Cast of Characters - Gillian

Cast of Characters:

If my life was a story, the person below would have a starring role. I want you all to know more about them, so over the following weeks, I’ll be including various interviews that I’ve recently conducted with the most important people in my life.



















My Best Local Friend, Gillian

Gillian and I have been friends for almost 2 years. We met through other friends, and I didn't know right away that we would click so well. Time passed and we started hanging out all the time. Gillian is super smart, funny and delightfully random. We share an appreciation for vintage fashion, old movies, and really good food. She encourages all my "green" efforts and is tirelessly supportive of all my crazy ideas. She's always there to help me throw extravagant parties and she even lets me store all my costumes and holiday decorations at her house! She's never afraid to call me on my crap and even though we don't agree on everything, we still manage to meet in the middle where it counts.

Here is the interview:

Erin: Where are you from and why did you leave?

Gillian: Wow, that's an open question. "From," huh. Well, I was born in Brooklyn, but it's a technicality. That was the summer my family moved to the 'burbs, so I didn't get to actually live in B'klyn for another 18 years. I grew up in northeastern New Jersey, about 20 miles from NYC. It was really a beautiful area. Rolling hills, a ridiculous number of trees, state parkland all over the damn place, and whenever there was a break in the trees, the NYC skyline. Also, more shopping malls than you could shake a stick at, and oppressively humid summer heat. Ugh.

I lived in Brooklyn during my first two years of college, but I spent more time taking the subway into lower Manhattan than I did in my own zip code. I moved back to New Jersey to finish college while I worked. I went to Boulder to visit friends of my boyfriend shortly after I finally graduated, and I loved it. Three months later, I lived there. I had no savings, I didn't have a job, and I didn't know a soul (that boyfriend and I had since called it quits). My friends back home thought I was crazy, but my parents, who had spent their entire lives in the general area where there were born, thought it was terrific. It was definitely the ballsiest thing I've ever done. I figured on spending 2 or 3 years in Boulder, and then either moving back to NYC or moving on to San Francisco. I've been in Colorado for 12 years now, but I'm definitely starting to feel the wanderlust.


Erin: I know that you are a creative person and have lots of different ways of expressing yourself. What artistic medium do you find most fulfilling?

Gillian: It's funny, I've never thought of any of them as being fulfilling. I enjoy the processes, don't get me wrong, but I'm rarely satisfied with the outcome. My dad has a painting in his house that I did a few years ago, and I like how that one came out. If I had disposable money, I'd enjoy getting back into intaglio printmaking. I never did take advantage of exploring non-silver photographic prints.

I've thought about playing with a Holga, or about making myself a new pinhole camera, but then I'd have to set up a darkroom again. It would be fun to have a little offset press, or a Print Gocco kit. I've tried a lot of things... weaving, woodworking, sculpting, other stuff. Nothing holds my attention for very long. This question is making me want to run out to Meininger's to pick up a silkscreen kit, but I really should sew some of these dresses first! And I still need to perfect my Key lime pie recipe. :)


Erin: When did you first become environmentally aware and why?

Gillian: I can't think of a time when I haven't been conscious of the environment. I'm a child of my era... Earth Day and I were born at just about the same time. The infamous Crying Indian PSA ran on TV frequently. Woodsy the Owl pleaded with us to Give A Hoot. In my hometown, curbside recycling pickup was free... but garbage collection was charged on a per-bag basis. I still don't understand why everyone doesn't work on the same system. I started getting the Seventh Generation catalog around 1989, and now I work for the company that makes it (Seventh Gen is still an independent company, but they couldn't afford to keep printing catalogs... Gaiam Living is now their official catalog source).



Erin: You have a tattoo on your ankle, what is the story behind it?

Gillian: It's a flower that my sister had drawn for my birth announcement. The tattoo was inked by Carlos Haas, who currently works out of Tribal Rites in Boulder, CO. He did a great job getting the colors just right!


Erin: If there was one movie or movie star you could say influenced your style, what/who would it be?

Gillian: Somewhere between "none" and "all." I love old movies, and the clothing contained therein, but I've never tried to emulate the style of any one star or movie. I have an eyelet dress that reminds me of something Audrey Hepburn would wear in Roman Holiday, and I have a wrap dress or robe (it's vintage, and I can't quite figure it out) that strikes me as being Katherine Hepburn-ish.


Erin: What is, in your opinion, the greatest band of all time?

Gillian: There's no way in hell that I could answer that. WXPN has a list of the 885 greatest musical artists of all time; that's a good start. http://www.xponentialmusic.org/vote and donate some money to public radio while you're at it.