A FOREST-raised artist has been shortlisted for one of the most valuable arts prizes in Europe.

Former Newent Community School pupil Sarah Gwyer was selected as a finalist from 4,000 applicants for the Columbia Threadneedle Prize, the continent’s leading open competition for figurative and representational art, and worth £20,000.

Sarah’s latest textile piece No Pressure Then has gone forward to the final, and the winner of the £10,000 prize plus a £10,000 solo exhibition in the Threadneedle Space at Mall Galleries will be announced in January.

It has been a busy year for the 32-year-old, who exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition in London.

The artist, who attended Newent Community School from Year Seven to her A-levels in 2003, and who has previously been shortlisted for a national artist of the year award, is now working on fresh celebrity-inspired creations.

Sarah was selected to show at the Royal Academy of Arts’ Summer Exhibition in London, with

her Amy Remixed, a mixed media sculpture of Amy Winehouse displayed along­side works ranging from paintings, drawings and sculptures to film and photography, by both internationally acclaimed artists and other rising stars of the art world.

The piece sold in the first week for a four-figure sum and Sarah says she is thrilled at the new opportunities that displaying her work to such a large audience is now bringing.

The artist, who describes her work as contemporary pop, drawing on influences from Andy Warhol to Damien Hirst, said: “It has been such a thrill to exhibit alongside artists I so admire and for my work to be seen by so many thousands of people.

“I was also chosen to be featured in the BBC2 documentary on the exhibition so my work has reached an even wider audience. Showing at the Royal Academy has opened up lots of opportunities for new artworks which I am currently working on.”

New pieces Sarah is working on following her exhibition success include two beaded sculptures, one featuring Beyoncé while pregnant with twins.

Newent Community School principal Alan Johnson said: “It’s marvellous to see yet another example of a Newent Community School pupil going on to achieve such success. To exhibit at the Royal Academy is a great accolade and we are extremely proud of Sarah. Staff here work tirelessly to help all pupils fulfil their potential and art is just one subject in which students have gone on to top-level success.”

Sarah added: “I had the best possible start in my art career at Newent School.”

After leaving Newent, Sarah studied Fine Art in Cardiff and then did a Masters in Printmaking at the University of the Arts, London. By the time of her graduate show she was exhibiting simultaneously in London and New York.

She hit the headlines in 2009 for her debut exhibition on the theme of modern day icons which featured Princess Diana, Princes William and Harry, Kate Moss and Kate Middleton with halos.

In 2007 she was shortlisted for the prestigious Welsh Artist of the Year award for her bead portrait of Charlotte Church.

For more information, go to www.sarahgwyer.com