Nature's Embroidery

What's behind this embroidered talisay tree? 
Dr Abe V Rotor 
Living with Nature School on Blog 

 

Talisay or umbrella tree (Terminalia catappa), Cebu 2013

Embroidered reddening leaves of the umbrella tree,
     of what use is it to a passerby to stay, 
to a poet writing autumn in a dry country,  
     a painter whose landscapes are always gay?    

The leaves fall to the ground one by one like confetti,
     tattered they are, more so, as they all dry;
to whose honor bestowed such singular treat, if any, 
     but a child whose curiosity doesn't die. 

And he greets the tiny artist ensconced in a bag.
    "Hello, do you like the embroidery I made?" 
Rough is its art, far from the finesse of veil or rug,
     yet opened a new world to a future sage. ~ 
  

Two species of bagwaorm: Crypthothelea fuscescens (upper photos); 

Crypthothelea heckmeyeri (lower photos), Family Psychidae, Order Lepidoptera

ART LESSON: Your unfinished work could be your masterpiece!

ART LESSON: Your unfinished work could be your masterpiece!

Remember those things you thought were "unfinished" could be your greatest treasures, and who knows - people some day will remember you because of them. 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Former professor in Humanities, St Paul University, QC; co-author Humanities Today: An Experiential Approach C and E Publiocation

Photos by Anna Christina R Rotor And Leo Carlo R Rotor

Art is like poetry, the meaning is hidden "between the lines." - avr

Lesson: Don't discard your unfinished work, say a painting, novel, sculpture. Try to get back to it. It could be your masterpiece. Maybe you were not able to complete it because you gave way to the priorities of living, or finding new interests, challenges, assignments, or simply you lost steam, so to speak. Or you say you've grown too old to complete it.

Take the case of the mysterious unfinished human figures at the University of the Philippines at Diliman, QC. Do they mean anything but abandonment? To me it's not. So with my daughter Anna and son Leo Carlo who took these photographs.

These unfinished life size human figures occupy the “less trodden” front yard of the UP College of Fine Arts in Diliman, QC. The artists may have in mind the portrayal of man more as a Homo faber - man the worker or maker rather than his attribute as the reasoning man (Homo sapiens) - and much less the playing man - Homo ludens. Here the figures appear to be workers of the land. In fact one resembles the Man with a Hoe by Markham. Another appears to be carrying an imaginary heavy load.

What is puzzling however, is the representation of peaceful death. While the living struggle, the dead lies in true rest, cradled by the earth. Which then changes the scenario if all the figures were to be directed to a solemn and sorrowful occasion of burying a departed member in thin ceremonious atmosphere. It now expresses the highest attribute of man - Homo spiritus - the praying man who places completely his fate to a Higher Being. The viewer now turns his thoughts to grief and compassion, and the scene is no longer the farm but a sacred ground. The imagined heavy load is a  burden of the heart, the figures are bent not by the burden of work but by the loss of a loved one.

The mystery of the human figures of UP Diliman emanates from the anonymity of their theme that stands at the crossroad of human imagination searching for the meaning of life, exacerbated by their unfinished, and apparent abandoned state.

Art is like that. It is like poetry, the meaning is hidden "between the lines." Like impressions in Impressionism; points in Pointillism. Or masked symbols in Pablo Picasso's plaza mural - Guernica. Unfinished works of masters often become their masterpieces like the Unfinished Symphony of Beethoven, and Mozart's Requiem, his last composition commissioned by a mysterious person. Mozart died before finishing it, and Requiem became his own. Claude Monet repeatedly painted his favorite Nymphaea Waterlilies until darkness took over his failing sight - so with the painting's clarity. Though half finished it is Monet's final signature. 

Auguste Renoir was one of the co-founders of Impressionism. Renoir's masterpieces like The Dancer (PHOTO) appears to be "unfinished" because of its sketchy appearance. Yet this gives an effect and motion to the figure. So with a number of Renoir's works. One reason for this impression is because Renoir's passion to paint did not diminish in old age. Art critics say, "He was so passionate about painting that he even continued when he was old and suffering from severe arthritis. Renoir then painted with the brush tied to his wrists."

  

 Venus de Milo is more beautiful with her arms missing. And for this, the best artists in the world gave up their attempt to supply her arms.

