More Preparation for Hanging at Zenon's Cafe

I have spent time the last few days looking through my paintings to determine which paintings I will hang at Zenon's Cafe. I have decided to hang only recent work from my River Series. The piece below, Convocation II, was an attempt to create a transparent version of my original Convocation, which is mixed media. The translation was much more static and less interesting to my eye. I also could not create the effect I wanted in the top center piece that connects the top to the rest of the piece.

 

Convocation II--Before

Here is the original, mixed media piece so you can do your own comparison.

 

Convocation, 17 x 21 inches

Of course, I was not looking for a copy of the original, but I did hope for more complexity and excitement. So I started to edit and enhance Convocation II (the top image). I attacked the area I felt the most frustrated with first--the background. I took a piece of corrugated cardboard, stripped the outer cardboard off, dipped the now ribbed cardboard in red/orange, and went to town adding texture to the background. I then took a Native American patterned stamp I made, dipped it in the same red/orange and added interest to the rocks. Finally, after lifting all the paint off the top lacy part, I decided I just couldn't achieve what I wanted with transparent watercolor, so I put a piece of similarly colored rice paper over it. Then I was freed up from trying to keep it a transparent piece. I made a new stamp for this particular purpose and used acrylic paint to create the effect I wanted. 

Do you think it is improved?  It is one of the pieces I've framed to hang later this month.

 

Convocation II, After
17 x 21 inches