A step forward

A few years ago I painted a pastel of oranges in a black bowl that I thought turned out pretty well.  As I was recently searching for ideas to paint, I decided to try it again in oil.  This is the result.  I hung it on my wall to dry a bit with every intention of doing more work.  But the longer it hung, the more I liked it, and the more worried I got about messing it up.  Hard as it was, I decided to just leave it be; artists never seem to be completely happy with their own work.  There are little faults here and there that could be fixed, but maybe I'm the only one who sees them.

I've been looking at a lot of other people's work, trying to figure out how to make mine better.  Finally I realized what was missing - I need to pay more attention to the lighting.  I've been told this already, but it seems to have taken about six months before it finally sunk in.  I feel like this particular piece is a big step forward for me.

This oil, along with a pastel (Spider Plant) will be in the Spring Fling show in Sidney, Ohio next month.