Thanks for the thoughts,

I have it out on the easel in my office so i walk past it often during the day - I 'm hoping it will "speak' to me one of these days....
I'm on the fence with adding anything or leaving as it is..I know I don't want it to be too busy.

Adding too many additional objects might risk busy-ness . . . but I would think the painting could be much better if you added a center of interest.

Tonight I am attending an artist's reception for a show in which 6 out of the 7 works I submitted were accepted. I show a dozen or more works every year at various juried fine art shows. I have juried one show myself, and a few years back I sat in on the jury while they made their decisions at a show I chaired. I know what jurors look for when selecting works to hang and to award places to. It is basically the same thing others look for when purchasing, viewing, or just enjoying art. It is also the same list artists might use when evaluating their own artwork while it is in progress, and when selecting works to hang in shows:
While it is more common that an artist will overwork a piece, it is just as dangerous to stop before you have created your best work. And so what if you change it and don't like it? If you learn from the experience, then you are doing exactly what most artists do . . . learning from each painting what could be better . . . and taking that to the easel with each fresh new canvas.

Dear Jo

it is nice... but i agree with wanting to add a touch of something...

the first thing i thought of was sun - wouldn't have to be the orb, but changing the light. this can be combined with the valid observations on center of interest:

you mentioned "adjusting the sky colors a little"

i think that if you did exactly that, creating a little more contrast, it would jazz it up quite a bit without altering content significantly, or causing busyness. do it so as to provide a focal point within the clouds as well as a sort of visual movement towards that point, it would create a center of interest, without actually inserting an object, like rocks, or a boat, or the sun itself, all of which i think would distract from the existing softness... and quite possibly detract from the piece.

the other thing i thought right off is rather subjective. i personally find the centermost and "furthest" portion of the sea a little flat... no need for big waves, but i think a little more texture there would do nicely.

good work. it is pretty even as it is. when i used to paint i was often very hesitant to go adding or reworking after a certain point... destroyed a couple of things that way. imho, art is above all an emotional channel... and if this painting feels a little empty to you, perhaps that is what you were expressing when you did it?

~ waves ~

Well, Jo, only you can decide because it is your "vision".

If your piece is small, I'd not do anything.

If larger, it might accommodate a small modification.

I use a technique called "fresh eyes" and I think you are doing this already. Look at it once a day or so. Too much and you then get familiar with it (some people call this "falling in love" with the image). Once you are cathected to it, decisions become more difficult. Sometimes a time of not looking at the work, and then re-experiencing it, will provide an answer.

In general, smaller works can be left alone, when you use intense color. The color therefore carries the piece. But for larger works, over 16x20... other design devices sometimes are needed.

Color is very emotional, so when you use it as you do, beware of inserting "intellectual" content. I've noticed your other pieces were like this too. So using color as the design elements might be the best way to go.

If I were going to do anything with a piece like this, I'd just change the clouds a little to reduce the repetition. Clouds in nature do not have common identical repetitions. Maybe tiny birds in the far distance because those would be natural. But in the end it is your decision on what to do. You chose this format because of something inside YOU, so go with that.

It's 11 x 14 so smallish.

I think after looking in the outside daylight - one thing is the mauve/Lavender/rosy streaks are too much, as well as the yellows - I got carried away and it's too vivid and the color/effect is not right.

the top clouds are too similar and need more variation of shape & color tones

the horizon is to vivid/strong it should be softened to show more distance effect & it does slope down just a bit on the right

the middle water I left fairly plain in case I decided to add a wave as a focal point - but I haven't done too many focus waves at all yet so I'm reading up on those.

I always add my birds last LOL

this really helps to pin down the adjustments for me

Please excuse the newsprint showing on this one, but I scanned it from a newspaper.

I am not very artistic, but could see a similarity between your painting and this photo, and wondered if an outcrop like the one here might break up your horizon, as well as providing a point of focus for the eye.

See what you think.

I love those colors & the clouds...

this sounds good Jo.

look forward to seeing the result if you decide to make the adjustments...

~ waves ~

So maybe whats missing is you !! or shal I say her .....

Beauty and art I beleive is in the eye of the beholder ! And what I beleive it is a subject that is or is finished at this very moment , Take pictures now because I beleive Just as God isnt finished with us yet nither may be your picture and yet it may be this is just what you feel right now , Content is not a bad thing but it may be just for the moment ,
I love art in so many different things and ways to exspress it ! And many beg to have the creativity to do so , ,so asking for others opinions to me is a ploy of what one may want to add or may see in their own vision ,, What do you think? Me I personally think its serene !!!