The Creations of M. Nicole van Dam ®

Thought for the Day

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Artimagination

Strive and Thrive

(M. Nicole van Dam)

"Rat Race" by M. Nicole van Dam

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Thought for the Day

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Artimagination

The gift you give yourself is trying.
(M. Nicole van Dam)

"Leap of Faith" by M. Nicole van Dam

Posted in Thought for the Day | Tagged horse, inspiration, leap of faith, M. Nicole van Dam, thought for the day | Leave a comment

Life is like Knitting – and cozy fun at last night’s Creativity Central!

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Artimagination

Last night’s Creativity Central creativity therapy workshop centered on knitting – knitting using a new way. Creating this knitting adventure for my creativity therapy group reminded me of a poem I had written about knitting, and life, some years ago, when I was starting anew before I met my wonderful husband. I think that poem might be timely to add here, as the poem is apropos of so many of life’s changes and decisions:

Life is Like Knitting

Life is like knitting
Sometimes each stitch falls easily into place
Each row upon row flowing with grace
And then, a mistake, not easy to erase

A choice must be had
Do we go ahead flawed, looking a bit bad
Or do we unravel and then
Begin, begin, begin again?

With each new start
The old design deliberately picked apart
Carefully the yarn from the needle unfurls
Undoing all the knits and pearls
Cautious not to harm
The tender texture of the yarn

This life’s thread must be used to stitch again
In our universal pattern of row upon row, til time’s end
There is no shame in each start anew
No matter how many restarts or how few

The rows undone
In the redoing are part of life’s fun
The lessons learned along each knitted way
Can be used another day
To last, to warm our souls a little longer
Making our life’s knitting that much stronger.

Now about the creativity therapy workshop of last night, aka “Knitting-the-New-Way!”

Last night was the first night we used the wonderful Authentic Knitting Boards donated by the Authentic Knitting Board Company – and these knitting boards are amazing! You don’t need to know a thing about knitting to make something colorful and fun and useful, in just a few hours. Here are a few photos, and I think we all gave these wonderful knitting boards a thumbs up!

The results from the Magical Knitting Board

Close-up of the Knitting Board in Use

Wonderful Donations from Authentic Knitting Board and Kathleen

-And of course, our earlier projects aren’t forgotten – we just picked up the framed mixed media work my creativity therapy group (“Creativity Central”) created – we call it “Jammin Jungle” and it is now on exhibit at the hospital:

“Jammin Jungle” Project

Posted in Books of Art & Poetry & Philosophy, Community Service & Volunteer Work, The Artist's Thoughts | Tagged cancer center, community service, coping with change, creativity therapy, knitting, knitting board, knitting is like life, M. Nicole van Dam, philosophy, poetry, volunteer | Leave a comment

On Bluebird Houses, “Grocery Chopping,” and our Black-Headed Grosbeak

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Artimagination

My husband has been hard at work – harvesting today’s crop, making me smile, and putting up two blue bird houses, and being all around wonderful! I have seen a few bluebirds – beautiful red-breasted Western Bluebirds – in our neighborhood, so I decided to try to set up a few blue bird houses for them – which actually means my kind husband set up the houses! Here is what we did:
We purchased two houses – each with a hole towards the top, a hinge AT THE BOTTOM (so you can check for nests) and absolutely NO PERCH outside (that protects from predators and egg thieves). We also purchased two 7.5 foot lengths of 1″ copper plumbing pipe (will get a beautiful patina as it ages, at least that’s the plan!), 4 brass brackets (2 per house to bracket the pipe to the back of the house), and two 1.5 foot lengths of 1″pvc (test to make sure the copper pipe fits INTO the pvc and can turn a bit). The idea is dig a hole and put the pvc pipe into it, and then bolt the birdhouse to the copper pipe (using the brass brackets) so the house will be at least 5 feet off the ground (again to ward off predators), and then slip the birdhouse-copper-pipe combo into the pvc that you already put into the ground and – PRESTO- you’ve set the first house in your blue bird trail. It’s especially easy when your husband does all the work! Here are some photos:

Close-Up of front of bluebird house - hinge is at bottom.

Closeup of how copper pipe gets bracketed to birdhouse using two brass brackets. We hope to be able to see the babies learn to fly from our windows.

Detail showing how copper pipe fits into the pvc that you first set into the ground. This enables you to turn the bluebird house away from the wind, etc.

Our "bluebird trail" - we set two birdhouses along this trail - I've read that bluebirds like to nest over open spaces and yet within some ten feet of a tree for when the baby birds learn to fly. I hope this bluebird trail of two houses is set in an open enough area!

