Nicolette van Dam has been a part of my IGNITE! Membership right from the very start in January 2020. Through her postings, I’ve watched her grow as an artist over these past years. I’m always amazed at her imaginative work, none more so than during the recent 31-Paintings-in-31-Days Challenge.
For her daily pieces, she explored the alphabet via Alice in Wonderland. Each day, we would all wait in anticipation for Nicolette’s art to be posted (in our HTP Facebook group), wondering what would turn up next from her vivid imagination! What an amazing collection. We’re all encouraging Nicolette to publish them in a children’s book. But before that happens, I asked Nicolette if she’d consider sharing her journey AND the marvellous work with us. And, as you can see, she said yes!! ENJOY!!
As I didn’t want to cover the paintings with words, I’ve added the full notes for each painting at the end of this post. Please make sure to read them – I’m sure they will make you grin…almost like the Cheshire Cat!
First, a wee bit about Nicolette.
BIO for Nicolette van Dam
Nicolette van Dam is a Dutch artist, living in the Netherlands. She has been drawing and painting for as long as she can remember, in all sorts of mediums, but mainly in oils and soft pastels. She is interested in rendering on canvas or paper an entire range of emotions, from joy to grief. She finds her inspiration in nature, music, poetry. Colours, phrases, certain occurrences, and her daughter Juliette – her muse – will often spark her creativity by association with ideas that already exist in her conscious and subconscious mind.
She does not yet have a website, but her work can be viewed on Facebook: Nicolette van Dam (Kunst)
And now, here’s Nicolette!
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Being an artist has been my lifelong ambition. I am mostly self-taught, but have also studied art with world-renowned artists, like Gail Sibley at the moment.
My parents once gave me a box of Rembrandt soft pastels for my birthday. Later, I bought some loose sticks of Unison Colour pastels and a big box of velvety, buttery-soft Schmincke pastels. I love the great luminosity of this medium and started looking for expert advice on using them to their best advantage. Thus, I discovered Gail’s How to Pastel website.
Towards the end of September 2023, the How to Pastel October Challenge was announced. I had completely forgotten about this yearly event and told myself that I would not have time for this especially since I had never fully taken part for more than a couple of days in previous years. However, I could not resist the temptation and decided to give it a go as by now, being used to painting frequently.
The challenge means doing some work, any work, in pastel every day throughout the month of October – 31 days. There was just enough time to rush to the art supplier’s for a few large sheets of pastel paper. Meanwhile, a plan had formed: the alphabet was going to be used as my guide for the daily paintings and after that, a few numbers for the remaining days.
Now for a theme. Alice in Wonderland, of course! It’s my favourite childhood book that I still cherish however tattered it may be. And why not expand the possibilities by using its sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass, as well? They are wonderfully whimsical stories, written by Lewis Carroll in 1865 and 1871 respectively. These would provide me with plenty of inspiration for imagery.
Naturally, they had to be in accordance with my own personal style and interpretation, putting my own twist on it, as it were. It was going to be a journey into the realm of the imagination and memory. Exactly my cup of tea.
Ideas began swirling through my mind and I noted them down in my diary. The Alice stories are children’s books, but there is a lot more to them than meets the eye. I feel that I have barely scratched the surface.
During this entire painting marathon, I made it a daily priority to head to my studio as early in the morning as possible. The idea for each day’s painting had already been mused over the night before. This was the most efficient way for me.
Once at the easel, I placed a few charcoal marks immediately on the paper and started pastelling. That way I could work quickly and intuitively and submit to the HTP website by midday. No fiddle-faddling, no tweaking, just the raw, honest version of that day, leftover charcoal marks and all. Adjustments could be made along the way, mistakes covered up or camouflaged… or just left; since this challenge is not primarily about having to make perfect works of art, these little pentimenti would testify to that mindset. I am a great believer in the perfection of imperfection.
Not being too serious or precious about the outcome was liberating. It enabled me to enjoy the ebb and flow of the process. Some days I had more time, success, or inspiration than others and that was all good.
Eventually, it all came down to dedication and perseverance, but having fun in the first place!
Then there were the other benefits: putting in the effort speeds up the learning process, leads to greater spontaneity and looseness, and a more thorough knowledge of the art practice in general and, in this instance, the pastel practice in particular. I found it fulfilling to deep-dive into my theme, to share it in the HTP community, and admire the other participants’ art, the reading and writing of comments, and above all, the camaraderie.
