When Frustrated, Paint a Tree

A couple of weeks ago, I posted some pictures that I was planning on using as reference photos for paintings.  I decided to start with third picture of the tree because I liked the colors.  What a bust.  I've tried this painting five different times, and every time it comes out a muddy mess.  Is it the orange/rusty background?  The shapes?  I don't know.  All I know is that nothing is working.  In fact, it's so bad, that I'm not going to show you my failures.  

When I start to get frustrated with my paintings, I have to switch to something that's more enjoyable.  Most trees, for example, like so (see here, for another recent example):

Or, an abstract like so:

I'm going to get the original painting organized the way I want.  I'm hoping it doesn't take another five tries, it's almost starting to feel like I'm wasting paper.