A Touch of Drama with Nature on a Wall Mural

A Touch of Drama with Nature

on a Wall Mural

"Nature is the art of God." - Dante Alighieri

Mural Paintings by Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

A country lass, Kate, hugs a tree on the wall painted by the author

in his residence in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.

"Come to the woods," this mural seems to say,

     and find rest in its living shroud,

 bastion of love, freedom and harmony,

     away from the maddening crowd.

. "A hug is two hearts wrapped in arms." – Unknown.

* Hugging a tree involves wrapping your arms around its trunk, often to connect with nature and experience its calming presence. This practice can have various benefits, including reducing stress, boosting the immune system, and releasing emotional blockages. It's also a form of mindfulness, encouraging introspection and a sense of belonging. - AI Overview

Catching butterflies* on a wall mural seems easy to these boys. 

I was once like these two kids many, many years ago,

     on the farm where I was born and grew;

'til this butterfly flew over my head and formed a halo,

     and took me to the academe to be its fellow.**

“If you smile when you see a butterfly, you have happiness in your soul.”

- Diana Cooper

*Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly or white butterfly. 

** Professor of Entomology, the science about insects.

 

What a refreshing feeling by the waterfall after a hard day in school!

Go, refresh with the coolness of a waterfall;

listen, listen to its sweet whisper from above;

you might wonder where its water is coming from,

but from its heart, like yours, throbbing with love.

"All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was."

- Toni Morrison 

             Be like Rip Van Winkle for a time, but not for twenty long years

 - not for a lifetime, please.

Time goes on and things keep changing, 

you just can't live in dream and trance;

the world doesn't wait for just anything.

Wake up, you pass this way but once.

"You cannot defeat darkness by running from it, nor can you conquer your inner demons by hiding them from the world." - Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle

Dawn of awakening before a make-believe view.  

What lies beyond the horizon, this child seems to wonder,

facing a wall mural of the sea and its mystery yonder.

“Nature is loved by what is best in us.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Philosophy through the Arts: Goya's Paradox of Human Life

 Philosophy through the Arts

                             Goya's Paradox of Human Life

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog

Goya's painting of two men clubbing each other while

being swallowed by quagmire to their inevitable death.

If there is Plato's Allegory of the Cave - a man escapes and sees the truth and that it is his obligation to lead others to get out of the cave of ignorance;

If there is Thoreau's Walden Pond that man's isolation from society is realization of his inseparability, however principled he may be;

If there is Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo that tells at the end the emptiness of the soul, triumphant one may have revenged on his enemies;

If there is Burnett's Secret Garden that has long been forgotten and that having the courage to open it is discovering the joys of the past and starting a new life.

If there is Picasso's Guernica mural, symbolic of peace triumphant over war, coded secretly to carry on the message in novels, sculpture, movies, photographs, etc., to this day;

If there is Rizal's Noli and Fili denouncing abuses of colonial masters, demanding reform and equitable governance, and inevitably igniting the flame of revolution as the ultimate recourse;

If there is Goya's Two Men Fighting in a Quicksand, exuding strong and direct message to warring nations, that no one wins at the end, mankind ultimately the loser;

It is art - the brush and the pen - that has really changed the world - and is still changing it. ~

Francisco Goya (1746-1828), Spanish painter, is considered "the Father of Modern Art." His career began at the close of the late Baroque period, and the rise of Gothic art, extending over a period of more than 60 years, for he continued to draw and paint until his 82nd year.

To understand Goya's paintings, it is equally important to know the life of painter. Three stages marked his long active life.

• His attitude towards life in his youth, when he accepted the world as it was quite happily,
• His manhood when he began to criticize it, and
• His old age when he became embittered and disillusioned with people and society.

The world had changed radically during his lifetime. He saw the society in which he achieved great success dissolved during the Napoleonic war, so that he turned to new ideals, as reflected in this painting of two men clubbing each other while being swallowed by quicksand.

