What is name and background behind your company?
Teresa Robertson. I'm a full-time illustrator and have built up my client-base over 26 years. The work being shown in the Inspired:London book is my line and watercolour 'house paintings'. 12 years ago I offered to draw an inch high drawing of someone's house for an auction of promises, but the winner asked for a painting of her and her kids outside their home. Since then I've painted around 150 people's homes and interiors, providing a record of a 'moment in time' of their house in their street, mostly in London (but I have been commissioned as far afield as Canada and New York).
Where are you based?
in the same street as the old Arsenal stadium, Highbury, north London.
How long have you been in business for?
26 years
What do you love most about living in London?
Everything. It's one of the biggest cities in the world, yet manages to feel like a series of villages that happened to join together. It also feels as if you can travel the world by walking from one area to the other. One branch of my family goes back for at least four generations in London, too, so I feel very at home here!
Who or what inspires you?
I love Carl Larson's 'Et Hem' pictures - they definitely inspired me to do the ones I do.
What advice would you give designers starting out?
Do what you do really well, let the market decide the right price and keep your customers happy and they'll keep coming back.
What is new for your company?
My range of screen printed cards is more recent and illustrating for books is the newest market for work (FJH music publisher in the US and activity books for Bloomsbury).
You can pre-order your copy of Inspired:London by Mary McDermott from We Make London
Follow the link to get your copy here http://www.wemakelondon.co.uk/pre-order-the-book.html
