Gillian was born in Peebles, Scotland, she studied Fine Art at Coventry University, Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, and an MFA at Brighton College of Art and Design in the UK. 

This focus on illustration gave her a love of the narrative interpretation, she initially  studied fine art, painting, at Coventry University, England, then  continued training in illustration at Anglia Ruskin University,  Cambridge, England under the painter Thomas Newbolt, illustrators Jane  Human, Allan Drummond. This gave her a love of the narrative  interpretation in art. Their class produced some of the finest in  children’s book illustrators in the UK. Selina Young, Allison Bartlett  and Ailey Busby to name a few. Not being fully convinced she was an illustrator, she pursued fine art,  always being drawn to life drawing and Atelier classical approach continues taking workshops all over the world.  She recently completed training in the ancient practice of Eastern Orthodox iconography and it gave her an interest in the ancient technique of layering translucent color and also depth of meaning and complexity of message they convey. Recent studies took her to Italy where she studied under Vincent Deciderio, the modern master of the Velatura technique. 

Gillian is evolving continually as she pursues mastery in representational figurative work seeing where these decades of learning take her. She finds studying these ancient techniques, classical and Byzantine open inexhaustible inspiration for her art. Her biggest influences are Singer Sargent, Marc Chagall, Velasquez,  Pre-raphaelites for the mythical ethereal, Titian and Reubens. 

She has been teaching privately for many decades and enjoys passing on the tradition of figurative art and teach a good foundation in art, teaching observation, seeing objects well, being able to translate a 3rd dimensional object on to the second dimension ( paper) teaching students to understand measuring, relationships in the objects to one another, light and how to use understand light sources, values and what that means as far as execution. Including experimentation with different mediums learn with skill how to use them and have a good academic understanding! 

Recent studies: 

2019, training with Vincent Deciderio, Italy

2020: Zoe Frank workshop, Charles Miano, Robert Liberace, Ken Goshen

2020: Oil painter of America’s signature artist Robin Cole 

2021 Workshop, Mark Boedges

2023 Workshop with Jeremy Lipking

Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Fine Art, Painting Coventry UniversityDegree Illustration/Painting, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge School of Art and Design - Cambridge, England
Masters of Fine Art: Illustration, Brighton College of Art and Design

Exhibitions:

Art shows: London, Covent Garden 1992. 

Solo Exhibition : CORE Gallery, Denver, 2014

Our Neighbors Ourselves, Denver CO, 2012

Project Worthmore Denver ONO 2014, second place

Project Worthmore ONO 2015, first place peoples choice

Our Neighbors ourselves 2016, 

Zeel:awareness through art Denver:2016

Zeel:awareness through art Denver: 2017

Zeel:awareness through art Denver: 2018

Zeel and Denver artists: indivisible Expressions of Union and Divide 2018

Denver artist: the Space Between summer 2020

29 Artists: Denver 2020 

Royal Society of British Artists 2021, London UK

Poets and Artist Annual Exhibition Chicago 2022