There is a quote which has haunted me since I first heard it as a self-conscious, paranoid and self-doubting teenager. The quote was from one of my painting heroes and possibly the most confident and cock-sure artist of them all, Pablo Picasso, who said: “He can who thinks he can, and he can’t who thinks he can’t. This is an inexorable, indisputable law.”
As a self confessed pessimist this quote has sat uneasily with me through my education, my careers as a teacher and journalist, motherhood and now as a amateur artist trying to break into the world of art – I need to be told a million, no a million and one times, that I am any good at anything, long before I will believe it, and even then, I will convince myself that I am not. I have always struggled with the fact that to succeed, you need self-confidence and the more of it you have it seems, the better you will do. In short, if I am to believe in Picasso’s quote, then the fact that I think I can’t, means that I won’t, which doesn’t really bode that well for me.
However, when I recently received an email out of the blue telling me that Travels with my Art had been named by RSS reader Feedspot as one of the top 100 art blogs in the world, I had an extrinsic reason to say: “Hurrrrraaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”
Making it onto any international blog list in a time when there are billions of blogs around is an achievement, but when there are names like Colossal, BOOOOOOOM, and Canvas (Saatchi Art Blog) on the same list, I was well, for want of another word, gobsmacked.
Here is the full list of Top 100 art blogs from Feedspot. I’m in at number 88… which I am very happy with, although I am not particularly happy with any potential connotations with the two fat ladies bingo number – hopefully I’ll work my way up to 87 soon.
This gives me a chance to say thank you to all of you who follow, subscribe, share, like or even just read my content and to anyone new who has just discovered my blog, I hope you will stick around for more!
And those of you who regularly read my blog may know that a few months ago I came to a cross-roads in my career. After finishing my Art and English teaching job, I decided to not take another education, but this time, to actually try and DO something with my art rather than just talking about it and keeping it as a hobby, after all if you are not getting paid for it, then it will only ever be a hobby.
This news has given me the impetus to continue, develop and work harder with both my art work and my blog. I am now in the process of setting up an online shop, where I will be selling my art in the form of prints, stationery, device cases, home decor and clothes (check my Shop page for more information) hopefully in time for Christmas, so be sure to come back and check it out! I will also be regularly updating any Travels with my Art news on my Instagram , Facebook and Twitter pages, so be sure to follow me there too.
Perhaps now it is time to start thinking that maybe I can do it after all.
A Selection of my Paintings
- Women carrying water from Puskhar Lake in the early morning sun in Pushkar, Rajasthan, India.
- Dreaming of lazy summer afternoons on the banks of Lake Mälaren in Sweden.
- Street Market at Dar’s Kivukoni Bus Terminal – Tanzania
- Dadas at Mzizima Fish Market in Dar Es Salaam – Tanzania
- Endless Abstract Land
- Market Day in Sucre, Bolivia.
- Damascus from Mount Qasioun, Syria.
- Smoking shisha at Jabri House in Damascus, Syria.
A selection of my photographs
- Performers backstage at the Kenyan Drama Festival in Mwanza, Tanzania
- Children playing with toy guns celebrating Eid Al Fitr in Arwad, Syria.
- Sadhu walking along a street in Banaras, India
- Whitby Abbey in Green, North Yorkshire, England
- Kigamboni bridge at night, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – cropped
- Early morning bargains at the Mzizima Fish Market in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
- Girl on Matemwe Beach, Zanzibar
- Friday afternoon in the Souk El-Hamidiyeh, Damascus, Syria.
A Selection from my Sketchbooks
- Paintings of Vervet Monkeys from my Tanzanian sketchbook.
- Woman selling limes at a floating market in Bangkok, Thailand from my South East Asia Sketchbook.
- View of Hong Kong harbour at night from the Star Ferry – from my Hong Kong sketchbook.
- Frescoes from Qusayr Amra one of the desert castles just outside Jordan, from my Damascus Sketchbook
- Front Page from my Turkey and Greece Sketchbook
- Page from my Hong Kong sketchbook
- Detail cave paintings in the Ajanta Caves from my Indian Sketchbook
- South Bay in Scarborough from my England Sketchbook
- Front page from my Venice sketchbook.
- Under the blossom Trees in Kungsträdgården, Stockholm – from my Sweden sketchbook.
messycrayons November 14, 2017
Bravo, I am also taking that step into doing my art after 10 years of having lost my muse!!
Ali Dunnell November 14, 2017
Excellent – Good luck with it. I’ll follow your blog to see how you are getting on 🙂
messycrayons March 9, 2018
Thank you.
Leya November 14, 2017
Congratulations! I understand if you are happy about this – such a lovely recognition! I love your art – keep going ♥
Ali Dunnell November 14, 2017
Thank you Leya 🙂
Suzanne [globalhousesitterX2] November 14, 2017
Congradulations Ali, you must be very chuffed to be acknowledged for all your hard work. I do enjoy your artwork!
Ali Dunnell November 14, 2017
Thank you Suzanne 🙂
Ann Curran November 14, 2017
Well done Ali !! Onwards and upwards x
Ali Dunnell November 15, 2017
Thanks Ann – I guess I should say, watch this space 🙂
thewonderer86 November 15, 2017
A-mazing. Well done you! I could have been reading about myself – all that stuff about lack of confidence, self belief. But you can, you certainly can. I love your photos and drawings. The market in Sucre picture bought back a lot of memories for me.
Ali Dunnell November 15, 2017
Self-doubt is so common among arty types, and the confident Picasso personalities are few. Still, it’s comments like yours which make us believe in ourselves… Thanks for following, commenting and your positive feedback. Ali 🙂
vinneve November 19, 2017
Beautiful.
Ali Dunnell November 20, 2017
thanks 🙂
Barbara R Sullivan December 3, 2017
Congratulations on making the list and also on your decision to focus on your beautiful art!
Ali Dunnell December 3, 2017
Thanks Barbara 🙂
Mark Hodgson December 4, 2017
That’s awesome, always nice to get an official accolade…not that I have any. Love your market day in Bolivia.. 🙂
Ali Dunnell December 4, 2017
Thanks Mark
ksbeth December 6, 2017
beautiful work, ali –
Ali Dunnell December 7, 2017
Thank you so much 🙂