Sarah Jane was born in County Durham in 1971. She was encouraged from a young age to pursue her interest in drawing which led to a course in art and design at Harrogate College. Illustration at Cleveland College of Art followed, from where she developed a love of drawing and the human form. Local dance studios created a melting pot of material from which a collection of drawings were created and developed into her fat and skinny ladies. Her influences include the wonderful and amusing drawings of Thomas Rowlanson and many other important artists. "I love humour and draw a lot of inspiration from funny books, film and television." Her aim is definitely not to ridicule but to promote the idea of a society that likes itself and where her people, the ladies especially, are confident, positive characters, comfortable with their bodies. Sarah is very serious about her work, but most of all she wants to make people smile.