Finally, all 31 were done and it was time to shake that colourful pastel dust off my hands and start tackling those grey dust bunnies around the house, instead of chasing these white ones down their rabbit holes.
Not for long though, my love for Alice isn’t waning, or, as Lewis Carroll said in a poem:
Still, she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.
‘Twas frumious, but FRABJOUS!!
A huge thank you to Gail Sibley for asking me to write this blog!
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Ahhhhh Nicolette, you do make me smile! Your words and art speak of delight and fun. I love that you are a believer in the perfection of imperfection. Thank you so much for sharing your imagination with us!
If you loved this blog by guest Nicolette, please be sure to leave her a comment! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!!
Until next time,
~ Gail
Notes on all paintings
Nicolette van Dam, A. Alice, 1 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 7 ¾ x 6 ½ in. In her dreams, Alice is floating in the air. How convenient for me that the heroine’s name begins with the first letter of the alphabet.
Nicolette van Dam, B. Bread-and-Butterfly, 2 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 11 x 11 in. Alice was astonished when she saw this insect, consisting of bread and butter, but could it flutter?
Nicolette van Dam, C. Che(e)shire Cat, 3 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 15 x 7 1/2 in. The Che(e)shire Cat plays a naughty part in Alice’s Adventures, appearing and disappearing all the time. He grins so much because there is an abundance of dairy products for him in the County of Cheshire.
Nicolette van Dam, D. Dodo, 4 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 7 x 7 in. The Dodo was one of the birds that swam in Alice’s pool of tears. It actually represents the author, Lewis Carroll, whose real surname was Dodgson, and as he had a stutter…
Nicolette van Dam, E. Eat Me, 5 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 5 ½ x 7 ¾ in. Throughout the story, Alice kept growing and shrinking, depending on what she ate or drank. Eat Me was for growing. She went through the roof.
Nicolette van Dam, F. Fish Footman, 6 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 7 ½ x 13 ½ in. The fish Footman with busy fins and feet, carrying a message in a bottle. To be delivered to the ferocious Queen ASAP, if he knew what was good for him.
Nicolette van Dam, G. Garden, 7 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 8 1/2 x 9 1/2 in. The Queen’s Formal Garden. How she adored hedgehogs and flamingos. Capability Brown designed a suitable hedgerow and fountain for her.
Nicolette van Dam, H. Hatter, 8 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 13 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. Alice met the scatterbrained Hatter at the mad tea-party.
Nicolette van Dam, I. Insects, 9 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 9 ⅜ x 5 ½ in. The Rocking-Horse-Fly and the Snapdragon-Fly, happily buzzing around in Wonderland and in Carroll’s highly imaginative mind.
Nicolette van Dam, J. Jabberwocky, 10 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 7 3/4 x 7 3/4 in. Jabberwocky is a nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll, about a dragon-like creature. While travelling through the inverted Looking Glass world, Alice found a book with the poem in it, done in mirror-writing.
Nicolette van Dam, K. King, 11 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 8 x 5 ½ in. The Wonderland countryside was laid out like a huge chessboard and of course there was a King.
Nicolette van Dam, L. Looking Glass, 12 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 9 x 6 1/4 in. In her drawing room at home, there was a Looking Glass. Alice miraculously went through it and found herself in a reversed fantasy world.
Nicolette van Dam, M. Maze, 13 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 9 x 7 3/4 in. When searching for a way out of Wonderland, Alice comes into a maze and has now even less hope of ever returning home.
Nicolette van Dam, N. Novelist, 14 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 11 x 8 9/16 in. A homage to the awesome, multi-talented Lewis Carroll, novelist, poet, mathematics don at Oxford University, a dean of the Anglican Church. This is him at age 24. His Alice stories were a great commercial success right from the start and Alice is still an important part of popular culture.
Nicolette van Dam, O. Oysters, 15 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 8 ⅝ x 6 ⅞ in. The Oysters were eaten by the Walrus and the Carpenter, their pearls and empty clams silent witnesses of the drama.
Nicolette van Dam, P. Pig and Pepper, 16 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 7 ⅜ x 7 ⅜ in. In the Duchess’s kitchen, the cook was shaking clouds of pepper into a large cauldron of soup. The Duchess was cradling a sneezing pink baby in her arms, which a few moments later appeared to be a piglet. Alice set it free in the woods.
Nicolette van Dam, Q. Quinten Matsijs, 17 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 7 ¾ x 7 ½ in. Quinten Matsijs was a Flemish artist who painted an intriguing portrait that is known as : The Ugly Duchess, around 1513. It is believed that this portrait influenced Sir John Tenniel’s illustration of the Duchess in Alice in Wonderland, in 1869.
