the roadside scholar's Channel

Gigi Leonard is a native Midwesterner and Chicago-based self-taught photographer, raconteur and bon vivant. She has had a latent passion for photography since she was a child, but only recently has taken the steps to express herself creatively, and to the public, through her digital imagery.

Gigi is also a life-long entrepreneur who began her career at the tender age of seven, when she opened her first lemonade stand at the end of the driveway of her childhood home. It was then that she knew that she wanted to be her own boss. This dream came to fruition when she was 26, and opened the first of two small shops on Southport Avenue in Chicago. There, her talent for sourcing, curating and displaying a tightly edited selection of stylish home and personal adornments in a welcoming environment was cultivated. The results were well received, and Gigi frequently runs into former customers online and in person who enjoy reminiscing about her beloved boutiques as much as she does.

The shops are gone now, but their encouraging spirit lingers. Today, Gigi continues down two different, yet connected, entrepreneurial pathways which showcase noteworthy objects for people to enjoy: her own original photography in her Etsy shop, and the work of other artists, designers and crafters from around the world on her contemporary art and decor website, the roadside scholar.

Gigi believes that we are not one-dimensional beings, narrow in our interests and tastes, and that there is no better place to reflect this philosophy, emotion and freedom of choice than through art. The dynamic array of media, motifs and styles that Gigi showcases are not only a reflection of her own personal style, but that of her loyal readers too. Gigi honors them, and her own personal passions, by continuously weaving an eclectic tapestry that celebrates the discovery of new collections and the stories of the hands behind them.

Gigi loves iced coffee, waking up in the morning with no place to be, beachcombing, authenticity, road trips, hearing music from her childhood on the radio, fragrant garden flowers, chocolate pudding, sharp sarcastic wit, cashmere, and people, sometimes. She loathes pretense, inattentive service, produce that has gone bad, insincerity, stinky smells in confined spaces, rudeness, trying to sleep in hot rooms, ill-fitting shoes, stale movie popcorn, stepping in gum or other things, and people, sometimes. She especially enjoys being surrounded by beautiful things both outdoors and inside her home on the Northwest side of Chicago she shares with Paul Strauss, her husband, Nestle and Kaiser, their Bernese and Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs, and Mr. Lucky, their mischievous orange tabby cat, who has made it clear and in no uncertain terms that he plans to outlive all of them.

http://www.roadsidescholar.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=103137