A Sampling from Nicole's Portfolio

It's Spring
Gondolier of Venice
I Love You Mom
Winter
Autumn Rose
Bench at Giverny
Cello Fantasy
Contemplating Eve
Summer Afternoon
Ballet des Fleurs
Dolphin Fountain at the Harbor
I Love You Mom
Country Cottage
Passion Flower
Flower Celebration
Peace
Mission at Santa Barbara
Flower Faeries
Roses of Conquest
Sailing
Floral Chorus
Voting Booth
Butterfly Woman
Flowers and Song
Grandma's Table
Spa Day
WaterFall
Waiter at the Champs Elysees
Tea Time
Water Fountain
Beckoning Bay
Yellow Light
Swan Duet
Chef at the Farmer's Market
Meubles de Jardin
Jaaazzzz
Bon Jour
Country Rose

The Artist's Blog Wishes.bz

The Creative Process, New Works and Product Releases

The Creative Process:

I love to create, whether it is a subject that just occured to me, or a request from a client based on their specific needs.  Often what I create from my own thinking is later selected by a manufacturer for use in creating a new product for them.  Here is an example of how "Bench at Giverny," an image I painted as a traditional painting, inspired by the beloved Giverny gardens of Monet, was selected by an international company for their product line to be transfromed into a glass plate, sold around the world: 

Traditional Painting "Bench at Giverny":
 
Glass Plate version of "Bench at Giverny":


OTHER GLASS PLATES:

Here are some of the new glass plates just released.  There are now 18 different glass plates available!

THE SUN and THE MOON:



SWAN DUET (for the Romantic at Heart):



FOR SCRAPBOOKERS AND RUBBER STAMP MAVENS:

Another company has acquired the rights to some of my designs to create fun rubber stamps - I would LOVE to see the creations you make with them - please share your creativity with us!  mailto:nicole@artimagination.com



COLLECTIBLES:

Another company asked me to design 3-D carved collectible cache pot - here is one of my designs, called "Honey Bee Happy," in tribute to our hard-working, garden-making honey bees, and inspired by my vegetable gardening exploits. Inside the "Honey Bee Happy" piece, the words "Life is Beeautiful" are inscribed.

HONEY BEE HAPPY:

SEASON'S SPARROW

Another collectible cache pot created for that company was "Season's Sparrow."  As you rotate the piece, you will see a visual story about our friend the cheery sparrow journeying through each of the four seasons.  Inside "Season's Sparrow," the words "Beauty in All Things" are inscribed.  Follwing the picture of "Season's Sparrow" is one of my poem's that the manufacturer published in its worldwide Collector's Newsletter to accompany the release of this fun collectible:

Season’s Sparrow

Sparrow of Winter
Where did you go
Almost disappearing
Behind drifts of snow
You live in a world of crystal
Glittering ice lining each branch and thistle
Sparkling as you flit your quiet dance
Before you take flight

Sparrow of Spring
In the dogwoods I hear your sweet song
You will be well hidden amidst the leaves
Before long
I see you flying, seeking your mate
Soaring through pastel skies on nature’s date
Building your nest amidst blossoms, buds and green
Your nursery soon full and not easily seen

Sparrow of Summer
Awash in a sea of leaves
Happily singing in the lazy breeze
Your job is done, an empty nest
Testifying that you’ve earned your rest
But ‘tis not all chirp and play
As you busily store Summer’s abundance
For another day

Sparrow of Autumn
Luminous fluttering falling leaves barely distract your eye
As you curiously watch plain me pass by
Raking leaves
You should know me by now, I think you do
I am the one, rain or shine, to fill your feeder for you
Framed by this world jeweled gold and red
The table is well set for my Sparrow to be fed

My Sparrow of Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn
My dear, dear friend
I looking forward to spending the seasons with you again.


-AND MORE GOODIES

Other companies have selected my work to make a myriad of other things, such as scarves, coasters, trays, even tile wall murals for kitchen backsplashes and bathrooms, which they manufacturer to fit the physical size of your space.   It is an honor for me to think of so many people living with and using my art every day.  If you have any photos of how you have created a living space using my art, I would love to see it!  mailto:nicole@artimagination.com







FOR MORE SCOOP:

1.  To Read Updates Regarding My Creative Goings-On and Inspirations, please visit http://artstudio.bz AND http://creativitycentral.net AND http://our1earth.com
and
2.  If you are interested in seeing a portfolio of my work, please visit my our M. Nicole van Dam Official Website 
and
3.  if you are interested in purusing our fine art store please visit http://www.myartshop.us.  The store is programmed in a way that takes awhile to load, so please be patient and even if it looks like it is finished loading, give it a few extra moments to download all the photo images!!!! 
and
4.  If you are interested in learning more about the background story of our children's book, "Inca Dink, The Great Houndini" please visit http://www.incadink.com and to purchase "Inca Dink" goodies please visit http://greathoundini.com



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Excerpts from "Tempo - the Rythm and Rhyme of the Artist

Below are various excerpts from M. Nicole van Dam's book, "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist". We hope you enjoy each of them, and would love to hear your thoughts!

Following is an excerpt from M. Nicole van Dam's book, "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" - this one on dieting - we hope this makes you smile!

Tea Time

On Dieting

Oh the endless craves
How I strive for caloric free days
And when I fail, to not so enjoy the tasty error of my ways
Is anyone truly naturally thin
Able to eat whatever they desire and when?

I hate to diet
I miss my butter
I miss my bread
Must I do this til I am dead?