So what have you discovered about yourself by going back to those unfinished works? Share with us your experience. Remember those things you abandoned could be your greatest treasures, and who knows - people some day will remember you because of them. 

 

Claude Monet’s Nymphaea Waterlilies appear unthoroughly done. Monet was then fast losing sight in old age when he painted these murals. These however are highly treasured works of this pioneer in impressionism, are now exhibited in a museum in Paris.

Sailboat sketch 

Pleasance in Art: LET'S PAINT TOGETHER

Pleasance in Art:  LET'S PAINT TOGETHER 
Art is joy, art's therapy;

art's a happy story

on canvas or on the wall,

a divine gift to all.

 Dr Abe V Rotor

Murals painted by the artist in his residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

ASSIGNMENT:   Paint, yes you can. Join the group of old and young, beginners and enthusiasts, irrespective of faith, belief, personal condition, organization, and community. Get into action:

Get water-based latex paints, brush, plywood or canvas, from your nearest hardware and general store.

• Primary colors: Hansa yellow, Toluidine red, Thalo blue (pint size) to begin with.
• Gloss or flat white latex (liter size) for primer (first coat) and medium.  
• Brushes: 1 piece each size: 1", 2";  round and flat brushes: fine, medium, large, (or get a set).
• Hand spray canister (empty hair sprayer) to keep your painting fresh while painting.   
• Canvas: Illustration board, plywood, mounted canvas cloth (do-it-yourself). Apply white primer first, let it dry.
• Easel or stand. Improvise one; use as necessary. 

NOTE: Professional artists' tools and materials are expensive. Oil paints, watercolors, pastel colors have their own applications and preferences.  For now, use latex water-based paints (also called acrylic).

         

Underground river in Palawan painted on concrete wall with latex paint, with three dimensional effect from relief made of paint crust applied as paste to emphasize rocks. .   

Teachers, entrepreneurs - take time out

from school and whatever trade;

transients, residents, family, friends, 

leisure is life also made. 

An empty wall comes alive with freshness and joy and a message to the old world.

Young hands at work before an empty wall to make a mirror
of themselves for others to see now and in the years to come;
Innocence is preserved and revered, captured for posterity,
when childhood shall have passed its time, and life has began.  

Wonder how brief and natural, how swift the strokes to capture this 

catastrophe, an experience rare and daring, realistic and spontaneous.   

Youth expressed on canvas like an avalanche -

cascading river, and rocks falling;

ephemeral - then everything's suddenly calm,

life's passage for every human being.   

Loss of natural sense of belonging to one's birthplace is a crisis predisposing the young to move to the city in exchange of a simple and beautiful life..   

Take these kids into the blue sky and into their dreams,

vernacular and exotic said, real and fantasy;
bring down the mountains and valleys from their realms,
to where these kids long for the golden city.   

A grand dad, a retired university professor, by his side; 

this boy shall, all the world of beauty through the arts, abide. 

Two generations apart before a mural,

wonder which one lasts the longer;

Unless the artist himself's the maker,

whose will and thought last forever. 

One problem in comparative perspective  in this painting is solved by adding a small red sailboat in the distance, thus creating an illusion of prominence of  the islands. (Hundred Islands at Lingayen Gulf.).  

An artist is likened to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver, 

either in Lilliput where everything's small, 

or in Brobdingnag where everything's big;

at one time he's a midget, at another a giant,

his imagination soaring to the loftiest height. ~ 

HOMEWORK: Personal Reflection of an Unknown Citizen

HOMEWORK: Personal Reflection of an Unknown Citizen

Dr Abe V Rotor

Former professor, University of Santo Tomas, 

De La Salle University-D, St Paul University-QC 

"Little do we know of the unknown great man,

the Unknown Soldier -

unknown doctor, unknown teacher

farmer, worker, entrepreneur,

old man, father, housewife, child." avr

Assignment in Humanities and Communication Arts,  Make your own personal reflection handwritten on a regular bond paper of 500 words more or less. Reflection brings out the inner person in you, like the inner eye of Heller Keller, The Little Prince of Antoine de Saint-Exupery', idealism of Longfellow's A Psalm of Life  and Alexander Pope, meditation in Michalangelo's Pieta, the mysticism of Venus de Milo, enigma of wildlife in Rousseau's painting, inner ear of Beethoven, waning light in Claude Monet's Waterlily, nature-man treatise in Thoreau's Walden Pond.  