Our Leonberger dog waiting for bluebirds! "For Rent - Two Bluebird Houses with great security system!

Because I have a bit of a cold, my sweet husband also did today’s harvest from our garden – rainbow Swiss chard and fresh tomatoes. Made for a great dinner! My husband came up with a great line – he called harvesting the fresh veggies from our garden going “Grocery Chopping!” I love his sense of humor – no one makes me laugh like he does!

Today's Harvest, Thanks to Hard-Working Hubby!

-And a few photos of our rare black-headed grosbeak – he’s still here!

Our Black-Headed Grosbeak in the Trees - you can see how his one wing hangs down slightly, but he can still fly!

Here is our black-heaed Grosbeak in his favorite resting place and cafe! I think he is waiting for his flock to return from Latin America, which should happen around March I think. I wonder what will happen then?!!

A fun HAPPY update to this post: On February 23 at 8:30am I looked out my window and saw… a beautiful, perfect FEMALE black-headed grosbeak! HURRAY! Our little fellow isn’t alone anymore! I hope to have an opportunity to photograph her soon. It’s wonderful when things end RIGHT!

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, black-headed grosbeak, bluebird, bluebird house, bluebird trail, conservation, crop report, dog, environment, garden, Grosbeak, Leonberger, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, pet, tomato, vegetable garden, veggie | Leave a comment

Happy Ending!

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Artimagination

For those of you that have been following my postings, you will know that at our birdfeeders we have seen a black-headed grosbeak wihich has a broken wing. He has wintered here with us, when instead he is supposed to have migrated to Latin America with his flock, so Cornell Ornithology tells us this is quite rare, and asked me to record the sightings in their database, which I have. Separately, we also have a squirrel with a broken leg, who visits our feeder, and at first it was really sad to see, but now that squirrel is doing much better. The fun thing is, in these videos below, the two of them are chowing down their breakfast together, and I am so happy each of them has made it through the winter. This seems like a fairy tale ending for two struggling creatures who now have turned the corner to better, sunnier days. HURRAY! It’s nice to see a story end right! As an aside, I had named the squirrel “Molly” – but now I can clearly see it’s a boy, so the new name for this Squirrel is “Malty”! Fyi, several earlier videos of Molly (now Malty) are posted so you can see how far the recovery of this inspirational squirrel has beem, and I think our grosbeak bird is doing much better too!
Here are some videos of our happy, busy bird feeder:

VIDEO 1: As shown below, this video starts with Malty the Squirrel eating and then he is, to his (and my) surprise, joined by our broken-winged black-headed grosbeak. You can see Malty give the bird a quick scolding for scaring him, but then they get down to the business of eating…and eating…and eating! What is GREAT to see in this first video is how well our broken legged squirrel can jump again, when he is surpised by the visit by the broken-winged bird:

VIDEO 2: A happy, contented continuation of the first video. All’s well that ends well! I’m so happy to see them doing so well, and to be so friendly together:

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, conservation, environment, garden, Grosbeak, inspiration, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, Malty, Molly, nature, squirrel, vegetable garden | Leave a comment

Great Photo of our Bourke on her eggs

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Artimagination

My husband took this great photo of our sweet Bourke nesting on her eggs – and I wanted to share it with you. When he took the photo, he obviously didn’t want to use the camera’s flash, so the lighting of the photo might not be ideal, but the photo is still amazing in its gentle sweetness. Even though we have a male bird, we keep them separated except for chaperoned playtimes, so these eggs aren’t fertilized, and eventually she will tire of them. It is a bit sad to think of her so steadfastly roosting on these eggs for no realized end, but in a way I think she enjoys the process (at least I hope so, as it seems to be nature’s call for her). She is roosting in a tissue box (the vet’s recommendation – it works very well and is disposable which is nice and tidy) – my husband cuts the windows so that she can see us and her best bird friend. In any event, there is something so peaceful and warm about this photo of our little girl and her eggs – ENJOY!

Our sweet Bourke's parrot roosting on her eggs

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, bourke, M. Nicole van Dam, parakeet, parrot, pet | Leave a comment

These Boots are Made for Walkin!

