the exacta

Despite the heat, the hospital visits, and the lack of shooting, the summer is flying by at a mad clip. It can't have been that long ago I was bemoaning the length of time before my next check-in with The Butcher.... and it's been and past already. I'm plotting another shoot with The Beave and a camping expedition with Michael. Work with my new favorite client is broadening by the day. There is nothing quite like being someone's Everything Girl. I like it.


all-terrain days © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

I could not have imagined such variety in the things I have done and seen in the past short weeks. Every day has been filled to the gills. The Shanners has been cooking on the wedding front, with copious shower action.


adjustments © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Thereafter, I disappeared into the shadows of Lancaster, unearthing the questionable treasures of college art & design classes along with embarrassing journals from high school. As little as I remembered about my social interactions in both college and high school, the things I made I remember clearly still. But reading about the things that happened brought them back with surprising vividness. Much to my wild blushing.


penumbra © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


headstone © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Along the path of our normal let's get lost weekend drives, Michael suggested that we take a detour to the racetracks for a day... to see what stumble across.


leader © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

The Philadelphia Park track is certainly not amongst the grander in the area, but did provide us a slightly unsettling glimpse into the lives of hardcore gamblers and the curious lives and relationships between the jockeys, horses, owners and handlers on the other side. The element of excitement lost out of the creepy grit that laid over the place like the scent of stale cigarette smoke.


gallop © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

The uncharted territory of visual merchandising was stumbled into last week as I began a stint of very hands-on work at Terrain. I had no idea what to expect and though my picture is slightly clearer, I still do not know what to expect for the second week of work. They are in the midst of their Autumn turnover, new product comes in, holes from the summer need to be filled in and re-mingled with new... new displays, replanting, renewing. Now I have always had a soft spot for moss... after lunch on the first day, I embarked on a two and a half day intimate journey with moss, quite unlike anything I have ever worked on. There is a moss wall in the spa-product room that is planted with a few ferns and finished with some orchids.


watering cans © Laura Kicey for Terrain. All Rights Reserved.

Along with one of the staff display artists, we had to remove almost all the moss section by section, soak it and replace what we could, pitch what did not revive. My time was split between collecting dry moss and working in the mushroom house, submerging, draining, sorting.... and making chicken wire planters lined with sheet moss. Altogether it took us a day and a half to replace the moss, attach the planters, plant the ferns, rearrange the ground plants and water it. The third day we started on a major project, creating a huge wooden arch which would be covered with 40 moss-covered planters. It was not long before I found myself with my same mossing partner elbow deep in giant hunks of chicken wire and huge bags of moss, covering planters. While also wrassling with the design for some cashwrap signage. Weeee!!


pincushion plant © Laura Kicey for Terrain. All Rights Reserved.

After spending five years working basically alone in an attic I had forgotten how much fun it is working with people. Not only was it nice to be social again, but it was also refreshing to be outside, away from a desk, a computer. It was very physically demanding, every day going home with soil and mysterious organic debris in side my clothes, dirt under my nails and barely able to move from being so stiff. Going home and taking a shower after a ten hour day and flopping down in bed, I haven't felt this accomplished in some time. It was very invigorating. Friday night before Labor Day weekend, we hoped to finish the hothouse refixturing. We stayed extra late and managed to fill it in and erecting the wood arch with planters. We were all sweaty and filthy at the end of it, but it was a very satisfying finish to the week.

for sale by mummy © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Following that I didn't think I would be able to muster energy to do much of anything. But I had three shoots lined up nonetheless. I had to complete a photo essay I am doing for a magazine (no details until after release, naturally).


backstroke © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Shhhhhhhhhhh!

grasses in the wind © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.


Shanners and Shua were asked by the Shannersmom to produce some engagementy-style photos for her enjoyment. To help a sistah out, Michael and I took them over to Valley Forge Park, in the insanely intense sun and goadded them into being cute together in front of us for an hour or so.


lawn care © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Then, ice cream to help everyone get over the heat.


the clothesline © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Holiday Monday was the perfect opportunity for Gwyn, Michael and I to visit a couple of abandoned houses near where developers were actively working on some new McMansions. The first of the two sites was a house that appeared to be built in the 70s. The first story was boarded up but the second story was filled with a lot of of interesting remains of the last families inhabitants.


thinking back © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Several photo albums, one dated 1998; love letters from the late 60s from a man in the army, Peter, to his (later) wife, Rita; several sports trophies, dolls, a weight bench, and a bowling ball. The latter appearing to have been used as a wrecking ball on the toilet by squatters who put some holes in the walls, drank lots of terrible beer, played paintball and wrapped themselves in the amazing assortment of crocheted blankets all over the house.


second story © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Though it is not something I normally do, I was drawn to this amazing painting I found in the 'girls room' of a red-haired lady on a green field with flowers. I had to take her home with me.


center stage © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.

Two weeks remain until my 31st birthday. I had to share a phenomenal find today, I was forced to purchase for a birthday present to myself, from etsy's maid of clay, I give you flower child - poppy, © Felicia of MaidOfClay.



Just my flavor of bizarre beauty.

Also in the spirit of sharing great things I have stumbled upon, my sweet internets friend meeralee posted this very eloquent and insightful series on sharing yourself on the internets for a Utata project and I think you should check it out.

There are about 4 other adventures I believe I neglected to mention, but I the bedding down hour draws near. 6am is my new hour! Good Night!




etched © Laura Kicey. All Rights Reserved.