Sarah's interest in design and textiles started as a child when she imagined fabric designs in her head and transferred them to paper. She greatly admired a family friend who was a children's book illustrator, "a wonderfully creative cook, a master gardener as well as an exquisite artist," thus fascinating the young and impressionable artist. "She worked in such fine detail with tiny brushes, and I was captivated to catch a glimpse of her at work in her home studio."

Another person influenced Van Beckum's career when she attended Mount Mary College in Milwaukee. Her design teacher was a renowned textile designer who taught design through silkscreen printing on textiles. "We created design and pattern and printed our work on 3 yard pieces of fabric," Sarah recalls. Her love for screen printing has endured ever since, and is an integral part of her present work. Sarah's collages consist of materials she creates herself. "I start my work by dying Goya rice paper which is quite fibrous and will withstand dye baths without disintegrating. I silkscreen and/or stamp print found objects to create background interest and texture. Collage, hand-painting with gouache, and finally stitching with metallic threads are some of the final applications."

Sarah now exhibits her work in galleries in the United States and Europe. She is in the permanent collections of many corporations including Merrill Lynch and Kohler Co. She lives in Colorado with her husband, Tim, and their three sons, Jake, Sam and Augie.