I invite our viewers to this exercise. You may find this useful in retreats and seminars, specially in leadership, and in the fields of theology,  philosophy, and humanities.

One man fought a nation, and save a nation, abhorring violence.
His greatest weapon: peaceful protest and civil disobedience
in asceticism that swept the land;
people revering him as father and almost god.
His name is Gandhi. (photo, left)

His likes are the greatest specimens of mankind; they too, changed
the world forever, making it a better place to live in.
His name is Mao Tse Tung.
His name is Ho Chi Minh.
His name is Jose Rizal.
His name is Ramon Magsaysay
Her name is Princess Diana.
His name is Jose Burgos.
He is Maximilian Kolby


Nelson Mandela, Jose Rizal,  

She is Mother Teresa.
He is Nelson Mandela
He is Pope John Paul II, et al

They are people for all seasons, for all ages, for all waves of change.

But little do we know of the unknown great man,
The Unknown Soldier -
unknown doctor, unknown teacher
farmer, worker, entrepreneur,
old man, father, housewife, child;
The Unknowns in other fields of life, regardless.

They are whose deeds are also those of great men and women we revere today.
They are us – each one of us
in our own little way to make the world go round and around –
or make it slower, that we may taste better the true Good Life,
the sweet waters of the Pierian Spring, the cool breeze on the hill.

All of us - we have the capacity to be great.
Bringing up our children to become good citizens,
being Samaritan on a lonely road,
embracing a returning Prodigal Son, 
plugging a hole in the dike like the boy who saved Holland from the sea,
or living life the best way we can that makes other lives better.

These and countless deeds make us great,
and if in this or that little way we may fall short of it,
then each and everyone of us putting each small deed together,
makes the greatest deed ever,
for the greatest thing humans can do is collective goodness –
the key to true unity and harmony,
and peace on earth. ~

Apple Mango - Exotic Mango Cultivar in the Philippines

Apple mango is a cultivar which originated from Kenya.
Dr Abe V Rotor

Have you tasted apple mango? No, it's not a crossbreed of the apple and mango, unlike peaple or papple (also apple-pear), hybrid of pear and apple, or the ampatola, a cross of ampalaya (bitter gourd) and patola (Luffa).*

Mango is one of the leading fruits in the world, it is ranked among melon, apple grapes, banana, oranges and pineapple. In tropical countries mango in season go to tremendous waste, where the tree grows in the wild, along highways and country roads, on the backyard.  Or simply, the fruits fall prematurely, or thinned out by untimely rain or strong wind. Overripe fruits pile up under the tree, bearing scars inflicted by fruit bat, or damage by fruit flies, the worst pest of many fruits and vegetables.        

Nobody knows exactly how many varieties and cultivars of mango there are in the world. In India alone, there are around 283 types of mangoes, out of which only 30 are well-known. In Florida, there are about 400 varieties of mangoes. The USDA collection is believed to have over 500 varieties of mango germplasm. 

The most common variety of mango in the Philippines is what Americans refer to as champagne mango. It’s been called Manila mango, Ataulfo mango (named after its Mexican grower) and Honey mango. Filipinos call it manggang kalabaw (carabao mango).

In this photo, carabao mango, like apple mango and other cultivars, are served with shrimp paste (bagoong alamang) 

Mango is generally eaten fresh 
This prized variety is referred to as ‘Manila Super Mango’ and is reportedly in the Guinness Book of World Records as the sweetest in the world. Zambales mango is refuted the sweetest, in like manner the best lanzones comes from Paete Laguna, and durian from Davao. 

Other popular mango varieties in the Philippines are Pico (Piko), Katchamita (Indian) and Pahutan (Mangifera altissima).

In the Philippines, mango growers are classified as backyard growers, commercial growers or corporate farms. Half of the mango supply comes from backyard growers, defined as those who own five to 20 fruit-bearing trees. Top producers of mangoes are the provinces of Pangasinan (30%), Isabela (15%), Negros Occidental, Zamboanga del Norte, and Nueva Vizcaya.

