Born in Baltimore, Maryland, freelance wood engraver and painter Gillian Tyler received her undergraduate degree from Smith College. The Max Beckmann Scholarship from the Brooklyn Museum School led to two years of advanced study, followed by two years at the Kunst Akademie in Hamburg, Germany under a Fulbright Scholarship. Tyler operated a small letterpress shop and illustrated numerous books for various publishers in recent years. She studied painting under Donald Stone and has turned to paintings and watercolors that capture the essence of her New England surroundings. She lives in Thetford, Vermont.