Nicolette van Dam, R. Roses, 18 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 9 x 4 ¾ in. The Queen’s gardeners had mistakenly planted white Roses, instead of the red ones she had requested. This could lose them their heads, so they feverishly went to work, painting them red.
Nicolette van Dam, S. Shrunk, 19 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 7 x 5 in. This time, Alice had fallen for a bottle containing a beautiful blue liquid, or rather, she had fallen into it, as it turned out the drink would make her Shrink. As a consequence of all this, her body took on a weird shape, losing its mid-section.
Nicolette van Dam, T. Tenniel, 20 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 12 x 9 1/2 in. Homage to Sir John Tenniel. He was the fabulous illustrator of both original Alice books, creating 92 pencil drawings on paper. In 1893 he was granted a Knighthood for his entire body of work. Here he is with some of his characters. I read somewhere that he found working with Lewis Carroll tiresome. Isn’t that funny.
Nicolette van Dam, U. Unicorn, 21 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 9 ¾ x 8 ⅝ in. In the woods, Alice came across a battle between a Lion and a Unicorn. The Lion stands for England and the Unicorn for Scotland, which have also fought each other. The Unicorn is believed to be so pure and chaste that only a maiden could tame it.
Nicolette van Dam, V. Violets, 22 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 6 x 12 in. The gardens of the Queen were full of flowers that could talk and sing. Perhaps the Violets could play the Violin as well.
Nicolette van Dam, W. Walrus, 23 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 12 x 9 in. The Walrus and the Carpenter are said to represent some contemporary political figures of Carroll’s days. They tricked innocent young Oysters into coming with them and then they ate them. This makes it a story about encroachment and entitlement, but my Walrus is just innocently minding his own business in his preferred habitat.
Nicolette van Dam, X. Xuthus, 24 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 4 ¾ x 13 in. A Xuthus is a Swallowtail butterfly that was no doubt fluttering around the Queen’s flowers. She is courted by a Swift, handsome Swallow. Will they produce little baby fork tails?
Nicolette van Dam, Y. Yarn, 25 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 9 x 7 3/4 in. Spinning a long and colourful Yarn is what Lewis Carroll did when he invented his Alice stories.
Nicolette van Dam, Z. Zinnia’s, 26 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 8 ⅝ x 15 ¾ in. Zinnias come in a wide variety and they were undoubtedly to be found in the Red Queen’s garden of Delight. Queen Victoria is rumoured to have been the inspiration for the Red Queen. Lewis Carroll has always wisely denied this.
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Nicolette van Dam, 5. Five of Clubs, 27 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 9 x 6 in. On day 26, I had reached the end of the alphabet, but not of my rope, so I continued with numbers – counting down the last few days. Fortunately, Playing-Cards played an important part in the story and this is number 5, Five of Clubs, featuring the famous White Rabbit.
Nicolette van Dam, 4 Four of Spades, 28 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 10 x 6 in. Spades might be based on the Medieval halberd, a terrible weapon. These four guards didn’t frighten me so much, even though I had to paint the two bottom ones upside down, as it was too much hassle to keep flipping the paper. But after 27 days of practice, that’s a piece of Eat Me cake.
Nicolette van Dam, 3 Three of Hearts, 29 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 4 ¾ x 4 in. No less than three Queens in the story, so, here they are, tiny faces and all.
Nicolette van Dam, 2 Two of Diamonds, 30 October 2023, Schmincke pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes Touch, 8 x 5 in. Tweedledee and Tweedledum, two inseparable twin brothers, effortlessly floating high in the sky.
Nicolette van Dam, Waking Up, 31 October 2023, Schmincke pastels, Conte crayons, charcoal, on two sheets of Pastelmat , 9 1/2 x 24 in. The last day of the Challenge did not have a number, but a title : Waking Up. This piece connects past (summer of 1865) and present (Christmas 2023) and represents dream versus reality. On the left, there are three Alice’s : one together with Lewis Carroll in the stained glass window in Carroll’s hometown church, and twice the real Alice. She was Carroll’s 10-year-old neighbour Alice Liddell, his muse. He often went on rowing trips with her and her family. There, he was inspired to write a story about her. And a few poems for the book. In the story, she had both a white and a black kitten, which are mirrored by both my white and black dog. Alice, and I, Woke Up from a month-long adventure when she went through the Looking Glass again and then it appears that she is in fact my lovely daughter Juliette, my muse!
