there's more where that came from

An evening walk speckled with fireflies... what's that you say? Am I all better now? Up and out and moving and shaking like that.

It might seem like I take some perverse joy in this... or am making it all up for the number of times I have written the words it didn't work.

That little sliver of hope that it would just scar down and everything would grow golden peach fuzziness died with a delightful infection over the weekend, following my visiting with the Butcher. We discussed how to proceed in the short term and long, with the now-familiar pall of disappointment over us. To ensure my comfort for the interim period, he wanted to perform an intermediate comfort procedure before the 4th of July weekend... a procedure I have now had four times. Then for the worse news, instead of waiting only one month to try again, he said we should really wait two... on top of that the rather horrifying and more invasive procedure he mentioned last time... yeah, that one.


tangle © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


So last Wednesday, back to the Surgicenter we went. After my last visit, where I assured all the nurses that I wouldn't be back, this is the last one for real this time... Michael and I both have become all too familiar to well... everybody now. We got razzed at every turn, starting with the inimitable Georgette. My favorite German, red-headed-surrogate-mother nurse was in recovery and visited me while I was in Pre-Induction.


escapist © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

This process has become so much a part of my way of life. Despite that, I am still surprised at how uncomfortable and drained I am for ages following it all... I always expect to just bounce. But I don't. The added weight of having just been in the hospital two weeks prior to the day, and scarcely moving in that time, took its toll. So this week I decided I needed to step up. Since I have two months, I've decided to start a light workout routine, including walks and my Nordic Track... which hasn't been touched in so long it got stuck at max resistance where I left it, making it especially challenging, now. Its been very upsetting watching the hard work I put in for some four year basically go to waste because of pain, exhaustion, explicitly being told to rest and eat weird things, and lack of desire to start something I would have to stop again repeatedly. I need to get a step ahead of this next one. I want to feel stronger going into it... hopefully the result will be that much better. Exercise plus regular art fagging with the gang and shooting onward and upward should make the two months fly, and looking forward to doing it again afterwards makes it a little easier to process.


fear to tread © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

At long last this weekend Gwyn is taking Michael and I to a special location that I attempted to visit some two years ago and chickened out of and I am buzzing with the thrill of what we'll find there. Also everywhere I turn I have been featured on the front page of art e-commerce sites including imagekind and trunkt. There was even a little spike in etsy sales. Always welcomed. LAB v02 came out as well, which features some amazing collections, including a vibrant bunch of Indian handpainted street signs from Meena Kadri and mac 'n' cheese packaging amassed by Pete Jordan. Plus my constructs make an appearance.

Also its come time to showcase some things I shot aaaaaaaaaaaages ago and finally can post them publicly. First off, from a shoot in February for the American Institute of Architects, Context magazine, I was asked to do a portrait of the fine gents who lead a sustainable development/design/build team in Philadelphia, The Onion Flats. I opted to do some traditional group portraits but then also wanted to take a slightly different approach: take four individual portraits and then digitally composite them afterwards. Sort of a portrait version of a construct. While it was not chosen for print, I still liked how it turned out. First, the singles, then the recombined version:


tim mcdonald © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


johnny mcdonald © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


pet mcdonald © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


howard steinberg © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


forward thinking © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Two months ago I had the opportunity to shoot the workings of a printing studio in idyllic Durham, PA. I documented the studio assistants working on an edition of floral woodblock prints by renowned artist Polly Apfelbaum. Afterwards I met with the owners of Durham Press for a series of portraits around with pieces from their private collection.


crossfire © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


awash © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


woodblock print © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


the perfect stroke © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


jig © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

I had a passing fancy this morning that I might ask some people to contribute photos of random architectural elements and façades so that I might build a construct of them. It half way seems like cheating and half way seems ideal for the circumstance. It would bring fresh stock to the dwindling pot, help me keep creating without moving, and allow me access to foreign architectures without an airplane ticket or wasting gas. Credit gets sticky... and I hate not taking my own photos... and I don't know what quality of camera I am working with when others shoot on my behalf... and if I sold the piece would I then have to divvy up the profits... and who would actually do it?

In the meantime I am working on a presentation book for the constructs to shop around to publishers, hoping I can find someone to produce it and I am considering also self publishing a smaller photography book featuring my abandoned interiors. Should keep me distracted for a little while I imagine. Keep your eyes peeled I should add to that particular set of images this coming week.