Sarah, Connell British , b. 1982

Sarah's paintings are primarily about light, atmosphere and colour. Although they are often set in Manchester she aims to transcend place, and speak to the viewer wherever they are from. 

Sarah has painted in traditional media ever since she can remember, but now she also paints digitally using a stylus and tablet at a computer or on an iPad. Sarah's parents are both creative and encouraged her as a child, by buying her ‘grown up’ paints, and sometimes her Dad let her tag along to his night school art class. The fact he was a printer meant there was always paper by the ream for her to draw on.

Sarah went on to study Art History and Archaeology at Nottingham University, and then Clothing Design at Manchester Metropolitan University. It was whilst studying clothing design that she first became interested in digital painting, and wrote her dissertation on analogue versus digital fashion illustration. In a way she is still exploring how traditional painting influences her digital work and vice versa. Sarah went on to work in design and photography for a few companies, eventually going freelance and spending more and more time painting.