50 thoughts on “Nicolette van Dam-Through the Looking Glass!”
Amazing work, Nicolette!👏 I enjoyed reading your story and absolutely love all your artworks! Thanks for sharing them! 😊
So happy to know you enjoyed Nicolette’s collection Sarah!!
Thans you so much Sarah. This is making me very happy 😃🩷
Brilliant idea and execution!
WOW! What a tour de force, Nicolette! I loved your story and your images and your amazing dedication to the work.
I’m delighted that Gail shared this with us. I was unable to participate this year and had no idea what you (and the others) were doing–my first miss since it started.
I look forward to seeing more of your delightful posts as we go along.
Wendy
Thanks Wendy for your enthusiastic response to Nicolette’s guest post! I’m so glad to know others are appreciative of Nicolette’s work and dedication!!
We missed you in the Challenge this year Wendy. Maybe next?
It is my plan, for sure! I really missed it, the discipline, the pleasure of working with pastels daily, and as Nicolette said, the camaraderie.
GREAT! And yes, it IS all that isn’t it?!
These are fantastic! I really do think you should publish these. My personal favourite, only because of my hobbies of knitting and spinning, is the sheep for Y(arn).
Yay!! Thanks for voting for publication Sandy! And…I love Y(arn) too!!
Just wonderful, unique work. I looked forward to seeing them in Oct. They definitely deserve a gallery showing, but what if they sold?!
Ahhhhh yes….what if they sell….??!!
Nicolette seeing all of your paintings together is fantastic. Congratulations on your collection. Wonderful energy and mark making, and beautiful colours.
Michele
Wow! Wow! Such a creative mind and wonderful approach to such a challenge. And the mixture of imagination and reality, is inspirational. I really enjoyed reading this!
Exactly!! Thanks Hyrum!
Well, let me just say….. I’m wow’d!! I’ve been following Nicolette ever since I joined How to Pastel all those many years ago now. I’ve always enjoyed her paintings.
But this!!! This is wonderful! So creative, so fun, such a cohesiveness to all the paintings. Yes, I agree, great illustrations for a book.
Great work Nicolette!!
Yes yes and YES!
Thanks for chiming in Ruth!!
Bravo, Nicolette! This is truly a creatively-impressive body of art work. What a wonderful & inspiring approach to the 31 in 31. A joyful, colorful, brilliantly comprehensive undertaking in to an imaginative submersion — your own artistic journey on fire w/intention.
I enjoyed your generous presentation shared within HTP and your endearing stories attached to each entry. This post truly aligns w/IGNITE! mantra ‘learning (progression) is in the doing’. You persevered, you created a terrific body of work. YOU did it! Congrats, Nicolette!
Thanks so much for your supportive and enthusiastic response Maryeileen!
And….for pointing to the IGNITE! membership mantra 😁
Thank you for sharing Nicolette’s fabulous work!! I loved each and every one of them- the colors and compositions are really inspiring and fun !
So glad you enjoyed Nicolette’s inspirational work Rebecca!!
Wow, what an amazing response to the Challenge. The work is so fresh and colorful. And Nicolette should definitely publish a children’s book.. I thoroughly enjoyed these paintings!
Yay!! Thanks for the vote of confidence in Nicolette’s work Jean!! Can’t wait for the book to be published!!
I love, love, LOVE! your paintings, descriptions, musings…all just wonderful💖— thank you so much for sharing💖
Martyne B
😁
What a joy to share in Nicolette’s oeuvre. I first noticed her work in this October’s challenge and was not only impressed by its quality and creativity but also by how readily and generously Nicolette responded to the contributions of others posts. In these difficult times she shines a light.
Janet, you are sooooo right about Nicolette!! Thank you!
Nicolette, your words are a delight. Indeed they were an integral part of October’s journey and, it would seem, your soul. You gave me much pleasure (and support) through October, and this is a welcome reprise of that pleasure. Well done and keep going
Ahhh Rod, thank you for sharing your experience with Nicolette’s generous and supportive nature!! And now returning the delight!
I’m really proud of my mom for creating these amazing works of art! I saw firsthand how hard and passionately she worked on it and how dedicated she was to creating something every day of October. After I saw the results, I knew it was all worth it, and the publication on this beautiful website is a well-deserved reward for this wonderful work. Hats off to the effort and the great results it has yielded!
How lovely to hear from Nicolette’s muse! It must have been incredible to see all these wonders come to life. Thanks so much for your comment Juliette and for being supportive of your Mum’s passion!
