Meet the Artist

Hi, My name is Gillian Girod. I am a painter and illustrator. My work is inspired by folklore, whether I researched folk tales of varying cultures or made up my own, my pieces reflect my interpretation of these stories. All of my work includes strong storytelling elements that create original worlds, characters, and concepts. Using various mediums from charcoal to oil paint to create such worlds.

When I create my art, I try to weave in a lot whimsical and imaginative components. I think it is important to show these fantastical narratives as an escape from reality. The world around us can feel so heavy at times. I want my paintings to provide moments of joy and escapism, to convey that even in the toughest times, when things appear at their most difficult, there are these moments of whimsy and joy which we can cling to in order to get through those tough times. By embracing these moments of fantasy, we are able to grapple with reality and see things in a new, optimistic way.

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Happy Jack in Hallow’s Eve Project

Happy Jack in Hallow’s Eve is a project which started in 2022 during Gillian’s last semester at Carroll Community College. It was originally a semester long, self guided project under gallery director Jessi Hardesty.

During this semester, Gillian created storyboards, character designs, wrote a manuscript and hand illustrated thirty-one 9x12” pages for a Halloween themed children’s book.

Wanting to do more to elevate this project, Gillian continued to work on this book after graduating CCC and transferring to McDaniel College in 2023. After scanning the illustrations into a digital platform and going through many technical trials and tribulations, the book was finally formatted digitally in 2024.

With this new format, Gillian was able to create a prototype of a printed copy in 2025. It will be on display in her upcoming Senior capstone show at the Rice Gallery, in addition to some of the original illustrations.

While this project is three years in the making, Gillian is not done with it yet. She hopes to get it published in the near future.

Please stay posted for updates!