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Getting to Know Trudy Beard
Decorative Painting
 For more than 25 years, Trudy Beard has combined humor with her love of painting to create a successful teaching and publishing career. Read this special interview as she talks about her love of FolkArt paint.
How did you develop an interest in painting and how long have you been painting?
I have had a life-long interest in painting. One of my earliest memories, when I was about 3 or 4 years old, is sitting on a chair watching my big brother John paint in oils. I can still smell the oil paints and see his wooden palette filled with beautiful colors. To watch him create a painting was pure magic to me. I knew that I would be an artist some day too! My brother went on to become a surgeon, but art, music, photography and writing remained a big part of his entire life. He was, and still is, my idol.
Tell us more about your background in fine art.
I studied Fine Art and Commercial Art in college, and took many classes at the Oklahoma Museum of Art in Oklahoma City and Philbrook Museum in Tulsa. Later I began to teach part-time in my home, and then in a local shop called “Priscilla’s Little Red Tole House.” I taught at Priscilla Hauser’s shop for a number of years and she published my first books in oils. At the time, I painted only on canvas, but as I moved into the decorative arts field, I began to paint on anything!
Tell us the story of how you came to work with Plaid and FolkArt.
Many years after meeting Priscilla, she asked me to show my portfolio to the Book Editor at Plaid. All of my work was in oils, but I was encouraged to develop similar techniques using acrylic paint. I developed many techniques that are similar to my oil painting techniques.
What is your favorite type of FolkArt paint to work with and why?
The new line of High Definition paint has been fun to work with. I am able to paint impasto style and build texture that could not be achieved with regular acrylics. I enjoy the ease of blending and the thick, rich consistency of the paint. HD acrylics can be used many ways, and you can see examples in my latest book release, “My Favorite Things.” I used the HD paint to create added dimension and texture as the focal point of each painting. You can add more, or less…that is one of the great qualities about the HD paint. In addition, the line includes several painting mediums to use with the paint to achieve a variety of results.
The best thing about using FolkArt paint—what makes it better than other paint brands?
The FolkArt line includes a number of mediums that enable me to blend, glaze, dry-brush, crumble, brush-mix, etc. In addition, I like the richly pigmented colors and the creamy consistency of the paint.
Please offer any additional advice you have for beginning painters.
Paint and study as much as you can…study with different artists to learn their particular techniques. Paint with those artists whose work you admire. Read art books. You can learn so much by studying the wonderful art books in your city library. Read about the lives, work and techniques of great artists. Go online and see the work of the Old and New Masters…inspire yourself. There is so much information available to us if we look for it. You should also check with the Society of Decorative Painters to see if there is a chapter within driving distance. Joining a chapter is a great way to meet other painters, both new and experienced, as well as to get information about possible classes.
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