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* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio, 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Usapang Bayan April 25, 2025: The Holy Father Plants a Tree

In loving memory of Pope Francis

The Holy Father Plants a Tree

In observance of International Mother Earth Day (April 22, 2025); International Day of the Forest (March 21);  Day of Biodiversity (May 22), Environment Day (June 6), Philippine Eagle (June 4 to 10).Philippine National Arbor Day (June 25, 2024), 

 

Ms Melly C Tenorio, host; Dr Abe V Rotor, Guest

Usapang Bayan 2 - 3 pm, April 26, 2025

1. When spring comes without stir, “don't go gentle into the night,” rise and find out where have all the birds gone to herald the new season, the new beginning of life.

2. When the monsoon ends too soon, summer sets early, the land scorched, the rivers and ponds dried up, warn of the coming of a severe El Niño phenomenon.

3. When algal bloom in make-believe proportion spreads in lakes, sound the alarm of fish kill coming to avert losses and hunger, and save the ecosystem.

4. When people move to cities in exodus, convince them, advise government, it is a tender trap that takes them away from the real Good Life on the countryside.

 

 

 

 

  Students from the University of Northern Philippines, Philippine Science High School (IS) and San Vicente Integrated School plant anahaw seedlings (Livistona rotundifolia) and seeds of fruit trees at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, April 13, 2025.  

5. When clouds simply pass over the landscape, take the lead to reforest the hills and mountains, restore the watershed with a million and one trees.

6. When flood sweeps the land taking with it lives and properties, and eroding soil fertility, be part of rehabilitation and planning; believe that flood can be tamed.

7. When you find an abundance of lichens of different types on trees and rocks, assure residents of the pristine condition of their environment, and help them to preserve it.

8. When and where wildlife areas are shrinking, backyards and idle lots can be developed as alternative wildlife sanctuary, initiate this as a community project.

9. When asked what vegetables are safe from pesticide residues and chemicals from fertilizers, promote native species like malunggay, kamote tops, gabi, saluyot, and the like, they are also more nutritious and easy to grow.

10. When asked of Nature's way of maintaining the ecosystem, explain the role of nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, composting, symbiosis, among other natural processes and cycles.

11. When additives are found in food - MSG, Nutrasweet or any artificial sugar, salitre in sausage, sulfite in white sugar, melamine* in milk, formalin in fish, warn the public against taking these, initiate through legislation and campaign to ban these additives.

"Convergence of sea, land and sky - Nature's way of keeping the balance of the  ecosystem," wall mural by the author.

12. When children spend too much time before the TV, on computers, and other gadgets, offer alternatives more favorable to their upbringing and well-being by getting close to nature like camping, gardening and other outdoor activities.

13. When old folks talk about traditional wisdom and values, demonstrate native skills, listen and translate them into useful applications, disseminate these in school and through extension.

14. When animals are restless, reptiles and rodents coming out of their burrows and dens, fish attempting to escape, fowls noisy, suspect the coming of a force majeure such as earthquake, and be alert to face possible consequences.

                Tree hugging is therapeutic, 

it releases stress, restores energy.

15. When epidemic threatens an area, say bird flu, initiate community cooperation with health and other institutions to prevent further spread of the disease.

16. When a child has little concern about the environment, teach him, guide him to explore the beautiful world of nature, and make him realize his importance and his role.

17. When there is a worthy movement to save the environment, such as Clean and Green, Piso sa Pasig, or any local campaign, lead and extend your full support.

18. When there are farms and fishponds neglected or abandoned, find out how these are put back to their productive conditions, or converted into a wildlife sanctuary.

19. When at rest or in confinement for health reason, explore natural remedies with plants, pet therapy, and other proven remedies

  

"On a fine Sunday morning you hear birds in the trees, fish splashing in a pond, and plants bloom..." in acrylic by the author

20. When on a fine Sunday morning you hear birds in the trees, fish splashing in a pond, and plants bloom, say a prayer of praise and thanksgiving in music and poetry, painting, or simply a reflection of the magnificence o f creation. ~

* Melamine is a chemical compound that is illegally added to food, particularly dairy products, to artificially inflate protein content. It is a high-nitrogen compound that fools standard protein tests, which measure nitrogen content, into falsely indicating higher protein levels. This practice is not approved by any health authorities and can be harmful, causing kidney stones and other health problems, especially in infants and young children.

