[Linda Nelson]

Chris,

A very sincere thanks for the critique, and I agree that the composition is clumsy, detracting from the face and elegance of the feminine lines of the body.

Besides, of course, recomposing the work completely, I personally think one way to "save" the painting as it is would be to modify the background colors to a much darker field, to add a SUBTLE pattern to the wall so that all of the information surrounding the subject here is closer in value (therefore eliminating islands of pattern and value), and also helping contrast and emphasize the lighter value of the face, to bring back to the main focus.

Thanks again,
Linda