pounds and raised more than £45,000 for charitable causes.

"I don't think I had time to reflect much on what I thought of the work because I was having a lot of opinions from other people.

"As I've got older, people still, I suppose, have some nice things [to say] about my work, because it's not about my age but the work itself."

Beard said her latest works have more depth, especially since developing a keen interest in philosophy.

She said: "I think having not been taught, everything I do is quite intuitive. I just do what I feel like and that's always changing.

"This collection tries to capture things I see in the world and [they] have little messages."

Entering the art world at a young age has been a "crazy" experience, which she said she had found "difficult to understand", especially with some of her pieces selling for tens of thousands of pounds.

"It's difficult to navigate because unlike lots of things where you work hard and kind of get results and do well, with art it's so subjective," she said.

"You can work hard and absolutely love something and if someone else doesn't, it doesn't mean it doesn't have value."

Beard's latest collection covers a variety of topics including animal cruelty, child poverty and mental health. There are also some "light hearted" takes on some of life's challenges.

"I do see the potential for my work to become more political as I get older but I have no desire to force my work into a direction.

"If things come to me and I want it to come through in my art then it will, but I don't have a headstrong vision in terms of political stuff.

"I still feel a little bit young, too naive to project any of my opinions on these things."

Beard said she's looking to partner with a gallery in order to display her latest collection.