"Between Speech & Silence" assignment

Diane Culhane's "Between Speech and Silence" online class ended last Friday (!) and I have the final two paintings to complete. I tend to do either controlled graphicky things or large, non-objective swashy pieces, but this final assignment is somewhere in the only recently explored "middle". I am thoroughly enjoying this class - it's so freeing to experiment.
So, here is the first base painting:

Light

And here is the second:

Dark

I have some collage elements to add and then I get out the brushes, pens and acrylics. Hm-m-m, I have no idea what will happen :-)