Great to see Nicolette’s Alice series. What a brilliant idea, and such lovely work. So imaginative and inspiring!
As a fairly recent follower of Gail and HTP, I joined the October challenge this year. My family had all contributed to buying me a set of Gail Sibley Unison pastels for my birthday, so I thought I had better put some work in, and I did it – 31 in 31! Overall I was pleased with what I produced and it stretched my pastels skills and subject matter.
So much of what Nicolette says really resonated – how it is so liberating not to be so precious and worried about the end result. The process has really helped me to loosen up, and also to realise how important it is to just keep doing it.
Thanks Nicolette, and thanks Gail for all the encouragement.
Gillian, thank you for so many things – for your positive response to Nicolette’s work, for taking part in the annual Challenge, for using my set (and wishing for it as a birthday present 🙃, for sharing the results of your 31in31 experience! And brava to doing all 31 days!! 👏
Nicolette’s work is wonderfully imaginative, I really enjoyed seeing her daily posts and her final picture is a triumph!
These are so inspiring Gail – I have never been game enough to try this challenge, but now I wish I had, and am so glad you provided it, and that Nicole took it up. Beautiful. Alice is a favourite of mine too. Thanks both for sharing! Next year I’m in!
I’m so glad you are inspired by Nicolette’s wonderful work Mandy. Look forward to you joining us next year. Block it in your calendar NOW!
I just finished reading your presentation. As you know I have been pushing for publication! Very great presentation for HTP.
Love it,
Margot Ardourel
Truly inspirational and I definitely think they deserve publishing in a book! I very much enjoyed both the paintings and the accompanying notes. Bravo Nicoletta and thank you Gail for featuring them in your blog, as otherwise I would have missed them, not having taken part in the challenge .
Your collection of work, shown together with your words, is fabulous Nicolette! Well done and thank you for sharing!
Hi Gail and everyone,
This is my initial reaction to all the awesome comments you are leaving. I am overwhelmed by your kindness and very grateful for it all! 💖
I’ll try to keep on rocking.🤸♀️
Love,Nicolette
I’m delighted at the many positive and overflowing comments Nicolette and hope you see how amazing this collection is!
Hi Gail and everyone, I am delighted too at the many positive and overflowing comments! You are all so very generous! 😍 And, Gail and Sarah, I so appreciate how you both made this article into its own work of art; the lay-out is very pleasing and does indeed show how amazing a complete collection of paintings can be. Now that images, bio, story and comments are all together in one place, it’s time to see what might be done about publishing. I’ll keep you posted about it. So convenient to be able to refer to this amazing pastel blog. That it may keep on growing; it’s a goldmine of information for pastel artists 🌹🦋
Nicolette – you can see how we are all bowled over by your works and words. And we can’t wait to hear what happens on the publishing front. Do please keep us posted!!
Thank you for being part of this pastel community!! 💐
Wow Nicolette! What a treat to see the whole collection and your comments or poems about each painting. I was impressed during the ’31 in 31′ challenge, but the impact of seeing this all together in one spot really show cases your amazing talent. Can’t wait to buy the book….and I’m serious. Thank you for sharing yourself and your paintings so honestly.
And thank you to GAIL for being a great midwife to all of us.
Jane thanks for your powerful confirmation for publication of Nicolette’s words and art!!
And thank you for your kind comment for me 🙃
Hi Nicolette, I love your series and agree that you should publish! Sorry I missed your work during 31/31 and glad to see it reproduced here.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year my friend, I’m sure we’ll chat during 2024. Gailen
Nicolette, I’ve been reading Gail’s blogs since 2018 and this is my absolute favourite. The idea of doing anything for 31 days in a row is a bit terrifying to me but reading how you went about it – finding a theme and using that to ground yourself and let your creativity branch out from there – is so inspiring! Writing is my favourite art form so I’m going to go look for some kind of 31-stories-in-31-days challenge 😀 Thanks for sharing your gorgeous work and innovative ideas with the world!
Hi Shanna! Thanks for your enthusiastic comment on Nicolette’s guest post 😁 Nice to see you on this side of a post!
You can always post at the same time as we do. My friend Brian Frank writes a poem a day and I post it along with my piece.
Absolutely brilliant work Nicolette!
Love the whimsical, colourful images! Perfect for a Children’s book.
You loved the Alice in Wonderland book, now, you can write your own Alice book. 😲😲😲😲😲
Oh Ed – YES!!!!! Love this connection of the planned book to Nicolette’s childhood love!