Sarah McMenemey, a graduate of Brighton College of Art (a contemporary with Meilo So) has established her reputation with her cool, stylish and very contemporary takes on the urban scene. Whilst at college she began experimenting with torn paper collage mixed with drawn images, in an attempt to create a more immediate way of working that had some of the qualities of her lithographic print-making. Her early student work demonstrated a great deal of graphic awareness and has proved very popular across a wide range of media.

The initial technique was amended, as Sarah discovered that with the use of coloured torn tissue, the colours were fugitive, so that she began to experiment with painting sheets and textures that were then torn and applied to create the effects that she desired. Readily commissioned by some of the leading magazines, Sarah soon established a reputation built on her ability and her sheer professionalism. One of her early breakthroughs came with a commission from Nippon Design in Tokyo, for a car brochure for Toyota. At a time before the advent of the electronic transmission of images, Sarah was initially briefed in London, producing sketches for approval, before finally delivering the finished art in Tokyo, and arrangement that had been agreed in advance, so that she could spend a week with the designer, fine-tuning the finished illustrations. All went like clockwork and the finished brochure drew plaudits all round.

Her ability to respond to a brief has meant that she has developed a fine reputation,particularly within the design community, where the images that she has produced have been used over a wide range of products, from food packaging to clothing and all else in between. The stylishness of the work that she creates, perfectly complements the products with which they are associated.

But probably her biggest project so far, in terms of scale was the commission that she received from London Underground. She was asked to design a series of giant enamel panels as the centrepiece for the refurbishment of Shadwell station. The subject was the local area around the uderground station, which juxtaposes historic churches, the ships in Tobacco Dock and important buildings with great gaps in the landscape left unfilled since the war.

Docklands Light Railway, Shadwell Station / London Underground

In such a rundown area she felt somewhat conspicuous at first standing around with a sketchbook, but she really enjoyed the friendly conversations that guided and enriched her location work. There are 18 images in all, each requiring two to four large panels, two metres high by a metre wide. The panels are on facing platforms, which means that travellers are able to enjoy the whole collection at one viewing. She found this one of the most significant projects of her career. "My confidence grew in using painted strokes, drawn line and colour. I use mixed media, and all the different elements just came together. Shadwell was the catalyst that moved me on, and it's always very exciting when that happens. You break through to another stage."

St Georges in the East, Cannon Street / London Underground

A flair for reportage has always stood Sarah in good stead right throughout her career. A particularly enjoyable job of this sort for her was the collaborayion with Stephen Doyle of Doyle Partners in New York, for the Hudson River Festival. It presented her with the opportunity of a week's location work in New York sketching and photographing and is an example of inspired commissioning, where the limitations of a restricted budget proved the catalyst for lively two colour illustrations to be used on posters, brochures and tickets.

Brochures and Folders for Hudson River Festival / Doyle Partners

Sarah's career has progressed steadily, but as often does happen, an event outside of a professional life can have a significant effect on an illustrator. In Sarah's case it was becoming a mother, and relating in a totally different way to another individual. Some sketches produced solely as a distraction for her young children were shown to Allan Manham, and seeing their potential for Children's Books, they were included in our annual Bologna Book Fair presentation, where they created a great deal of interest. That initial interest was taken up in a more positive way by Editorial Director Denise Johnston-Burt of Walker Books, and she and Sarah have collaborated in developing an animal character that promises to grace the pages of a series of books.

Waggle published by Walker Books ©2002 Sarah McMenemy

Scheduled for first publication in 2003, they will add yet another rung to the rapidly ascending ladder that Sarah started climbing all those years ago.