What I am painting

I am going to upload the paintings I am working on at the moment. It is really a mixed group. The self portrait is done, and so far I am pretty happy with the color saturation. The still life with lights was started a couple of years ago - I always almost liked it - not enough to keep it, but enough to not toss it. So I thought I would try to finish it along the lines of the self portrait. It is kind of interesting doing this sort of "save" operation, there is really nothing to lose - worst case I completely ruin a painting I never really liked in the first place. (finishing a painting that you do really like but that doesn't quite work is hard).
The other still life is more of an "almost there" painting. I liked the plate of fruit in the foreground, but the composition of the background was unpleasant. I've tried painting it out a few times, this last is better. The original had this upside down V shape that I didn't like. Usually the problem is color, this time it was more structural. 
I've been talking to several artist friends, I really think the blog format makes sense for most artists and small businesses. I can, and have, designed my own web sites, but the tools and potential for connections with a blog make most of it so easy. Who needs Dreamweaver when you can use Typepad?