For a lot of people, children’s authors like Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, and Dr. Seuss form their elementary memories and their budding sense of whimsy and storytelling. For junior Gillian Ruch, exposure to these books formed the basis of her entrepreneurial endeavors, her spiritual life, and her artistic passion. 

After a successful run selling prints, stickers, and greeting cards at SAB’s Maker’s Market, Ruch will be launching her website, www.mamiegillian.com, after about two years in the works.

“I think my first thought when I met her was: how did Hillsdale manage to bring someone straight from ‘Little Women’?,” junior Helen Schleuter said. “Even though I didn’t see Gillian’s art until later in our friendship, I was able to see her artistic vision in our friendship quite early on. Gillian’s art really does reflect her personality. She is an incredible storyteller, with a special ability to see humor in ordinary events and to understand and mimic the motley characters of the human race.”

Born and raised in Wheaton, Illinois, Ruch grew up the third in the lineup of six children. Imaginary play, dressing up in costumes, and going on adventures with her parents out in nature marked her idyllic childhood. 

“Looking back, my childhood is just this colorful, rich experience, and I really want to capture that in my art,” Ruch said. “I love to draw children and capture their characters and what they teach us in their childlikeness. I think this comes from having younger siblings and enjoying childhood. Like truly living a childhood.” 

Set in natural landscapes, Ruch’s personal art projects usually feature woodland creatures, often accompanied by a hot beverage, a mushroom, or a tree. 

“If you look closely, every picture is a subtle story frozen in time,” Schleuter said. “For example, in one of my favorites there is this rodent bagpiper who is majestically standing on a hill surrounded by these cute dormice. At first you think, ‘aww that’s very quaint and imaginative’ and then you realize that all of the dormice are holding their ears and making these very human expressions of discomfort. I don’t know how she managed to capture dormice body language, but she did.”

That personal style is not the focus in her classes, however. 

“You know, what we focus on here at Hillsdale is the fundamentals of learning the language of drawing and painting, and we focus on and learn that very deeply,” Art Department Chairman Julio Suarez said. “This idea of style will develop and will come with time. It’ll be a natural thing that will happen as you work. More and more. It’s not really something that I can clarify. What is her style? Her style is that she’s a really good student who works really hard to get good at drawing and painting and learning these very challenging skills.”

Ruch visited Hillsdale as a prospective student and was captured by the art department and by the glimpse she got of Suarez’s classroom. She applied for and was awarded an art scholarship by submitting a portfolio and has been a part of the department ever since. 

“They have to submit a portfolio with a little bit of writing about art, and that’s when I got I was able to see what a really great prospect she was,” Suarez said. “There were some beautiful illustrations that she had done, and I was very impressed. It was really one of the most impressive portfolios that I’ve seen so far.”

Her habits and skills as an artist bleed into her everyday experiences as well in her consistent people-watching. Suarez also explained how artistic skills can be useful assets in the workplace. 

“The ability to receive feedback and be open to criticism, and be open to knowing that that is how you get better is so important when you go out into the real world,” Suarez said. “That’s where employers are looking for, right? The other is the idea of hard work. I want them to develop grit and the work ethic that you can get good at anything. You’re not good, you get good. The other was that in order to draw and paint in the way that we teach it, you have to be able to see things in different ways and change your perspective of how you see something. You have to be able to hold different ideas in your mind at the same time. Also the idea that everything is relational in drawing or painting, everything is interconnected.”

For Ruch, art is not limited to an academic or a passionate pursuit but is an important aspect of her spiritual life.

“I definitely feel a connection to the Lord when I’m doing art as a subcreator,” Ruch said. “It influences every piece of art that I make. Everything that I am drawing is usually something alive from creation, and I just feel like I’m getting to enjoy something he’s made. I get this contact with beauty, and which is such a door to the Lord. I feel like it’s just like these expressions of my longing for the Lord and for beauty.”

In addition to her dreams of writing and illustrating a children’s book in the future, Ruch is launching her website tentatively by Christmas. She hopes to eventually include wrapping paper, recipe cards, and gift tags. 

“I think the work that I do on my own time is something that’s just welling up in my heart,” Ruch said. “It can be something that I saw, like a moment between people or a funny situation that I witnessed. I just want to express this moment in color.” 

In anticipation of this project, she places her gratitude with the influence of Suarez, the guidance of Lindsey Bergsma and her graphic design publishing house, and, ultimately, the pursuit of beauty and the divine. 

“I think art has this capacity to point to something so much greater and so much more beautiful,” Ruch said. “I want to point to that which is greater than with the hopefulness of just knowing like there is a beauty and there is a goodness that is untouchable by everything that is ugly and topsy turvy in the world.”