Gillian was born in Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, in 1966. She grew up playing on the beach, in amongst the sand dunes and nature reserves that are dotted along the Fylde coast. She studied art at school, as do all children, but although she enjoyed and excelled in the subject, she was encouraged to pursue the sciences; another area she excelled in. At 18 she went north to Stirling, Scotland to study for a BSc. in Physics and Mathematics, and it was during this time, surrounded by beautiful hills and glens, that she developed a deep respect for wildlife.
Gillian graduated with a first class honours degree in 1989 and started work in Knutsford Cheshire as a safety engineer. Although she had always painted and sketched in her spare time, she now found she was in a position to gain a more structured art education and in the early 1990’s she studied GCSE and A level art at North Cheshire College, Warrington.
Finding these art courses stimulating, she found them useful in helping her develop a wider choice of media and subject matter. Over the years she has painted people, landscapes and buildings as well as wildlife, but the painting of animals has always remained her favourite subject. She has used a variety of media including soft and oil pastel, gouache, water colour and oil.
Gillian met her husband, Rob in 1995 and they married in 1997. They live in Comberbach, Cheshire with their two sons, David and Peter. Gill continues to paint and the boys (all three!) continue to drive her mad.
Gill has exhibited at the Northern Exhibition of Wildlife Art (NEWA) as well as locally. In 2011 she was honoured to win the “World Mammals” category in the BBC Wildlife Artist of the Year competition. Her winning entry “Tamarin” was one of 13 category winners which were exhibited at the Marwell Zoo Art Exhibition.