Taylor Gillis

Author & Illustrator

I create picture books about quiet discoveries—moments when ordinary places or objects reveal something unexpected.My stories are grounded in observation and memory, often centered on childhood encounters with the physical world: infrastructure uncovered, objects preserved, and hidden interiors briefly illuminated.I work primarily in linocut and mixed media, using texture and restraint to reflect the emotional weight carried by everyday environments.

Featured Project

The pipes beneath our street

Author–IllustratorWhen a crew arrives to replace the pipes beneath his street, a young boy watches as the ground is opened and something normally hidden is briefly revealed.As the days pass, he brings water and snacks to the workers and observes their progress, forming a quiet connection to the systems that sustain his home. When the work is finished and the street is restored, the pipes disappear from view—but the boy knows they are still there.A picture book about hidden infrastructure, childhood observation, and the quiet permanence of unseen systems.Dummy available upon request.

Additional picture books in development

The clipboard

Author–Illustrator
A child discovers an old clipboard in the basement filled with handwritten notes and receipts from long ago. When they add a message of their own, a reply appears. Over time, the clipboard becomes a quiet record of multiple lives, revealing that the house has been listening longer than anyone realized.

The one who stayed

Author–Illustrator
Each spring, a crew arrives to repaint the bridge. Each fall, they leave. Over the years, traffic grows heavier, then quieter, and eventually plans are made for the bridge to be dismantled. Through it all, one worker in a red hat returns season after season, tending to the structure as it slowly changes. Long after the bridge is gone, its materials remain—repurposed into benches and beams beside the water. A quiet story about cycles, care, and how the things we return to continue to hold us, even after they are no longer standing.

The Rock Sale

Author
During a summer week by the river, a boy collects rocks and carefully arranges them for sale outside his family’s cottage. As neighbors and strangers stop to choose their favorites, he begins to understand how value is created—and how ordinary things can become important once someone decides to keep them.

Illustration

Selected linocut and mixed media work.

Contact

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