In the Studio

I've been working on some unresolved work lately, and I think I'm getting more towards where I want to be. The piece above is about 4 x 6" including the frame, it was done from this salvaged frame from the thrift store. I really like how it turned out.
This next school year is going to be the last year of my MFA degree, and I am both nervous and excited for it. I am going to be teaching Life Drawing again, which is going to be great, but at the same time balancing teaching, graduate assistantships, my classes, studio work, my marriage, family, and friends can be exhausting and overwhelming. I am trying to really get a good start on my thesis work (or at least work out all of the big kinks) before this semester starts. Sometimes I've got a tendency to psych myself out about the amount of work I've got ahead of myself, and it can be crippling to my studio work. I really want to avoid that this coming year.

So I'm starting some work ahead of time, and really trying to figure out a general direction for my thesis show. These paintings may or may not be a part of it, but they were something I had to do just to see if they would work.

The second painting is much larger, but still has an oval format. The frame I'm using is this one, which I thrifted a while ago. It is painted in the same color as the frame above.
They are both dealing with issues I am really interested in. Longevity, decoration vs. fine art, absence, presence of the hand vs. machine made items, and so forth.
Hopefully they will take me somewhere new. Also, I am more than open to feedback on these, let me know what you think of them!