A Sampling from Nicole's Portfolio
Excerpts from "Tempo - The Rhythm 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 engaging excerpt regarding politics from M. Nicole van Dam's book, "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" - this should make you smile!
Politics
Politics
Humans up to their tricks
So rightfully pretending
Public service never ending
Ethics unbending
All problems mending
These are foes of monetary might
waging an ad laden fight
with clever slogans to delight
and red, white and blue colors always in sight
Each has supporters who avow this candidate is right
The media's twirling spin adds dizzying flight
to a fanciful murky blend of fact, opinion and insight
The voters hopefully will select their candidate with care
and not in too many false promises be ensnared
Each ballot being cast
is by an individual among the vast
populace
But even among the voting throng
Is one common theme to which all seem to belong
A hope that from all this debate comes a vision we can share
of better tomorrows
an end to the world's sorrows
and a prayer, belied by our experience
that yet
Once elected they shan't forget
All the problems they set
out to fix
In this odd quest
of debate and jest
underhandedly above board zest
all at Democracy's behest
Politics
Voting Booth artwork by M. Nicole van Dam
To purchase "Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" please visit Butterflies.bz
Following is another 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!
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!
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!
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.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Happy Holidays!
Here is a little animation I created for my family, wishing you a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND NEW YEAR! It was fun to illustrate our Leonberger dog, Chihuahua-Pomeranian-Papillion-One-of-a-Kinder dog, and our 2 Bourke's Parrots for the holidays! I think I'll do more of these, it's FUN!
Monday, December 20, 2010
My Art Book Book Breaks into the Top 10 in its Amazon Rankings!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Turning Trash into Treasure for Charity Auction
Often charities give me things to paint so that they can be auctioned off to support the charity. I've done all sorts of things - a violin, a mask, and now... an old beat up saddle!
In order to work on the saddle, I had to perch it on my barstools, see above. See also my Leonberger dog contemplated the universe in the background. I think he was relieved I resisted the impulse to try the saddle on him!
Because I was experimenting with different types of clays for my Creativity Central creativity therapy work, I decided to use clay as the basis for transforming this saddle into a piece of art.
I began working the clay on a dinner plate - one of my favorite working surfaces! What would Julia Childs or an Iron Chef say?
Suddenly, inspiration hits. I am reminded of the beautiful Della Robbia glazed pottery terra-cotta roundels, with their beautiful blues, greens and yellows. I also am thinking a bit about Wedgewood blue relief work. These inspirations bring me to add a vine element:
I struggle with deciding whether or not to add pale yellows, and decide instead to rely on the glaze for the yellowing effect, which leads to a lovely final result, turning this discarded old saddle into a treasure for a charity auction, benefitting disabled children and adults!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Monday, October 25, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Moonlight
Following is a poem, entitled "Love's Adventure," which I paired below with the "Moon" painting. This struck me as a fun combination. "Love's Adventure" is one of the poems in the "Tempo - The Rhythm & Rhyme of the Artist" book (now available in full color paperback on Amazon and elsewhere, as well as on the Kindle and for the Apple iPhone, iPodTouch, and iPad (via the free "Kindle for the iPhone" app)), while "Moon" has been used on several products, including glass plates (12" square) and coasters. The reality is, though, that when I create these things, I create them for fun, and when they actually can grow into other things, that's an especial delight, a mystery, and a joy for me.
Love's Adventure
Love's Adventure
Let’s zoom through the Milky Way
Zip among the stars
Waltz on tiny Pluto
Tango on Mars
We’ll leave Galileo’s gravity
For Jupiter’s moons
Try Newton’s Laws of Motion
Dancing on Saturn’s dunes
The Sun on our elbow
La Luna at our toes
Earth above our heads
Soaring with the rainbows
We’ll race the comets
To light years away
Stir up another galaxy
Be back in an Einstein day
The constellations will cheer us
We’ll pass a shooting star
Throw a kiss to Venus
Soar from near to far
The Zodiac will whisper its secrets
The skies forever we can share
Make love to me my darling
And we will be there.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
"Tempo - The Rhythm and Rhyme of the Artist" Released!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Exciting News! "M. Nicole van Dam, a Retrospective 2010" available in stores now!
How fun to be able to share that the "M. Nicole van Dam, a Retrospective 2010" is available in print now. This full color coffee-table type book includes virtually all of the major artworks of Nicole to date, plus sketches, biography, and interesting photos, as well as a few poems. It is interesting to see the progression of how the works changed throughout the years, yet still maintain a certain recognizable style. We hope you enjoy it!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Rat Race
Mixed Media on canvas by M. Nicole van Dam ( (c) 2006)
Closing Bell
The stock market is a mirky place
Intrigue, insiders, ticker tapes quietly floating in infinite space
All wait…
The start about to begin…
The bell rings,
The world in a green fevered pitch soars
As each tempestuous trader roars
The market may be up,
or down,
It almost matters not
Every man for what he’s got
A short, a long, a call, a put
Futures at stake
Every day is make or break
Are interest rates up or down?
The price of fuel?
The labor pool?
Can oil go any higher?
Whim or reality, risk or desire?
Is it bear or bull?
Boom or bust?
52 week highs and lows
Maybe the insider knows?
Whispers throughout the din
Every one out for the win!
Tracking this, weighting that
Be ready when it’s time to bat
PE Ratios
Liquidity, cash on hand
Mergers and IPOs
The numbers fly
Be on your toes!
