Painter and Decorator by trade, Mark Beard uses his painting skills to create beautiful chromatic works of art, ranging from portraits of celebrities, to memorial pieces. Brewers Decorator Centres, have rarely seen Albany paint on canvas before, so were really interested to find out a bit more!
How long have you been a painter and decorator for?

“I’ve been a painter and decorator all my life, for 37 years now. I have two employees, my son Lloyd who has worked for me for 4 years, and Nick Vine who has worked with me for the last 15 years. I’ve been a Brewers Account customer for as long as I can remember!”

When did you decide to use your painting skills on canvas?

“I’ve only started painting on canvas since lockdown, so about a year and a half now! I’ve never had any kind of training, but I knew I could paint and thought anybody could do it. I have always been obsessed with a silhouette style, but with family life, dogs and running my own business, I had never gotten round to it. I did however paint a silhouette of Bob Marley on my bedroom wall when I was 13 which got a lot of praise…it only took me 40 years to pick it back up again!”

Whilst lockdown brought many challenges, it was certainly the time to learn new skills or take up a hobby!

Whilst Brewers absolutely love Albany Smooth Masonry paint, they would not expect it to become such a great art medium! Why do you use this paint in particular?

“I’m using Albany Smooth Masonry paint for several reasons. There is an amazing array of colours to choose from and it can be delivered next day from my local Brewers. It dries really quickly which helps if I’ve made a mistake or I want to change the colour, and it has superb coverage! This is really important when creating black and white pieces, especially if you want to change an area from black to white or vice versa.

The paint is also very durable, which means my art can take a knock or can hang in an enclosed hot tub area…exactly where my Def Leppard Album Cover piece is displayed! Cost is also a huge factor as it allows me to keep the costs down when it comes to selling my pieces.
It was a no brainer using Albany Smooth Masonry really, I use it all the time for my exterior painting and decorating jobs, so it was an easy decision – it does shock people when you tell them at art shows though!”

You have managed to create many pieces in the past year and a half! What has been your favourite piece you’ve made to date?

“So far, it has to be the Durdle Door piece which was commissioned by ‘Care for Casualties’, an appeal aimed to raise additional funds to help members of The Rifles family who were found to be in need. The piece was auctioned off after 250 soldiers had completed a sponsored walk on the Jurassic Coast. I was honoured to paint for such an amazing cause, but I did feel a lot of pressure to get it right.

I have also painted a few thought provoking pieces, such as the hermit crab in a McDonalds cup on the beach, and a mackerel stuffed with Christmas Cracker plastic parts.
All of my paintings have hidden small creatures within them, usually sea creatures, such as a seahorse, octopus and a pangolin, but there’s a great deal of others.”

It sounds like you care immensely for the environment which you want to express through your art! What other projects are in the pipeline?

“I have a few commissions lined up at the moment, but I am just about to do a huge Spartan soldier in my silhouette style, but this time with red, blue and black paint. This is going to be a piece for myself to keep though. My girlfriend will be painting ethereal clouds as the background for me, as she is an artist too. I have even talked her into using Albany paint!”

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