Marilyn Robertson was born at a military hospital in Wiltshire, England. Her father served in the British Army and her mother was from Malta– so she spent her early years living in various parts of the United Kingdom and Germany. After school in Staffordshire, Marilyn studied to become an art teacher. After graduation she got art teaching job in Leamington Spa. Later on, she moved to Nottingham where she carried on teaching at a school in Derbyshire. Marilyn began designing and painting greeting cards when her daughter Katie was born. She sold them – beginning at craft fairs and then moving to the trade through her own small business called ‘Paper Kite.’ After staying in Nottingham for some years, the family decided to move to a small, historic market town called Wirksworth in Derbyshire.
Her design emphasis at this time included some of her card designs which she did under the design scheme approved by the Design Council. They represented critical acclaim within the United Kingdom industry. The artist also found time to carry out some freelance design works for the Book Tokens Company on commission. She was among the first designers and artist to have her cards printed by the prestigious Sherwood Press company. in the late 1970’s the printing company had only 2 employees and mainly dealt with general local business but today it is highly successful and one of the leading specialist printer of greeting cards in the united kingdom. The company works from modern premises on the outskirts of Nottingham.