mishmash creatives: Teresa Rego

The Teresa we know illustrates, draws, teaches and has been nominated to the World Illustration Awards. Deep down, who is Teresa and where does she come from?

Though I’m a very calm and laid back person, I feel mentally restless in relation to my work. Teresa is the work that she produces, and those aren’t separate things as my work transmits a lot of my personality and what I like. I think I found a good balance between my relaxed personality and a sense of restlessness towards my work, always searching to achieve the best results and for what’s next.

When did you realise you were a creative person?  Can you link it with any moment in particular?

I don't remember being any other way. The most prominent moment probably happened when I finished my architecture degree, which can be very technical. When I was ready to work, I understood I wanted to be connected mostly with the creative process, as a certain creative limitation in regards to the technical process didn’t appeal to me at all. It’s not enough for me to have 40% of creativity in my life, I need to be in a constant creative process.

It was architecture that stole your heart right from the beginning, but illustration has been guiding most of your professional career. What made you change?

When working in architecture you have certain rules you have to follow and I couldn’t find myself in that way of working. I felt the need to have creativity in my day-to-day. I always loved to draw and it is a type of drawing that runs away from the technical one. I also wanted something more manual, abstract, organic and free type of style, as colour and texture is very important in my work. Moreover, I wasn't able to deal with a desk job with a controlled schedule.

As artists, our processes can change from project to project. What are the steps you can’t miss when starting a new creative endeavour? 

I always start with manual processes. I do collages, cutouts, small colour tests. I draw organic and geometric shapes on my sketchbook. The manual process is a method not only to provide a certain job but also a way of thinking and designing it before the idea is settled in my mind. I think through the pencil and paper. It’s a very anti-natural thing for me to jump right away to a digital format, it’s hard for me to think of my work without those same handmade techniques and textures, which I think deeply enrich my work.

Tell us about your workspace. Is it tidy or chaotic? What’s on your desk right now?

My workspace is constant chaos, even though now it’s pretty organised but that’s only because I knew you were coming! My best ideas come from chaos and a disorganised workspace. I don’t think creativity comes out of very neat desk spaces, at least for me. If I see everything very organised, I have the feeling things are stagnant and not moving forward. I usually spread everything on my table and hanged on the wall and things start coming to place. This is why I have two separated areas in my studio, the studio itself where I work, and what I call the showroom, with finished work on display that can also be purchased. I’m currently working on a few international projects mostly. The promotion poster for a music festival in Spain, a collaboration with a sustainable fashion brand from Canada, and a project with a creative agent for China, where they will use a few of my illustrations mostly for large scale work. During July I will inaugurate a solo Show in Lisbon at Pura Cal, where I will unveil new original work.

Where and how do you usually have more ideas?

When I’m on the bus or train, that’s why I don’t fancy driving! I write loads of ideas, even though most of them I don’t necessarily execute, but I do write a lot. I don’t know if it’s the thing of being physically stopped but at the same time moving, but it does stimulate my brain. Travelling also helps me get in the groove. A couple of years ago I went to Venice and the colours inspired me so much that as soon as I returned I made dozens of sketchbooks full of colour palettes inspired by the city. It is important for my practice and inspiration to visit new places and have a cultural shock once in a while, maybe that is why I chose London to study illustration.

Often we can feel pressured to be constantly having new ideas. How do you handle moments without creativity?

I don’t get the guilty feeling, to be honest. I think it’s important we don’t force our work, as it usually doesn’t relate to our best projects. Of course most of the times there are deadlines we have to follow, so that’s is why I like to work on different projects at the same time. As I jump from project to project, I start looking at them from a different perspective, with fresher eyes. 

I also like to walk a little bit when ideas aren’t coming. I believe creativity comes from work and perseverance, always looking for new processes and constant research and just a general sense of relentless. There’s a quote I love: “work beats talent when talent doesn’t work”. You can be very talented, but if there’s no work it’s really hard to accomplish what we want. 

In today’s hectic and sometimes rushed world, do you think this agitation can influence an artist’s work?

It definitely influences, mostly with the new digital media formats, as we are always working on a rush, looking to showcase how much work we are doing on social media. Also, there’s a temptation to work mostly digital as the work gets done quicker. I think we have lost a romanticized view on what producing an artwork means, taking the time developing new ideas. The process is as much important as the result. I think it’s also up to us to stop that and promote more handmade and time-consuming processes.

What is the importance of paper in your day-to-day? Do you use paper as much as your digital tools?

Mostly paper, indeed! For me, digital-only comes in hand to deliver my pieces to clients. Sometimes I also make digital mock-ups, but they are always at the end of the process when everything is already pretty defined.

There is a shared thought that art continues to gather importance in the development of a society. How impactful do you think it can be?

Art doesn’t obey rules or tastes. It is important to have something in our lives that drives away from routine and proper standards. Art does that, it breaches the real world, through its language or message. In my case, I believe it’s the language. I do my work for myself. I do what makes me fulfilled and what is truthful to what I believe. People end up identifying themselves with the type of work I do as it reaches them somehow, and that’s when they become a part of it.