Paula Rego

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Paula Rego. Born in Portugal, she was an only child, and spent her days sitting with the maids as they told tales around the kitchen table. Now she makes up stories about the people she knows and weaves them into her pictures. Like those early fairytales, her portraits always have a touch of danger about them. If you look the devil in the face, she says, face your fears and paint them - then they lose the power to scare you.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Da Me O Braco Anda Dai by Blanc/Barbosa Book: Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald Luxury: Pencil and paper