International Mother Earth Day April 22, 2025: Recreate Nature on the Wall in Murals

International Mother Earth Day

Recreating Nature in Murals on the Wall

Mural Paintings by Dr Abe V Rotor

Under the Sea Cavern. Simulating stalactites and stalagmites in caves, the artist simulated the same conditions on some coral reef ledges where the sun could hardly penetrate. Mystery lies inside the cavern which only the imagination can fathom. A predator waits for its prey, small fishes group together for safety, shell fish cling lazily on rocks, while seaweeds sway freely like a curtain. It is a stage of sort where drama of life in the deep takes place everyday. (Wall mural, SPUQC, AVR).

I have wondered many times if fish ever sleep

     or they just lie down very still

in some quiet deep, like a flock of sheep

     after their fill lie on a grassy hill.

Other creatures gain this way their ease

     and man by the power of his will

takes the long and winding road to peace

     searching for that quiet pool or hill.

Tropical Rainforest. A composite painting of a running stream through the woods, apparently near human habitation as shown by the presence of promenaders and fishing enthusiasts enjoying themselves as in a park. Also, the stream empties into a pond of Nymphaea and lotus on the foreground giving the impression that the scene is at the edge of a clearing. Nonetheless the whole scene speaks of an undisturbed ecosystem. The presence of wildlife shows that this is their natural habitat. SPUQC, AVR

Gather the clouds into fog and mist,

     rain and stream;

Gather the fish, the birds and the beasts

     to a peaceful reign.

Light in the Woods. Are there images on the painting? How many trees are there. Can you see a face? Whose face is it? The inverted "V" perspective creates a panoramic effect leading the eye toward the center and background. SPUQC AVR

It inspired a soul to write a book*

that touches the eye and heart;

This little light in a nook shines

where good and evil part.

                                           * Light the the Woods, by AVR, Megabooks 1995

Ruins of Colonialism. Keenness in history leads the hand to re-create events in composite order. The sky and landscape blend well and create a peaceful ambiance in contrast with that of the ruins on the foreground. Infinity can be felt towards the background where boundaries of land and sky dissolve in mist and cloud. SPUQC AVR

Ruins, your silence disturbs at this time of tempest,

When dawn breaks like any dawn sans rays of noble past;

The day shall come to put people again to the test,

Like spring, rise again from their state of outcast.

Composite Landscape. There are three scenic parts arranged vertically to suit the design of the sala of a private residence. Upon entering one is led to look up and down the painting. Thus the elongated design has a foreshortening effect. There was originally a rainbow, but it was toned down so as not to steal the show, so to speak. It's suggestiveness however, has a strong effect from the balcony eye level. (Dasmariñas Village, Makati MM)

Where man makes a living, a garden by his hands he makes,

At the foot of a hill, on the tip of a pen, on rivers and lakes,

He contends - even only a piece of that Paradise lost -, he regains;

From knowledge and disobedience, the whole world gains.

Doves Flying at Dawn. There is a feeling of ascendancy in this painting. The diagonal perspective enhances such movement, while splashes of light heightens daybreak. The rough sea and dark foreground give contrast to the painting. The hideous presence of large reptiles creates enigma as to what the artist wanted to imply. Mystery in art is an important element. (Wall Mural SPU-QC)

Take me from this world a moment

to be with You in this holy event;

From your seat to down below I see

my friends, my enemies - and me.

Watershed. Unlike the first painting the perspective is normal "V" which explains the title - a funnel shaped valley to catch and store rainfall and in the process make a natural garden with the colors of spring, summer and autumn, thus exuding a fairyland effect. The landscape speaks clearly of a pristine environment far and free from humans. (Wall mural SPU-QC)

Ask Ceres or the mightiest God of all -

if Nature keeps herself better if we depart, 

with her housekeeping and her art -

was Paradise redeemed after the Fall? ~

* International Mother Earth Day was established in 2009, by the United Nations General Assembly under Resolution A/RES/63/278. The Resolution was introduced by Bolivia and endorsed by over 50 member states. Theme for April 22, 2025 - Our Power; Our Planet

Utility to Aesthetics Recycling Burnay Jar Painting (Article in Progress)

Utility to Aesthetics Recycling 

Burnay Jar Painting 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Save and convert cracked and broken jars into works of art.

