My mother is on a a dlsr course and I went over to give her a hand with some assignments. These are some of the shots that I setup and took. (D50 w/kit lens, excuse the dirty sensor, I used her camera):

[roentarre]

The 2nd shot is my favorite one as the shadow compliments well with the warm colour tone there.

The rest have interesting composition skill. However, the warm tone not only creates shorter distance between the subject and viewer, but also provides little depth of perception to the subject. IMHO, a cool tone would have made the images even popping more

[Ecosse]

Thanks for the comment. I couldn''t figure out how to get proper WB with the D50, but I would agree with you.

[Lowell Goudge]

I loke the second, I find the chair is too distracting, and I am not sure if the figurine is in focus or not. It is not as sharp as the rose.

ps

if you want to get wb correct, why not put a white grey or black object in the corner of the shot and then crop in about 5% to eliminate it. you can then use the color balance adjustment in any photo editor and get white balance correct all the time.

[Ecosse]

I think the figurine may be in focus, but the reflection and ceramic texture are making it hard to tell. Thanks for the input.

[gawan]

The last one is nice too, imo, it has a balanced composition, even if the figurine is not wholly visible.

[jgredline]

I too like the second image.
I would like to see it with a tad more contrast and maybe a 10% smart sharpen.

[Peter Zack]

I would agree with James and jgredline. The second and last shots are the best. I bit too warm but you could adjust that in PP. add a touch of sharpening and they would be quite nice.

[Ecosse]

Thanks for the comments folks!