Thanks CC, that did it!
I knew it had to be something simple... I think by the time I wrote the message I was severly brain fried!
As far as the updating, I may have to simply clear the existing JLabel and replace it with a new one. Here is the code used to create the splitPane...
Now that I have retrieved the leftComponent that I would be able to change it's properties? I may not be using the right components yet, just started seriously messing with this stuff on Tuesday.