A bountiful harvest of apple mango from our backyard.  Markus 3, joins the household
in preparing the fruits into pickle and jam, other than serving them fresh. 
-------------
10 Health Benefits of Apple Mango – Super Tasty and Healthy*
1. Inhibit Cancer Growth

Based on latest research, all strain of mango fruit has a high dose of antioxidant that is effective to protect your body against leukemia, colon, breast, and prostate cancer. These antioxidant nutrients are consist of:
· astragalin,
· gallic acid,
· fisetin,
· isoquercitrin,
· quercitrin,
· methylgallat.

Besides, It has many other enzymes that are good for your health. Meanwhile, the apple mango has a more concentration of those enzymes to multiply its benefits.

2. Helps to Lower Your LDL rate
With its crispier texture, the apple mango has a higher level of pectin, vitamin C, and fiber that is great to lower your levels of cholesterol, eventually Low-Density Lipoprotein. Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) is the bad cholesterol that becomes the main suspect of coronary heart attack cause which is the most dangerous degenerative disease.

3. Glow Your Skin
Besides its benefits for your internal organ, the health benefits of apple mango work too for your external beauties. It can make your skin glowing with its high dose of vitamin C just like the health benefits of kiwi. Use it as a mask before sleep or drink it regularly as the fresh juice, the apple mango will help to make your skin healthier. It works by clearing your clogged pores and eliminating your disturbing pimples.

4. High Dose of Vitamin A for Your Eyes Health
In general, mangos have a high beta-carotene and vitamin A that is good for your eyesight health. Meanwhile, the reddish apple mango has a lot more of betacarotene and vitamin A substance that is much better to maintain your eyes health and prevents it from drying and night blindness.

5. Maintaining the Alkali Rate of Your Body
This time you are going to need its leaves than its fruits. Boil some apple mango leaves with a bowl of water, then drink it. It helps to maintain the alkali reserve of your body and insulin levels in the blood. The apple mango has tartaric acid, citric acid, and malic acid contents that is effective to stabilize your body’s alkali rate and insulin levels. Indeed, you may also read Health Benefits of Alasa Fruit

6. Helps in Diabetes
As it leaves are great to stabilize the insulin levels in the blood, the apple mango is great for diabetes. You can use it by boil certain number of leaves in the water. Then, consume “the apple mango leaves tea” in the morning. In addition, the mango fruit, especially apple mango, have a quite low glycemic index (around 41-60) that is very safe for the diabetic patient.

7. Improve Your Fertility Besides its high dose of vitamin C and A, the apple mango has a quite high amount of vitamin E. It is great for your fertility and sex life. Even though, the connection between vitamin E and sex life is a mistaken generalization of the experiment to rat.

The newest research stated that the vitamin E (with the balanced nutrient diet) surely has a quite strong connection to the fertility. In this case, you can improve your sex life by taking the health benefits of apple mango actually.

8. Improves Your Digestion System
Mangos, especially apple mango, has an abundant amount of enzymes that are great top digest the protein. In this case, same as papaya, the apple mango will improve your digestion system too. Besides, it has a quite large amount of fiber that also helps your digestive system.

9. Natural Cure for Heat Stroke
Imagine how delicious an apple mango juice in the summertime when the heat is spiking up? Yep, besides its taste, the apple mango is great to cool down your body and prevent it from harm.

Based on ayurvedic medicine, when the people come to equatorial or in the summertime, they often get diuretic and exhausted. That is because the strong sun energy burns up the body, especially your muscles. Just like you may also read Health Benefits of Wheatgrass Tea

Then, the kidneys become overloaded with the toxin as a result of this process. Thus, the tasty and healthy apple mango juice, with its high dose of antioxidants and other nutrients, becomes a great choice to eliminates the heat stroke bad effects.

10. Boosts Your Immune System
As the conclusion of those 9 health benefits of apple mango, the rich amounts of vitamin A & C in apple mango with 25 kinds of carotenoids and many more enzymes, it is quite obvious that apple mango has magnificent benefits too to your immune system.

Reference: HEADLINE
31 Science-Based Health Benefits of Olive Leaves Extract
08:36:47 pm
Tuesday 29th, May 2018 /
DrHealthBenefit,COM

Harvesting Rainwater

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

Rainwater from gutter to downspout is harvested and stored in jars and steel tanks. It provides water for domestic use that augments water from the faucet. During the rainy season savings may be as much as fifty percent of monthly bill . Rainwater is also stored in garden ponds where tilapia and hito may be raised. Stored water is also vital in case of power brownout, water supply interruption - and fire.

