Five Things You Never Knew About... SARA POPE

Sara Pope is famous for her ability to capture the seductive power of the mouth with her paintings of full, glossy lips. She was born in Stoke and now lives in Brighton, but here are five things you might not know about her...

1. Sara has more formal educational qualifications than the average artist. She has a degree in mathematics from Leeds University, a design degree that she studied for in Barcelona and a diploma in footwear design from the London College of Fashion.

2. In 2014 she painted an actual Pope - Pope Francis - and her portrait of him is in the Vatican's collection of works. "The Pope was said to love the painting," says Sara, "and I was invited to deliver it in person. I met with his personal translator. Although I'm not religious I have a lot of respect for this particular Pope for being a genuine humanist."

3. Sara always starts every project with a photoshoot. "I use models a lot," she says, "and one thing I notice when selecting a model is how they always have perfectly symmetrical faces. But I also like anomalies such as a wonky tooth, it seems to accentuate the symmetry."

4. She used to customise shoes as a side hustle from her day job as a magazine art director. She was invited by a designer to create a collection for his catwalk show at London Fashion Week and her career took off from there.

5. Her dream commission would be to paint the lips of an iconic figure. "I'd love to be commissioned to paint the lips of some iconic figures... Kate Moss, Grace Jones, Mick Jagger. But I'd love to paint Cardi B's most of all."

See more of Sara's work in Electric Gallery here !