Creative and professional, Robin English was a talented artist with a love for the beach.

“She used to say, ‘Any day at the beach is a good day,’” said the Rev. Dale Vroman, associate pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church, where English attended church.

The 68-year-old Baltimore native, who owned Robin English Advertising &  Graphic Design, died Jan. 31.

“I learned a lot from her. She certainly didn’t mince words but she was very kind. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body,” said Debi Rus, owner of Rus Design, who worked for English about 10 years in the 1980s.

“She was a tough professional. She knew exactly what she wanted. She started one of first graphic design companies in town. She made logos for everybody,” she said.

English’s mind was on creativity all the time. “She lived it. I don’t anybody who lives it all the time like she did,” Rus said.

After studying at the University of Maryland College Park, English was hired by Woodward & Lothrop in Washington, D.C., as a fashion illustrator. In 1972, she came to Salisbury with her family and opened an advertising and graphic design company.

A pastel artist, she drew children's portraits and a series that featured scenes from Rehoboth Beach and farmers’ markets.

Her daughter, Kimberly Nisbet, who lives in Palm Beach, Fla., told Vroman her mother made sacrifices so her child could be educated in private schools.

Robbie Raffish, who owns a.s.a.p.r. Integrated Marketing, met English in the early 2000s, when she came to Salisbury.

“There were not a lot of people who came out and said, ‘Welcome to Salisbury’ but she sought us out. She was a consummate professional. She was highly organized and had real vision, which is very rare for creatives to be both.

“She reached out to me regarding working on a particular piece of business and  she was welcoming. She was really the first person in Salisbury from an advertising point of view who reached out to us. I was really grateful for that because she was established and didn’t have to.I learned a lot from her. She was a very talented woman,” she said.

Vroman said English was a “very accomplished  pastel artist” who created logos for Mount Aire poultry company, Handy International Inc. seafood company and  Coastal Hospice.

“She loved traveling. She had been to many places in Europe,” the pastor said, adding English’s ancestors were among the founders of Trinity 150 years ago.

“She was such a unique and fine lady,” he said.