Day 9: The Sprayer

Day 9: The Sprayer

That’s right, today’s painting is of the greenhouse sprayer! Somehow it just seemed like THE thing to paint this afternoon with the rain beating down outside. I spent a lot of time with this sprayer this past summer when the bugs were in full force, and really they are only good memories since we use organic insecticides. The best thing we used was peppermint rosemary oil, so spraying really wasn’t so bad.After finishing work this afternoon I was pretty tired from only a few hours sleep. I know I keep saying this, but it’s because aside from working at the greenhouse and doing my painting a day project I was also working on a large landscape commission that I declared complete (I say this because it just never seemed finished) last night. It was the first huge project (3 1/2×5 foot painting) of it’s kind that I had ever attempted. And it was awesome. I have to admit that I really suffered over the whole thing, I mean I tortured myself with how not right it was and agonized over if I could let myself give this painting to my client who I admire and respect and only wanted him to have the best painting I could create. I did make the best painting I have made so far in doing this commission, I learned a lot about my working habits, not unlike I’m learning while doing this project.The beautiful thing about this project is that even though I was tired today I didn’t have the luxury to stop and ask myself what I felt like doing, I just did what I knew there was to do: paint. This act of painting no matter how I feel or what I think, but just doing it anyway, this is where all the gold is for me right now. This is what I realize being a professional painter (or anything really) is. It’s just doing it and giving it my all and not listening to my thoughts and feelings (aka little voice in my head) because there is no power in listening to the disempowering voice.- it’s only purpose is to hold me back and keep me where I’m comfortable doing what I already know how to do, which is mostly search for something to give me inspiration and then paint that. What I learned today is that the process can actually work the other way: I can paint something and in the process of painting it I get inspired. Everyday it seems that one of my ideas about myself as painter gets challenged. Yesterday it was realising that I’m not just a landscpae painter, and today it’s breaking out of the stereotype that an artist has to be inspired to create. Sorry to debunk this one folks (and feel free to hang onto this one for yourself), but working is where everything tranforms and comes alive; me, the painting and you as well, the viever.I know this is a long one, so if you made it all the way here I just thank you for taking the time to read this, how great!If you would like to buy this or any of my paintings, you can buy them here https://kellymedford.com/works. Each painting from the 100 day project is $100, 6×8 inches and is unframed.To share this newsletter, the link to subscribe is here https://kellymedford.com/email-newsletter or can be followed here on the blog.Thanks!