Stunning Portraits Crafted by Beka Smith
Beka is a contemporary British artist largely specialising in portraiture. She likes to divide her time between being a portrait artist in London and working at her home in Kent
Her own interest in art stemmed from having her portrait painted at an early age by artist John Eveleigh, and her weekly visits to his family home studio house left an everlasting impression on her.
After completing an art degree in Bristol, she started her own business, Beka’s Designs and exhibited at various trade shows including the renowned Top Drawer and Pulse. She was head hunted at one of these shows and consequently took a position at design firm Locomocean based in the iconic Oxo Tower, London where she later became Senior Designer. Here she worked on products such as the infamous Glow in the Duck series which are still available in shops today.
After working at Locomocean for 5 years, she was struck by some of the work at the BP Portrait Awards and this coincided with her being commissioned by Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge to undertake a pencil sketch of Fellow Dr Leslie Wayper. On meeting him at his house in Cambridge, she was so struck by the man and felt compelled to paint him. This was the beginning of her career as a portrait artist.
In 2007 she made a career move, feeling strongly that she wanted to move away from the throw away society of giftware towards something much more permanent as a portrait artist.
She gained success in the BP Awards with her portrait of Fellow of Fitzwilliam College of Dr Leslie Wayper, and was subesquently ranked Third in the People’s Choice. She was then unanimously selected by the University’s committee to undertake her first public portrait commission of the Master of Fitzwilliam, Professor Robert Lethbridge.
The College was so taken with the portrait, she was later invited to curate her first exhibition entitled Ego Alter Ego.
She has gone onto curating several other exhibitions, including ‘Stories’, which was held in Folkestone’s creative quarter. other shows include Turning the Corner for which her work took an unexpected diversion into landscapes around Greenwich where she has lived and worked for many years.
Beka’s paintings have been included in various publications including the book ‘500 Portraits’ by Sandy Nairne, (former Director of the National Portrait Gallery) and her work has also been included several issues of ‘Artists and Illustrators Magazine’ where she has been a featured artist on their website. In 2009 Beka joined the renowned ‘Thames-Side Studios’ where she has completed many private and public commissions.
Her engaging personality and professionalism enable her to guide her subjects through the sometimes emotionally challenging process of sitting for a public portrait with ease, comfort and confidence.
In order to offer the complete service to an often busy client, creating a framed piece of work that is ready to hang on the wall. She started collaborating with talented designer Bertram Whitford, and they can work closely on each bespoke piece.
She featured in Sky Portrait Artist of the Year in their first Season, where alongside other contestants , she drew actress Alison Steadman. Later her portrait of TV Celebrity Nick Hewer was featured in the acclaimed show, Countdown.
She enjoys celebrating the work and careers of individuals who have significantly contributed to their field and wishes to expand on her portfolio, creating new and exciting projects.
Some of these works are in permanent collections, such as her portrait of Alan Little which hangs in the library at Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club. A couple of portraits hang in the Institute of Engineering, Cambridge. Others include Emeritus Professor Rosemary Cramp, Vice which hangs in The Society Of Antiquaries, Portraits of Baroness Onora O’Neil, in The British Academy and at Newnham College, Cambridge, following several works at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge,Oriel College, Oxford, and more recently Selwyn College, Cambridge.