A few words on struggle

I started the painting on this cup yesterday.  I liked the drawings, and needed to fill in the details.  Somehow, I lost my clarity and the background got totally confused.  But I still really liked the figures, so I kept trying to fix it, only getting deeper and deeper into the swamp of chaos...... I actually almost gave up, it looked horrible and felt like a failure, and I was so close to thowing it into the trash, but still I really liked the initial drawings, especially this one, so I didn't quit, and eventually, by washing back the surface I got to a place that I really liked.  It kind of reminded me of Van Goghs starry starry night... But, it was tough getting there.  Why am I writing this?  To encourage anyone in their work not to take the easy way out, but stick with it and find a way out of the darkness when it isn't going well.  Up until this point for the last ten or so paintings I have done it was easy, but on this one I really hit the wall, and then, like coming up to the surface of the water after diving down way too deep, and thinking I might drown, I surfaced, and with a new discovery!  By wiping away the background, I created a really lively surface that excited me, and at that point the hours of distress that it took to get to that point were worth it......