Jil Gordon - Artist and Designer

Around age ten I knew my purpose - to be an artist. I remember those first images of the Sistine Chapel as my earliest inspiration. My desire for detail compelled me to become
a medical artist, but upon graduating from the University of Michigan’s School of Art,
I decided to follow a commercial path. And so began my evolution as a graphic artist
and designer.

Early on I discovered there was not much difference between a blank page, a blank canvas
or a blank wall. Each needs an objective, a vision and a fantastic outcome.

In 1979, I independently began Gordon & Group Design and in 1984 took the business and
headed west. I was able to successfully blend my fine art and illustration with graphic design
and advertising in the heart of the high-tech industry in California. I was fortunate to work with clients such as Atari, Hewlett Packard, Visioneer, Aradigm and countless startups and local businesses in Silicon Valley.

As my truest passion for painting and decorative art resurged, I began Walls of Wonder in early 1998 - specializing in commissioned trompe l’oeil painting and murals, along with a vast array of innovative, elegant and decorative faux treatments.

As a professional artist and returning to Michigan in 2000, I have the greatest contentment knowing I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and where I should be living. So with this
I believe I reap the real benefit which is a special relationship created when someone shares
that special part of me - my art.

Click to Read Interview

Background

Birthplace
Detroit, MI

Education
Ted and Irene (parents), Mike, Gail, Ted, Lisa and Lynne (siblings)
Bishop Borgess High School, Detroit, MI
University of Michigan, School of Art, Ann Arbor, MI - Bachelor of Fine Arts
Faux Effects Academy - Seattle, WA - Private instruction Nicola Vigini - Trompe l’Oeil
Faux Effects Academy - San Francisco, CA - Specialty decorative finishes
Scottsdale School of Art, Phoenix, AZ - Private instruction Gerald P. Hodge - Trompe l’Oeil

Experience
Montgomery Ward Corporate, Southfield, MI
- Layout/page designer, product illustrator
Advergraphics, Ann Arbor, MI
- Creative director, graphic designer, illustrator
Communications Concepts, Toledo, OH
- Production artist, graphic illustrator
Gordon & Group Design, Ann Arbor/Farmington Hills, MI
- Graphic designer, illustrator
Gordon & Group Design, Los Gatos/Campbell, CA
- Graphic designer, illustrator
Walls of Wonder, San Jose, CA
- Muralist, specialty decorative painter

Current Locations
Gordon & Group Design, Petoskey, MI/Ann Arbor, MI
Walls of Wonder, Petoskey, MI/Ann Arbor, MI
Jil Gordon - Fine Art, Petoskey, MI/Ann Arbor, MI

Currently Exhibited
- The Inn at Bay Harbor, Bay Harbor, MI