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Artimagination

Fun News! There are now boots being offered for sale using my artwork! The artworks used on the boots below are Lake of Dreams, Flower Faeries, Voting Booth, Bon Jour, and It’s Spring. I’ve been so excited about this license, and here are a few pictures (I’m swamped right now but will post more when I have a chance – these are A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!) – stay tuned for more details:

The Line-Up of Fun New boots based on M. Nicole van Dam art

A peek at the detailing of these fun boots (this boot based on M. Nicole van Dam's "Bon Jour" artwork)

Another view of these great boots made using M. Nicole van Dam artworks

If you need an absolutely ‘stylin pair of rain boots or garden boots, please consider Nicole’s totally artsy, colorfully Impressionist rain and garden boots on Amazon and we’d love it if you like the boots enough to recommend them to your friends and ‘like’ them on Facebook!

Posted in New Nicole Artworks, New Nicole Product Updates, Nicole's News Hot Sheet, The Artist's Thoughts | Tagged Amazon, art, Bon Jour, boot, boots, Flower Faeries, footwear, garden, garden boot, It's Spring, Lake of Dreams, licensed products, M. Nicole van Dam, rain boot, Voting Booth | Leave a comment

The Ever Ravenous and Unendingly Cute Mort-the-Squirrel

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Artimagination

Adorable Mort the Squirrel

Our squirrel Mort will eat and eat and eat. He just reaches into the bird feeder and chows down. He’s awesomely cute, and it’s fun to watch him hold the goodies in his paws and nibble away. It’s no great challenge to find that moment to film our Mort either – in the time it took me to take the video below AND put it on my computer AND upload the video to the internet AND create this post, Mort is STILL there eating…and eating,…and eating! Bon Appetit Mort!

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged conservation, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, Mort, squirrel | Leave a comment

It’s a Squirrely Business!

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Artimagination

Is that Squirrel talking to me?

As our Leonberger dog watched with his usual gentle fascination, we had two visitors to our bird feeder today – our inspirational Molly squirrel, whose broken leg happily still seems to be improving, and adorable Mort, who has the cutest tummy in squirreldom! You can see by watching both these videos the difference between brave Molly’s technique, because she needs to balance on one leg, and the ever confident feasting style of Mort who just sits on his rump and eats…and eats…and eats! Here are the two videos of these two enchanting visitors – I think it’s time I put a squirrel in a painting!

Mort:

Molly:

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged conservation, environment, garden, inspiration, Leonberger, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, Molly, Mort, squirrel | Leave a comment

Update on our Black-Headed Grosbeak

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Artimagination

Those of you who follow this blog already know that we have a wonderful black-headed Grosbeak wintering in our garden – he is supposed to be in Southern Mexico or Latin America, but because of a wing injury, he has spent the winter here in Central California. We’ve been told by the ornithology folks that this is quite rare, to have a black-headed grosbeak here this time of year. He seems to be doing better – here is video we took of this little fellow today. He has quite a healthy appetite and is a messy eater, as you can see here – a sign of recovery I hope! I think he has become used to me, and my day feels more complete when I see the cheery little fellow. You can also see our brazen and brilliant Blue Jay Rutherbird in the background, waiting his turn at the feeder and hoping for peanuts! Here is the video, enjoy!

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, black-headed grosbeak, conservation, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, vegetable garden | Leave a comment

Brilliant Blue Jay masters a super-tough nut-to-crack, the Peanut Wreath!

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Artimagination

Our wonderful neighbors gave us a heavy wire peanut wreath. It essentially is a super-tightly wound slinky, that is immobile – these wires are thick and can’t be adjusted even with human hands. The idea is to wedge the peanuts in the wreath, to give the Blue Jays and squirrels a healthy challenging distraction (so the other birds have a chance at the bird feeder). Well, our Blue Jay (we call him Rutherbird, a nod to the famous scientist, because he can figure out anything) mastered the peanut wreath in about 2 minutes. I could fill this wreath with peanuts every hour and find it empty again. Here is a video of Rutherbird not only showing off his technique, but discarding the peanut that isn’t ‘good enough’ for him! Enjoy!

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, Blue Jay, conservation, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, peanut, Rutherbird | Leave a comment

Update on Inspirational Molly Squirrel!

Posted on January 7, 2012 by Artimagination

Our little squirrel with the broken leg, Molly, is hanging in there! Here you can see her progress – we are thrilled to see how much better Molly is doing on her broken leg. This post shares the follow-up video along with the older original video (the older video shows Molly squirrel really struggling and falling, but yet somehow still getting food out of the bird feeder). In the new video you will see that our Molly is doing so much better – Molly still clearly favors the leg, but her balance has adjusted. Even just sitting, you can see Molly is much more capable and happy – thank goodness!!!! I am so inspired by this little squirrel. We all take our bruises in life, and we adjust our balance, and when we do it gracefully, it’s admirable and beautiful!

