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As of today I ave 335 days left in the year and I have completed 3 paintings of the 104 paintings I hope to complete this year.

Well, I am fudging a little on the 3 paintings done. Attached is my latest painting and I am pretty sure I am almost done with it but I think I will look at it closely and add a few touches and I am not totally happy with the bottom lip and jaw area. But after I fix whatever is bugging me about it - the painting will be done.

My hubby has pointed out that I took 31 days to paint 3 paintings and at this rate I am only goiing to get 36 paintings done. Well that is true I have only completed 3 paintings I have started 5 or 6. But I realize I will need to kick it into high gear and start producing more.

No excuses I will just have to work harder.

Oh well once again it is 1:30 in the morning - we have to work on Monday so I need to go to bed. We will be playing catch up all week, because we took a week to go visit Kevins family in VA and we had a nice time. However, we drove and it took 2 days each way to drive. Then when we were ready to return to work on Friday and Saturday, a massive snow storm struck. Which left us with 5 -8 inches of snow depending on your location. Both days cancelled out and we will have to work later to make them up, but it is not worth risking your life to have veins or hair removed or getting a new face. We can always reschedule at a later safer time. But it does make an already busy schedule even busier. Pray that I will have strength to paint when I get home each night.

Well thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. If your on Facebook become my friend and please become a fan of my fan page. I love facebook a little too much. But I am almost always online daily.

Goodnight
Patty Sue O'Hair - Vicknair Artist
PS-OV-ART

As of today January 27th we have 339 days to go and I have 102 paintings to go before the end of the year. Yes, I finished another painting. The Majestic Lion (attached to this blog) was started at home then taken on the road with us to visit family. I worked on the painting in the evenings after everyone else went to bed (cause that is when I usually paint anyway). I was able to finish this one and start the Tiger painting I will post a photo of the tiger with my next blog.

I have found that sticking too a regular schedual is really harder then I thought it would be. But I did work on the paintings while on vacation and I actually found it relaxing to have something to do that I was very comfortable with. However, this did cut into my reading time. I like to use my vacation time to read a good book or two and since I painted instead, well I am afraid my reading just didn't get done. Oh well I can't do everything.

Well folks it is late and I need sleep we drove for the last two days to get home and I am tired. Goodnight all.

Patty Sue
PSOVART
psovart@yahoo.com

PS: I have posted several photos of the progression of the Lion and of the Tiger to both Flickr and to my facebook fan page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/psovart/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/PS-OV-ART-Patty-Sue-OHair-Vicknair-Artist/120774855204#/pages/PS-OV-ART-Patty-Sue-OHair-Vicknair-Artist/120774855204?ref=nf

As of today January 17th, 2010 I have 1 painting complete 103 paintings to go and 349 days to complete them. This weekend I planned on working on and finishing about 5 paintings... yea right. Life got in the way. Friday night I after we got off work late I had a sinus headache... I can't paint when my head hurts. Saturday we had to clean house cause I have been working on painting so much it really needed it, so I was unable to get to painting till after 9:00 PM but I made the most of it and worked on 4 different works. Sunday I worked around the house and woke up late so didn't get any painting done before we had to go to my sisters for dinner with family that came to visit from Denver. However we got home around 10:30 and I started working and I just now stopped at 1:45 AM. (which is ok, cause I do some of my best work after 8:00 PM to 2:00 AM) I am a night owl by nature. However I will be dragging at 8:00 in the morning when I have to get up for work.

Tonight I worked on my Majestic Lion painting. (See attached photo to this blog.) Saturday night I was able to get the base coat of color and the background painted so tonight I worked on adding some darker color more definiation around the face and shadowing. The shadowing is going to be a large part of this painting. In order for the fur to really look like fur you have to have the darks mixed in with the lights. This requires patients and skill to really go in and work in small areas and paint each area at a time. So that kind of detail is yet to come but the underliying colors are layed in.

He is really starting to take shape. I love the blue background in contrast with the golds of his fur. This is really fun to paint.

I have been posting step by step photos of the process on my facebook fan page if you haven't joined, please do it is wonderful to converse with my friends and fellow artist. I can be found under PS-OV-ART Patty Sue O'Hair Vicknair Artist.

