Looks great…please remember I’m the Danish one so Lis with an s (typical Danish name and not short for anything either) not Liz, as Î’m never sûre if the message is gif me or Liz… 
PS! Eventually I hope to take up psintng again… 
This may be stylized but your particular color palette is quite apparent. I particularly like the gold fish rendered in oranges, pinks, etc. and the blue angelfish at the top of the painting. Do you make prints of your paintings?
I believe this one is my favorite. Lively, free brushwork, grand colors... A wonderful painting!
This painting is marvelous! The colors, composition, subject matter...all come together beautifully.
It sounds as though, when you looked at this painting again with "fresh eyes", you have done a good job in deciding how the painting could be strengthened. I agree with your assessment. The trees are somewhat static looking in comparison with the way you handled the grass.
I love the vivid colors and the way that you applied the paint. Your painting has an exciting texture which adds to its vibrancy. Well done!
One day I am sure I will find my style. I the meantime this is another attempt at a watercolour. Hungry Koi. 50x40 cm
Watercolour. This one is a bit styled but I was attempting to practice circular symmetry. I prefer more freeflow really. 60x50 cm
Watercolour. I did copy this freehand from one of My Zhens in a practice attempt at pouring watercolours. 50x40cm 
This was my second attempt. Oil on canvas. 80x60 cm
I painted this a few years ago it was my first real attempt with just palette knife. The colours were mixed on the canvas so it's a bit wild. I enjoyed the process, used a lot of paint, got quite messy in parts but another learning stage. On reflection now I would smooth the sky and make the trees less rigid and take more care with each stroke. Critiques welcome.
Thanks Liz, Yep mostly life n stuff gets in the way. I'm trying to devote more time to painting so I can work up my knowledge and skill. I'm going to sign up for the virtual art academy Neil mentioned in his post above at www.internationalartist.com/competitions. The curriculum looks very good and fantastic value. I'll finish my current course fist.
Thank's Debra, I wanted to challenge myself and it was! I almost scraped it off and binned it a couple of times... However, it turned out to be quite a learning experience so I will be trying more.
Very nice…with I could paint like that…I’m more abstract…when I get my act together…
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Hi Courtney...I believe that, for your first attempt at a still life, you have done a wonderful job. I agree with Neil that working from life would be the way to go, though. Fortunately, still life subjects are easy to locate in your own home. Getting people to model for you? That can be a little tricky. I look forward to seeing your next painting.
Thanks for the advice Neil, it makes sense. I'll certainly follow up on the links you mentioned. Thank you.
Good effort - a difficult subject. My advice would be to paint from life and using just a couple of objects with different textures on a smaller canvas. A useful magazine to look at is the International Artist (www.internationalartist.com/competitions) as they have 'how I did it' articles by artists which show techniques. A site worth considering is www.dailypaintworks.com where there are a lot of different styles and on-line tutorials plus Carol Marine's site: http://carolmarine.blogspot.com on producing small quick paintings.