Lucy Mennim
I’m Lucy, an illustrator from Edinburgh who likes collage, rosy cheeks and getting caught in the rain.
About
I mainly gather inspiration for my work from childhood memories. I really enjoy depicting the playful sense of naivety that goes along with that - this leads quite naturally to working with lots of collage, mixed media and fun colours! I’m quite a texture driven person in all aspects of my life (crisp sandwich anyone?) and I love letting this seep into my work in the form of weird approaches, such as introducing felt or sculpture to a flat character. A few of my main inspirations are the likes of artist Mary Blair as well as old musicals like 'Meet me in St. Louis' and 'Oklahoma'.
Penelope's Peace - Children’s Book
Illustrations from my book, Penelope’s Peace. It follows a young mouse called Penelope who struggles with all the loud noises that ensue with the arrival of her visiting cousins (which is a very relatable premise for me being one of 40 cousins). This story is inspired by stories that my parents would tell me when I was younger about a mouse called Penelope that would cycle around my house at night. I’ve always felt Penelope was like a childhood friend to me for this reason, so I’ve always wanted to bring her to life for others to see! The book is created with collage as well as some 3D sculptural elements for a nice hearty mixture of textures that I hope the reader to sink their teeth into.
V&A Tartan Tent
We were tasked by the V&A Dundee to come up with an image that was ‘Tartan’ themed for an exhibition they had on at the time. I decided to reflect on my childhood memories of playing in a tartan blanket tent that my gran would make for me whenever it was laundry day.
Observations from a Nursery – spreads from zine
I volunteer at a nursery in my own time, and felt that some of the silly and amusing antics that often happen were worthy of their own comic style zine. As their young minds are still learning about the world, the children will take what you say quite literally a lot of the time. I wanted to explore not only my point of view, but also how a young child might imagine it to have occurred. Every spread is based on a genuine scenario that I have witnessed – even the ones that are a bit more horrific.
I try to post regularly on my instagram @missclooby so you can see what I'm up to there!