[1][2] Sargent's father, Cecil Holland, was a character actor and theatrical makeup artist.

She studied acting and costume design at the University of California at Los Angeles and is a member of Kappa Delta sorority.

[2][4] Herbert Abrams introduced Sargent to oil painting in the 1960s and she continued to study with John Howard Sanden in the 1970s at the Art Students League of New York.

Sargent is a skilled businesswoman who has promoted herself throughout her career, employing portfolios, flyers, a website and print advertisements.

[5] Sargent has frequently painted portraits of officers from the U.S. military, such as Alexander Haig, James Stockdale[6] She is known for painting many of the first women officers in the United States military,[7] including Kristin Baker (first Captain at West Point), first woman graduate from West Point (Andrea Hollen),[4] and the first female chaplain in the armed forces, Dianna Pohlman Bell.