At Bronte Parsonage Museum in Haworth you can currently see the lives of two amazing women blend. One a writer, the other a painter. Both essentially story tellers.

Paula Rego was born in Lisbon in 1935 and made London her home in the 1970s. When my husband introduced me to her work ten years ago I was knocked for six. Never before had I seen such a strong portrayal of women in art. Here were pictures where women were dominant and powerful and their relationships and experiences were explored - even as a naive art student I knew that was pretty rare and fantastic!

"Excited and child-like": Paula with one of her latest lithographs in the Parsonage study

Paula Rego often takes inspiration from literature and fairytales, and her latest work is a series of lithographs based on Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece Jane Eyre. I always loved the novel Jane Eyre because the heroine of the story was plain, bright, rebellious and strong. She won the readers' hearts - and the heart of Mr Rochester - not though her beauty but through her heart and mind.

I was lucky to meet Paula Rego at the opening of the exhibition. Wiser people than me have said 'never meet your heroes because you'll always be disappointed' but Paula proved them wrong.

Dressed head-to-toe in black she was smiling and energetic. She bounced around the Bronte parsonage looking at her work displayed in the rooms where the novel was conceived and written. She was excited and child-like as though she could hardly believe she was at the parsonage where Charlotte Bronte once lived. But her images look so at home in the Victorian surroundings. You somehow feel closer to Charlotte and Jane seeing them there.

Paula Rego has spent two years immersed in the story and this is her unique interpretation of Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte wrote a book that was full of secrets. What better inspiration for a painter who looks at the darker side of human nature...