I want melted decadent choc’late chips
Sumptuously slipping between yearning lips
But somehow never cushioning waist or hips

I want brownies, ice cream and cake
I want guiltless crepes when I wake
I want tea and muffins
Rich sauces and cozy stews
Pizza, pastries and pasta
All without an extra pound to rue

I want the workout without the sweat
The calories burned without the go out and get
I want to be fit and trim
Able to fulfill every edible whim

It’s undeniable, it’s true
I’m a ravenous hypocrite through and through
So for now, while horrifically healthy food will have to do
I shall relish sinful savory sweet dreams while I chew.

Tea Time artwork by M. Nicole van Dam

To purchase "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" please visit Butterflies.bz



The following excerpt from M. Nicole van Dam's book, "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" is a poem and artwork, created separately, that combine to create a powerful statement about our impact on our envirnoment. The "Yellow Light" painting depicts the tension between our everyday needs and the needs of nature around us, as it strives to fit within the world we allow them (symbolized by the bird nesting in the yellow light, the "proceed with caution" avatar). The poem serves to create more awareness of our choices and our responsiblities. Both works are paired together in M. Nicole van Dam's book, "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" - please forward a link to this page to share the green thinking!

Yellow Light

Flying Green

It is time to be green
Toss the toxic benzene
Past is oil’s hour
We don’t need crude, sweet or sour
Make way for solar power
Or if not by sun, then by wind or grain
Let’s explore renewable terrain

It’s time to nurture nature
Call it by any nomenclature
We need to wake up now
Save the earth in Earth somehow

Each of us must do our part
When would be a better time to start?
Recycle, be open-minded, try new things
Let your creativity soar on green wings
There are vast open windows to explore
Once we decide to close petrol’s door.

Yellow Light artwork by M. Nicole van Dam

To purchase "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" please visit Butterflies.bz



As an animal lover, M. Nicole van Dam has struggled with the concept of how we treat our foodstock - even the word "foodstock" makes these creatures anonymous. Hence, the following poem, "Anonymous but not Disregarded," in hopes that perhaps people will be reminded that we often forget what we had for dinner or lunch a few days ago, despite the unspeakable horror of the animals that provide this easily forgotten meal. This work was taken from M. Nicole van Dam's book, "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" - please share a link to this page in hopes it might spread awareness!

Chef at the Farmer's Market

Anonymous but not Disregarded

Did you ever measure how many things must die
So that you, only you, must live each day?
I tried to once, and found with dismay
That I didn’t think my little life was worth so many others
So while sadly I cannot live and make my life death-causing free,
And while ever so much wish nothing had to die for me,
At least, if I have my druthers,
I can save some of my animal brothers

That piled-high seafood salad I used to eat
Must’ve cost a hundred lives just to give me a treat
And the veal who began as a baby calf tethered, not allowed to roam
Suffered so that I could have an easily forgotten dinner cozily in my home
And what of the cows whose feet never touch grass,
Stuffed in pens, “living” life in one miserable unloved mass,
or chickens jailed in tight cages
How many of those did I so thoughtlessly eat through the ages?

I truly believe that if our food in our stores was properly labeled
“Dead Cow who Suffered for You,” we would not be so enabled
To ignore their plight
And we just might
Become aware
Of how many things die for us as we laze in our dining chair

Think of how our meat comes tidily hermetically sealed
It looks nothing like anything once alive whose wounds now cannot be healed
Would you really be able to buy it if you had to see eye to eye
The brown-eyed critter that once was alive?
Could you pull the trigger that led them from farm to table
Wouldn’t you be more able
To eat a little extra green
Just so as not to enter that murderous dream
Of that blood and slaughter end to an inhumane life,
Wouldn’t you skip a few animal meals to limit that strife?
If you were really truly aware
Wouldn’t you care?

I know they say, “But the cows wouldn’t be alive except for me to eat”
But once anything is alive, don’t we owe it our best to treat
It with respect, just because it shares the earth with us
Isn’t that, as the planet’s keeper, our sacred trust?

Just because we helped nature an extra cow to breed
Does that mean we have the right to murder it, for food or greed?
And yes, I do believe there are those that must eat meat, but every day?
Must the majority of us live that way?

I wish too, that with the animals it began and ended,
But that’s not all in our world we have not yet befriended
Think about how many trees die and how we our forests demean
Just to keep us warm, housed, written, and clean

For the table upon which I eat
For the boxes in which I buy the shoes on my feet
The paper that wraps the presents I give
Must all these trees die, for me to live?

Then there are toxic puddles, clouds and radiated pollution
It’s overwhelming, I know not the solution
Except to be aware
To act in a way that shows I care
To minimize the harm I do
And to share what I see with you

I ask myself every day to think
Of how many lives I consume in a thoughtless blink
I know nature and animals still suffer for me every day
I wear leather shoes, drive a car, read and write paper books, aid in the world’s
decay
And heaven help me if veggies have feelings too
I don’t know what I’d do
But for now, it is my hope by cutting back if only a little
It is a first step in starting to whittle
the harm I cause, the deaths my needs create,
Hoping with these small changes I spare an anonymous life a dire fate.

Chef at the Farmer's Market artwork by M. Nicole van Dam

To purchase "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" please visit Butterflies.bz

Voting Booth, Tea Time, Yellow Light and Chef at the Farmer's Market artworks each respectively by and TM & (c) 2005 - 2011 M. Nicole van Dam. All Rights Reserved.

To purchase "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" please visit Butterflies.bz

TM and (c) 2005-2011 M. Nicole van Dam. All Rights Reserved.