OLDER VIDEO:

NEW VIDEO:

Here’s toasting the lessons of nature in the New Year! Happy 2012 Everybody!

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged Bird Feeder, conservation, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, Molly, squirrel | Leave a comment

Thanks to Wonderful Neighbors Karen & Jim, Squirrels and Blue Jays have a GREAT Holiday!

Posted on December 27, 2011 by Artimagination

We were so surprised when we came home and found a LARGE holiday gift bag, filled with what is best described as a large wire ring wreath, and a bag of peanuts, along with a lovely card. Our animal-loving-kindred-spirits-neighbors, Karen (a veterinarian) and Jim (a journalist and writer) gave us this unique (and very cleverly designed) peanut holder for squirrels and blue jays! How kindly thoughtful and wonderful that our neighbors did that for us! Here is what the peanut wreath looks like (I temporarily hung the peanut wreath on a chair indoors for these photos):

Surprise Peanut Wreath for Squirrels and Blue Jays!

Closeup of this clever peanut wreath design

Because of its metal construction, this is a pretty weighty wreath, so I hung the wreath from the tree by using a heavy duty dog leash and dog collar. That way I could hang the wreath low enough that the injured squirrel Molly could reach it easily from the deck railing. I also used some flower wire to tether the bottom of the wreath to the deck railing, kind of a handicap accommodation for our injured Molly squirrel. Here are some photos of this enticing goodie wreath for the squirrels and blue jays:

Three Tantalizing Restaurants for the Rightfully Choosy Neighborhood Squirrels and Blue Jays!

I can’t wait to see our first guests! I do hope Molly, the injured squirrel, enjoys it too. I do know, we will be enjoying this wreath as much as the squirrels and blue jays, every day! I love watching these fun creatures from our windows. THANK YOU KAREN AND JIM!

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, Bird Feeder, Blue Jay, conservation, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, squirrel, Squirrel Feeder | Leave a comment

Two Best Buds – Our Bourke Parrots (aka Bourke Parakeets); Our Female bird gets the munchies!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Artimagination

These two birds have come a long way since they first met. Now they can share the same cage, and when they do, they are very sympatico. Here are some little glimpses into their world:

Here is some footage of our female bird getting the munchies – she loves organic fresh Swiss chard from our vegetable garden – YUM! We are so happy the produce of our hard work meets with the Princess Bourke’s approval! Luckily, it takes a lot less to feed a little bird than our big Leonberger dog, or there wouldn’t be any fresh veggies left for us!

Two Best Bird Friends - Our Bourkes

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, bourke, crop report, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, parakeet, parrot, pet, vegetable garden, veggie | Leave a comment

Rosie and Emma Plant a Seed™ Now Available on Amazon!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Artimagination

"Rosie and Emma Plant a Seed," by M. Nicole van Dam

Rosie and Emma Plant a Seed™ is M. Nicole van Dam’s joyous and beautifully illustrated children’s book about a young girl Emma and her Leonberger dog Rosie, who find a mysterious seed and plant it. As the mysterious seed grows, so do Emma and Rosie’s adventures and the delightful, curious characters they meet, including Sigmund Owl and a very cheeky sparrow. This unique book is a lovely way to share the wonders of gardening and nature. Also important, this book teaches about teamwork and friendship. Truly a lovely children’s book, and as you turn the pages you will enjoy the more than 60 colorfully and happily engaging illustrations. Written in rhyme with enchanting characters, this book is as much a treat to read aloud as it is to see. If you are seeking to share the joy of the garden and an appreciation of nature and animals with toddlers and young children, then this is the ideal book. Lovingly illustrated and warmly written in sing-song rhyme, with a Dr. Seuss type rhythmic quality, this book will delight young readers and is a fun bed-time read-aloud as well. Please visit OnceUponaTime.bz to learn more or Amazon or Butterflies.bz to purchase.

Posted in Children's Books, Gardening & Animals & Inspirations, New Nicole Artworks, New Nicole Product Updates, Nicole's News Hot Sheet, The Artist's Thoughts, Writer's Corner | Tagged Amazon, bird, book, children, children's book, dog, environment, garden, Leonberger, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, Once Upon a Time, pet, poetry, Rosie and Emma Plant a Seed, vegetable garden | Leave a comment

Super Tough, Inspirational Squirrel Shows Spirit!

