the ugly stage

I hope you all had a very spooky and somewhat creepy Halloween!

It was SO nice to have the weekend off!

I did plenty of painting and baking and am really loving the crunchy leaves on the sidewalks around my neighborhood.   I must admit I secretly covet the rainy Sundays inside our warm house. 

How nice it is to have a quiet and comfy place to sit and drink peppermint tea and do nothing at all!  

But today I must do something and so I thought I'd give you an update on a few things.

Do you recall my orphan boy drawing from a few posts ago? 

He received quite a few layers of paint this weekend...

as did my narwhal and rabbit friend.

Which means these paintings have officially entered the ugly stage.

Believe me when I say that all good paintings must first pass through this 

dark and sloppy tunnel before they ever see the light of day.

Patience is essential.

Don't you dare touch it until that ugliness has fully dried.

And only when it has can the next step of adding warmth and life begin.