Welcome!

This website showcases my artistic endeavors, ranging from personal photography projects, printmaking, painting, story-telling and anything else my hands decide to work on. Poke around & explore, and please contact me to set up custom orders or to purchase art for your home! To see my client-based photography work, please visit www.KMcNicklePhoto.com. Thanks for visiting!

Levitation – a play date with Brittany Powers

My friend Brittany approached me recently with a collaboration idea. She is an excellent retoucher, and wanted to try out something called Levitation Photography. So, yesterday morning we hiked around Deer island in Novato, CA with an assortment of gear and had some fun.
Looking forward to many more future collaborations with this talented lady!

All photography by Kelsey McNickle. Retouching on two levitation images (as noted) by Brittany Powers.

There’s no place like Home – a photo essay

“Home is where the heart is.”
You’ve seen it embroidered on pillow cushions, painted over door hangers, woven in welcome mats; it is a phrase that is kitschy and wildly over-used, but somehow it always manages to be perfectly true. Though my heart lives in many places, its true “home” is in the state of Kansas. My genes descend from long lineages of Kansan farming on both my father’s and mother’s sides. Mom, hailing from the eastern side of the state, and dad, hailing from the west joined forces and moved to California in the late 1980’s with my then 14 month old big sister. They settled in to the Golden State quite well, and welcomed me into the world soon after.

I can remember visits to my grandparents’ houses back from when I was merely two years old, though I know there were visits before then. Many fond memories fill my heart when I think of these places, the places where my heritage was fostered and part of my identity formed. Some memories are of smells: freshly cut wheat, saw dust, and pure, clean air. Some are of sounds: barn cats meowing, the what truck’s creaky door, the hum of the combine engine. Each feeling resonates through me when I think of those special places.

During the August of 2012 I spent two weeks visiting my family and documenting the places significant to me and my heritage. Little did I know then that this would launch into a major ongoing project and continued exploration.

Below are a curated selection of images from that trip, previously presented as a book with the words above as their preface.

Jordan

Jordan and I went exploring in the forests of Purisma Creek Redwoods Preserve, in the South Bay peninsula. The day prior was damp and thunderous, but March 1st kicked off the month with an absolutely gorgeous day filled with a soft sun and mild breezes keeping us happy as we hiked through the trees.

Fishbowl series, 2012

This series was conceptualized and completed in 2012.
No plastic sea figurines were harmed in the creation of this project.