A teenager who took up painting during lockdown is to display her work at a prestigious art gallery in London. When schools closed in March 2020, Makenzy Beard, 14, from Swansea started painting on canvasses in her garden shed.

A portrait of her neighbour, Gower farmer, John Tucker, will go on display at the Young Artists’ Summer Show during July and August at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Makenzy, a pupil at Bishopston Comprehensive School, said: “I had some free time on my hands and my mum used to love to paint so we had paints and canvasses and brushes. I thought ‘why not give it a try’ and it escalated from there…I’ve always loved creative things but up until that point that was my first time painting portraits.”