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Artimagination

Our little Molly Squirrel seems to have been in some mishap – perhaps she slipped in the rain – so now one of her hind legs seems to just hang there. Somehow, she seems to be managing on three legs – but I feel so sorry for her. Here is a video showing Molly, bravely nibbling on three legs. I’ve ordered another type of feeder so that she won’t have to reach up so much, since it’s so hard for her right now. I talked to a local veterinarian friend, who said sometimes these things heal – let’s hope so. In the meantime, Molly is an inspiration for dealing with our imperfections with a positive attitude. Here is the video of Molly:

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged conservation, environment, garden, living green, Molly, squirrel, vegetable garden | Leave a comment

HAPPY HOLIDAYS & Cozy, Fun Doings!

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Artimagination

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY! In the holiday spirit. our creativity therapy group created the “most beautiful ever” gingerbread house at last night’s Creativity Central – and that was by unanimous vote of all of us! Powered by Kathleen’s homemade pumpkin bread and coffee, we had lots of fun. Our unique gingerbread house features a target runway for Santa, the bling-iest “Ho Ho!” and loads of color! Here are some photos!

The "front view" of our Gingerbread House

The "Front View" of our Gingerbread House

The "Back View"

Hard at Work!

The Bling-iest "ho Ho!" Ever!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer & Santa on the roof!

Santa's Bullseye landing Runway (see the dots) and Chimney "Target" - see that the chimney is monogrammed with an "S"

Paint on the fingers - the mark of a true arteeest

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY!!!!!

Posted in Community Service & Volunteer Work | Tagged cancer center, community service, creativity therapy, donation, M. Nicole van Dam, volunteer | Leave a comment

New Bird Feeder Gets Approval from Black-Headed Grosbeak!

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Artimagination

New Bird Feeder Set-Up Gets Feather's Up from Black-headed Grosbeak

Here is a photo of the new bird feeder set-up and of the black-headed grosbeak checking out the new feeder today! Since our bird feeder was so extraordinarily busy, we decided to hang a second one, and it just received a feather’s up approval from our little black-headed Grosbeak that is wintering with us. This fellow must be rare, because Cornell’s ornithology lab asked us to put it into the e-bird database, and when we did, it got flagged and they are double-checking our sighting, which I think is a very good thing, because it preserves the usefulness and integrity of the database.

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, black-headed grosbeak, conservation, cornell, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, ornithology, pet, vegetable garden | Leave a comment

On Bourke Parrots (Parakeets) and Organic Vegetable Gardens

Posted on December 3, 2011 by Artimagination

Well, it’s very common for the Bourkes, after they’ve been out for awhile, to fly back to their cages, and frequently they play games – each one flies into the other’s cage, for example. Well, today our happy little Bourkes both flew into her cage, so we decided to let them share a few moments together. I have to say, they both seem quite contented – there was a constant sweet chattering to one another, they shared toys, ringing the same bells, etc., and now they’re resting happily. Here are some photos – I’m sorry the photos are more than a bit blurry – I don’t think the Bourkes enjoyed the camera peering at them too much so I rushed it a bit!

Sharing the Same Perch, after an hour of play

A Close-up of our handsome male Bourke Parrot (Parakeet)

-And while I’m here at the computer, let me share a picture of today’s harvest from our organic vegetable garden – colorful swiss chard, one brave tomato, yummie-and-ever-so-healthy spinach, fresh basil – the making for a great sautee tonight!

Today's Harvest is Tonight's Dinner!

-and finally, the wintry state of our organic vegetable garden – brrrrrrrr – for our part of California, today is cold!

Wintry State of the Vegetable Garden

Posted in Gardening & Animals & Inspirations | Tagged bird, bourke, crop report, environment, garden, living green, M. Nicole van Dam, organic, parakeet, parrot, pet, vegetable garden, veggie | Leave a comment

Another Photo of our Black-Headed Grosbeak and More Videos of Squirrels and Nature from the Garden

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Artimagination

Our injured Black-Headed Grosbeak spends a lot of time looking West – I wonder if that is the last direction he saw his fellow Grosbeak’s migrate towards before he fell behind? Here is a photo of the little guy, looking West – he tends to do that when he’s done eating – either from the feeder or the balcony steps:

Injured Black-Headed Grosbeak looking for his friends?

The first video is of the injured Black-headed Grosbeak feeding at the feeder – I used a different window as a vantage point so you can see how he keeps his wing hanging over the edge of the feeder. It seems that he is adapting, but I do feel sorry for him. To get the most out of these videos, make sure you watch them full screen:

This next video is of a cute squirrel that also hangs out at the feeder. He waited about 10 minutes for the black-headed Grosbeak to finish before approaching. I think this squirrel has a lot of personality!