Makenzy Beard, a 19-year-old painter from Swansea, is set to appear on the television art competition Portrait Artist of the Year, the BBC reports. Beard, who has sold paintings for tens of thousands of pounds, will paint celebrity sitters on camera before a panel of judges.
The winner of the Sky Arts competition receives a £10,000 commission to paint British actor and musician Damian Lewis for the National Portrait Gallery, according to the BBC.
Beard told the BBC she felt ready for the challenge. She said she had watched the programme and saw it as a test worth attempting.
Why it matters
Beard's appearance places a young Welsh artist on a national stage at a point when her career is already drawing attention. She first showed a portrait at the Royal Academy Summer Show in 2021, according to the BBC, and has since sold work for thousands of pounds while raising more than £45,000 for charitable causes.
The competition format puts her work in front of a respected judging panel and a television audience, a different setting from the gallery and auction contexts where her paintings have circulated so far.
From a garden shed to the Royal Academy
Beard's route into painting began during the Covid lockdown, when she tried out her mother's old paint brushes in the garden shed, the BBC reports. She has described her approach as intuitive, saying that because she was not formally taught, she follows her instincts and her interests shift over time.
Reflecting on her early success, Beard told the BBC she did not have much chance to think about her own work at first because she was hearing so many opinions from other people. As she has grown older, she said, the feedback has remained positive, and she believes attention now centres on the work rather than her age.
She has also spoken about how subjective art can be. Unlike pursuits where effort produces predictable results, she said, a painting can be made with care and still not connect with someone else — which does not strip it of value. Entering the art world young has been, in her words, a "crazy" experience that she has found hard to process, particularly when individual pieces sell for tens of thousands of pounds.
A second collection, and what it covers
Beard is assembling her second collection, expected to run to about 20 paintings. According to the BBC, the body of work reflects her view of the world and her interest in philosophy, and she says the newer pieces carry more depth than her earlier output.
The collection takes in subjects including animal cruelty, child poverty and mental health, alongside lighter treatments of everyday difficulties. Beard told the BBC the paintings try to capture what she observes and contain small messages.
She said she sees the possibility that her work could become more political as she gets older, but has no wish to push it in a set direction. If something matters to her and finds its way into a painting, she said, that will happen naturally — she does not hold a fixed political vision, and described herself as still young and perhaps too naive to press her opinions on such subjects.
Beard is now looking to work with a gallery to show the new collection, the BBC reports.
The next thing to watch is how she fares in the competition, and where the second collection ends up being exhibited.