Of course I am also on Fine Art America.com where prints and originals can be bought. Also I am on Zazzle.com where prints of my work can be purchased and applied to all kinds of items like t-shirts or ties, coffee cups, mouse pads. search for psovart123 (We have my paintings on all our mouse pads at work). I can also be found on imagekind where prints complete with frame, mat board, and glass can be purchased.

Well enough about where you can find my work for sale. I really am happy when a sale happens but, I really do the art because it is something I just have to do. I am just excited when others like my work and tell me how much they love one of my paintings whether it sells or not... but that is not why I do the work. I don't have to support myself with my art so it is my love, my joy, my fustration, and my outlet. When I paint time flies and the world seems good and safe.

On a serious note: The world has watched as Haiti suffers a devastating blow. My heart goes out to the people. Please give if you can it is up to us to make a difference. They are in my prayers.

Well off to bed for me. Goodnight all
Patty Sue
PSOVART

As of today January 14th 2010, I have 352 days to go and 103 paintings to finish... That is right I finally finished the Cougar ( I need to spell check more often I spelled it Couger in all my other postings... oops). Tonight I finished the small details and finishing touches. I think it turned out nice. What do you think? Next for this painting is to get it over to Scotts Frame and Art so that a great digital image of the work can be created. Once I have the digital files I will upload the photo of the painting to Imagekind, Zazzle, Fine Art America, Redbubble and Artwanted. I also post step by step photos to my fan page on Facebook and to Flickr.

One of my favorite things to do is to post online cause you get instant feedback (usually positive) from your peers and fans. The comments are always fun to read and they encourage me to move forward with the next project.

Now that I have completed the first painting I will have to get to work really hard over the weekend because I am behind in the quantity of paintings I had hoped to complete by this time of the month by about 5 paintings... My hubby is having a good time reminding me that I should be further along than I am. Oh well, maybe I can make it up along the way. Some paintings take longer than others so I hope I can catch up at some point.

Only time will tell.. Goodnight all if your reading this drop me a note to say hello.
Patty Sue
psovart@yahoo.com
PSOVART

As of today we have 354 days left in the year and I have 104 paintings to complete... Not making much progress this weekend I will work really hard to try and catch up... I was only able to paint from 10 to 1:30 tonight ... Well what can I say except American Idol started tonight. It has also come o my attention how much time I spend playing Facebook games so my farms are becoming reduced down in size so they are more manageable and less time consuming.

I am addicted to Farmville, Cafe world, Country life, and Island Paradise... They are fun but way to time consuming...so if I am going to come anywhere close to meeting my goal I will have to back away from the computer and put the mouse down. Pray for me ....

Tonight I worked on the Acrylic Cougar painting. I am 3/4 of the way done one more night and he will be finished (See photo with this blog). I worked on painting the fur, softening the overall look of the animal, the bark on the tree - which by the way is very textured, and just really detail. Tomorrow I will be working on a little more of the fur, the whiskers and giving it the finishing touches with a very small brush that really make my paintings pop.

Today has been a long day so I will be turning in now. Goodnight Blog world happy painting...

Patty Vicknair
PSOVART

PS: If you’re on twitter I go by PSOVART - on Facebook I have a fan page PS-OV-ART Patty Sue O'Hair Vicknair Artist Look for me, let’s be friends. If you join let me know you came from my blog.... nice to know if you have readers (helps to get me motivated)

I just did a spell check and I have been spelling couger wrong should be Cougar..... oops.

Well this is harder then I thought it would be... 357 days to go and I still have 104 paintings to go. I am 3/4 of the way done with the Couger painting and I have the next three paintings drawn. I guess the busy season has hit for us at our company and it is just hard to work all day and come home and have to paint - I guess I am worried this will become a job, I will not want to do at all. Painting has always been my "me time" what I do to relax, where the only person I have to please is myself.

So I have discovered that I have to do some soul searching and force myself to come home and paint. Once I start it will be easy cause I get into it. But I need to paint every night even if I can only fit in 1 hour of painting after a long day.

So some self revelation and self discovery before I really kick it into high gear and produce the work. I can do this I just am off to a slow start.

My biggest battle is my Hubby. He is rubbing it in that I should already be on my 3rd painting by now ... so dispite the negative vibe I am getting from his corner - I will press forward.

I have attached the photo from which I am painting my 1st painting in the series.

