I loved drawing as a child. Both my parents were architects, and I was always impressed by their drawing skills. I enjoyed sketching alongside my dad, Geoffrey Beard.
At school I enjoyed art, and spent a lot of time in the ‘printing club’, composing and printing programmes, tickets, etc. on massive old Albion hand presses. From there, because of my interest in the visual arts as well as science, training as an architect seemed an obvious choice. I had a very enjoyable career in architecture, mostly working for Sheffield City Council, where I progressed to become City Architect. But I always found time for drawing and painting on holidays.
After retiring, I spent an increasing amount of time in Newlyn, Cornwall, and it was there that I heard about a printing summer school at Falmouth School of Art. I was given the opportunity to sample different methods of printmaking, and immediately fell in love with intaglio: etching and aquatint.
I have developed my print making skills over the last decade at John Howard’s Print Studio, where John has been the most brilliant mentor. Now I have my own print studio, built on the back of our house in Paul during the pandemic lock downs. My work is generally figurative, and includes characterful places and landscapes in west Cornwall and Derbyshire.