I am HABIT - a Reflection

I am HABIT - a Reflection

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Reference: The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management by Hyrum W Smith. 

We are creatures of habit, whether we like it or not. We can make habit our servant, or we can allow it to become our master.

Good habits are developed through good training and conducive environment.  Children's  Summer Workshop, Lagro QC.

HABIT

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward, or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do, you might just as well turn

     over to me,
And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm

    with me.   
Show me exactly how you want something done,
And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine
Plus the intelligence of a man.
You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin;
It makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me
And I will put the world at your feet.
Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.
How am I?
I am  HABIT.

Author Unknown 

                                               

TRIVIA

A recent report in the Journal Pain reveals that crossing your arms may relieve pain, by confusing the brain. - Weekly Round Up

Acknowledgement: The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management by Hyrum W Smith; Illustrations from the Internet

NATURE AND PEACE Bantaoay Children’s Integrated Art Workshop

NATURE AND PEACE  
Bantaoay Children’s Integrated Art Workshop
San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, May 16 to 18, 2018

Selected Works 

Dr Abe V Rotor
Workshop Instructor

 Ashley Dianne Rios, 10

Birds flying low over the field and tall grass
meet the morning sun, but never in a rush.

Neil, 8

Flying kite is a wholesome pastime for kids,

away from computers, loafing and misdeeds.

Shaun Michael R Remular, 11

Fluffy clouds hang free above the trees,

while the wind blows gentle into breeze.

Migi, 7

A hut among the trees, my home,

I shall never want and feel alone.

Jamiela Marie Almachar, 8

A world of a kind: three trees, three birds, three kids,

from the bigger world, peace and freedom never at siege.  

Jedd, 11

Fantasy land, romanticism its uniqueness;

somewhere carved out of our loneliness.

Tristan, 11

Blue pond, reflection of a clear sky and peace around,

wonder where these three passersby are bound.

                                                                                                 

                                                               William Kelly, 8

Field scorched in hot dry summer,

takes a break with the first shower.

Jeod, 11

Rebirth comes in many ways, yet all the same;

life coming back is our Creator’s lovely game.

Vitrish Anne Arguelles, 6

Like a  jIgsaw puzzle, the cracks of the soil mend with rain,

save the wastelands, often cursed, yet life’s last domain. 

Sandra Valencia, 10

Life peeping through, shy and afraid;

says the sun, “Get up and be brave.”

Christian Delle Garcia, 12

After the first rain in May,

creep the lowly algae;

living things soon aplenty

arrive here and stay. 

Jedd, 11

Ahoy, there! Keep off the rocky shore!

Join the race in the deep blue azure.

 

Jamie Althen Florendo, 12

Dark clouds at sunset tell of a coming storm.

Hurry up for home before high waves form.

Frea Billedo, 12

The sun is biggest on the western horizon,

smallest on the east just when it is born.

Jamiela Marie Almachar, 6

Savage fangs spare no one at sea,

even the bold ones crying for plea.

Tristan, 11

Join the regatta and vie for the trophy;

romantic, but the danger is another story.

Shaun Michael Remular

Sea gypsies for want of settling down,

travel on boats to nowhere bound.

Denise Kaye R Ancheta

Wind blowing hard like giant arms at sea,

warns of misery and death without mercy.

Christian Delle Garcia, 13

If all fruits were yellow, orange, and red,

I would pick the green for ripening;

If all fruits come in the summer season

I would sorely miss those in spring.

Franceska Billedo, 10

Coy and shy fuits may appear to some one,

wait until they are ripened by the sun.

  

Frea Billedo, 12

A basket full of fruits and flowers,

the best the fairest maid showers.

Jamie Althea Florendo, 12

Fruits are full of energy,

stored by the sun and Thee.

Jamiela Marie Almachar, 8

All fruits a work of the bee,

if we review our ecology.

Wacky B, 10

Move over fancy culinary;

give way to Ceres’ bounty.

Lance Adam, 5

Where goddess Ceres descends,

Epicurus joins the feast,

and man contends -

else the banquet be missed. ~