Thanks
Patty Sue Vicknair
PSOVART

Today on Monday January 4th -362 days left in the year and I still have 104 paintings to complete. However I do have the next 4 paintings drawn and one actually has paint on it as you can tell by the Couger painting I posted along with this blog. I drew the Lion but the couger is really what pulled me in. So instead of painting the lion first the couger won. You have to go with your energy pull - art is a very emotional thing. I have to be involved with the image to paint it. So of the 4 I drew this one won.

I will finish it this week and jump right in to the next painting. Which may be the lion this time.

Our weather has been really, really, really cold and snowy. Not normal for this time of year... well I say that but we have gotten use to light winters over the past 20 years so we were do for a bad one. This may be it. Hubby had car accident with his car so we are down to one car... boo wooo. But we will be just fine.

If anybody is reading this blog I would love to hear from you at some point once I get further along and actually have something to say. I think I will have to type this earlier in the day its after 1:00 AM now and I am having trouble figuring out what to say.

So talk at you later...
PSOVART
(Patty Vicknair)

Well the year is getting off to a slow start. Day 2 of 365 104 painting to go.

Today I met with the proud new owner of the #1 print of my Santa Claus painting - I took his photo with his wonderful new print which I uploaded.

On the 1st I spent the day choosing 2 to 6 images for my next paintings.
Today the 2nd. Has almost gotten away from me. However I am about to do the sketches for the 1st two paintings that I have to get done this week.

1st will be a Lion and the Second will be a Couger. Both photos were taken by me at the Eureka Springs turpentine Creek BigCat Refuge http://www.turpentinecreek.org/index.html

Please donate if you can they do get work for abused, neglected and abandoned big cats for the life of the cat. It's also a great place to visit and take photos or just to sit and watch the animals.

Well back to work. I did the math I have to do a painting every 3.5 days to stay on target for my goal. One of my buddies on facebook (PS-OV-ART Patty Sue O'Hair- Vicknair Artist's on facebook) pointed out that is a 700 % increase in my out put.... I will be doing my best to complete it. Great thing that I am a fast painter. However coming up with subject matter is more time consuming then I thought it would be.


Later tonight we are going to Downstream Casino to have dinner and gamble a little for our 16 year aniversary. I told my hubby that I was going to paint 104 this year and he said I guess I will see you next year. Painting is sort of a loaner activity. But I made a promise not to neglect him so I will pay some attention to him tonight.

So good by for today I have some drawing to do.
PSOVART

Well it has been a wonderful year creatively. 2009 has almost come to an end and I did not reach my goal for the year but I did produce some great paintings and I had some fun. This coming year I decided I would write about my journey into trying to make it in the as a real artist. I have a few objectives for the year. Some of them are a little ambitious, I admit and they will be a struggle to complete, but, I need to have something to strive for.

First let me cover the things I have learned and completed in the last year.
First here is what I have completed in the last year.
I completed around 15 paintings. I took 2 courses on Art Marketing. I entered 1 Art Festival. I entered 2 Art Shows. I was chosen to be one of the select artist to enter a huge 4 X 8 foot painting in the Eureka Springs Artery (check it out at www.thearterysite.org) I signed up for around 10 Art web sites. I was able to start the creation of my personal web site. I created a Artist Fan page on Facebook called PS-OV-ART Patty Sue O'Hair - Vicknair Artist ( Look me up lets be friends) I had around 45 of my works professionally scanned so that I can make high quality prints. I sold several prints of not only my paintings but some of my photography as well.
All of this while working a full time job and maintaining a relationship and playing my games on Facebook.

What I have learned: Selling art is really hard. The marketing part of the art is almost a full time job unto itself and not as much fun. That my paintings are not going to please everyone. That some people are really scared of clowns. That I need to paint 104 paintings a year to make a living. That I really fell short of that goal this year.

So my objective for the new year is to blog about my struggle to paint and get the 104 paintings done. To create the 104 paintings while still staying true to my style. I hope to connect with a few of you as you learn about why I choose that particular image to paint and the struggle to get the work done. All the while working a full time job and paying a little attention to my hubby and my pets.

So please if you have any words of encouragement or if you just have a question, feel free to send me a note I will address them here in the blog. psovart@yahoo.com

I will start this adventure on January 1st 2010 day 1 - 364 days to go and 104 paintings to paint.....

PS: Please excuse my type errors and the lack of punctuation - I was drawing in my note book when they were teaching all of that in school.