The clock is ticking
The furor rises
Desperate faces wear thin disguises
The closing bell about to ring
Oh no!!!
There it goes!
Shoulders hunched in suddenly baggy clothes
Ill-concealing the day’s woes
But not for all,
For some the sun is shining
Cheering themselves for excellent timing
Brilliant work, fast divining
For them no pining
Until perhaps tomorrow
When it begins again
A land of money
Not of friends
Of greed
Not caring
Of me and mine,
Not sharing.
Tomorrow is another day
The only thing is sure
Whether up or down,
Smile or frown
Joy or dismay
It ends the same way.
Closing Bell Poem by and (c) M. Nicole van Dam.
Notes by the Author & Artist: The closer you look at the Rat Race painting the more you will see - corporate executive competitors vying for the CEO race (sometimes helping one another, sometimes trying to take advantage of another's stumbles - even create them!); note the audience and their signs and faces as well. ENJOY!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Nicole's Children's Book available for iPad/iPhone/iPodTouch
Oh technology! Nicole's children's book, "Inca Dink, The Great Houndini," is now available for your iPhone, iPad and iPodTouch at Inca Dink for iPad/iPhone/iPodTouch . Inca Dink merchandise is now available online at our official Inca Dink shop - where you will find fun things from mugs and clothes to totes and doggie t-shirts :)
See our Inca Dink blog for more Inca Dink fun.
See our Inca Dink blog for more Inca Dink fun.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
New Artwork and Poem!
This is a new work by M. Nicole van Dam called "The Voting Booth." Each pair of shoes seen below the poll booth curtains represents a different segment of our population, and in the poll booth curtains above their shoes is what they might be dreaming of as they cast their vote. The poem that follows, called "Politics," is also by M. Nicole van Dam, and is an interesting compliment to "The Voting Booth" artwork.
The Voting Booth
Politics
Humans up to their tricks
So rightfully pretending
Public service never ending
Ethics unbending
All problems mending
These are foes of monetary might
waging an ad laden fight
with clever slogans to delight
and red, white and blue colors always in sight
Each has supporters who avow this candidate is right
The media's twirling spin adds dizzying flight
to a fanciful murky blend of fact, opinion and insight
The voters hopefully will select their candidate with care
and not in too many false promises be ensnared
Each ballot being cast
is by an individual among the vast
populace
But even among the voting throng
Is one common theme to which all seem to belong
A hope that from all this debate comes a vision we can share
of better tomorrows
an end to the world's sorrows
and a prayer, belied by our experience
that yet
Once elected they shan't forget
All the problems they set
out to fix
In this odd quest
of debate and jest
underhandedly above board zest
all at Democracy's behest
Politics
The Voting Booth
Humans up to their tricks
So rightfully pretending
Public service never ending
Ethics unbending
All problems mending
These are foes of monetary might
waging an ad laden fight
with clever slogans to delight
and red, white and blue colors always in sight
Each has supporters who avow this candidate is right
The media's twirling spin adds dizzying flight
to a fanciful murky blend of fact, opinion and insight
The voters hopefully will select their candidate with care
and not in too many false promises be ensnared
Each ballot being cast
is by an individual among the vast
populace
But even among the voting throng
Is one common theme to which all seem to belong
A hope that from all this debate comes a vision we can share
of better tomorrows
an end to the world's sorrows
and a prayer, belied by our experience
that yet
Once elected they shan't forget
All the problems they set
out to fix
In this odd quest
of debate and jest
underhandedly above board zest
all at Democracy's behest
Politics
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Amazing bird video of birds in my garden surfing on my window! Anyone know what kind of birds these are? http://ping.fm/Vhsy9
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
New Poem - About masks and our choices about who you are
Don this mask and become a stranger,
an unknown guest
Mirrored in others’ eyes the question,
Are You villain, hero, observer, or in conquest
Here is your visage for adventure and treasure untold
Embark upon this masquerade journey,
Let the Voyage unfold!
To see the actual mask this poem was painted for, see wishes.bz
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Poem and Artwork About Taking Care of our Environment - Being 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.
The artwork above the Poem is called "Stoplight" and it is a statement about how nature and our need for living comforts and progress poise a delicate balance. Note the bird nesting in the yellow light of the stoplight, juxtaposed against the florals and asphalt. The work was inspired by a phonecall from one of Nicole's friends, Rosemary, who saw a bird nesting in a stoplight and shared what she saw with Nicole.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Poem and Artwork inspired by ((sigh)) 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.
The artwork that precedes the poem is called "Tea Time" which Nicole painted after she attended an elegant Montecito tea, at which Nicole ate none of the delightful baked goodies there, even though she wanted to. Nicole after the tea went home and painted the "Tea Time" painting, as a way of dealing with her craves! "Tea Time" is licensed to a manufacturer that creates glass plates from the image, and is sold around the world.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
New Products!
Here is an example of some of the products currently available from M. Nicole van Dam original designs.
How did these products come to pass? Nicole's fine art is available for purchase, lease, license and commission. If you are interested in acquiring rights to use some of Nicole's designs, or are interested in purchasing, leasing, licensing or commssioning a work, please email us at Email Nicole.
How did these products come to pass? Nicole's fine art is available for purchase, lease, license and commission. If you are interested in acquiring rights to use some of Nicole's designs, or are interested in purchasing, leasing, licensing or commssioning a work, please email us at Email Nicole.
Inca Dink, The Great Houndini is about to be released!
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