 

 

 

 

World Creativity and Innovation Day & World Earth Day - Let Us Build a "Children of Nature" Culture

World Creativity and Innovation Day April 21, 2025

World Earth Day April 22, 2025

 Dr Abe V Rotor

World Creativity and Innovation Day is a global day by United Nations and it’s observed on 21 April to raise awareness of the importance of creativity and innovation in problem-solving in order to advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network)[1] including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries

Part 1 - 24 Ways to Build a "Children of Nature" Culture
Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog 

                  

  Young biologist studies a specimen. Tree planting and home gardening 

        

                        

 Children's summer painting workshop with the author. Theme: Love Nature

 Our children’s development must be holistic In all four stages: genetic, childhood, lifestyle – and fetal (in the womb). Sing, talk to your baby while in the womb.

1. Our children become new heroes – heroes for the environment, martyrs for Mother Earth. Heaven is in a regained Paradise on earth.

The coming of a universal faith, irrespective of denomination. To be saved is not by faith and promise. Heaven starts here on earth.

2. Our children are deprived of natural beauty and bounty with shrinking wildlife, conversion of farms and pastures to settlements, and destruction of ecosystems.

“Canned Nature” (delata) have become pseudo Nature Centers. Gubat sa Siyudad, Fantasyland, Ocean Park, Disneyland

3. Our children need to know the true meaning of biodiversity. Four attributes - richness in kind, population, interrelationship.

Biodiversity per se does not guarantee sustainability unless integrated with functioning systems of nature.

4. Our children are at the front line and center of people’s revolution spreading worldwide.

Arab Spring is sweeping North Africa and the Middle East, so with the escalating unrest questioning the present world order. All over US the young are angry at economic inequity.

5. Let’s prepare our children to face the consequences of loss of privacy and secrecy, from personal to institutional transparency.

Janitor fish - subject of kids' curiosity, an introduction to biology.  

“You can no longer hide. There is no place you can remain with anonymity.” Wikileak unveiled classified information about the Iraq and Afghanistan war. Bank secrecy laws and safeguards are changing. Citizens have the right to know many hidden financial transactions.

6. Our children’s involvement in social media makes them actors and not mere spectators. They become involved, concerned with issues, local and far reaching.

There is need to strengthen Development Communication (DevComm) over conventional entertainment and reactionary media.

7. Our children will inherit our aging infrastructure. Aging Infrastructure pulls down the economy, increases risk to disaster, creates ghost cities and making life miserable.

8. A new field of biodiversity has been born in deserted towns, on the 38th Parallel between South and North Korea, in land mines areas, ghost towns, among deserted high rise buildings, in high radiation areas like in Chernobyl (Russia) and Fukushima (Japan).

9. Our children, and succeeding generations are becoming more and more vulnerable to various infirmities – genetic, physiological, psychological, pathologic.

 

Author and grandson enjoy bonding at the Living with Nature Center, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Computer Syndrome is now pandemic, and its toll is increasing worldwide. South Korea is the worst hit.

10. Our children’s learning through codification defeats logical thinking and creativity. Thus affect their reasoning power, judgment and decision, originality of thought and ideas.

More and more children are computer-dependent. They find simple equations and definitions difficult without electronic gadget.

11. Our children face the age of singularity whereby human and artificial intelligence are integrated. Robotics robs human of his rights and freedom – new realm of curtailment and suppression. (2045 – The Year Man Becomes Immortal – Time Magazine). This is falsehood!

 

 Wall mural painting; on-the-spot painting

12. Our children finds a world of archives - memories, reproductions, replicas – of a real world lost before their own time.

We are making fossils, biographies, dirges and lament, as if without sense of guilt.

13. Our children will realize that optimism will remain the mainstay of human evolution, rising above difficulties and trials. Hope is ingrained in the human brain that makes vision rosier than reality.

Anxiety, depression will continue to haunt, in fact accompany progress, but these all the more push optimism up and ahead.

14. Our children are overburdened by education. They need freedom to learn in their own sweet time and enjoy the bliss and adventure of childhood and adolescence.

E-learning is taking over much of the role of schools and universities. Open Universities, Distance Learning will dwarf classroom instruction. Beginning of a new University of Plato’s dream.

15. Our children will witness in their time the beginning of a post-capitalism order, environmental revolution, rise of growth centers and shift in economic dominance and order, more green technologies, and space exploration. 

This is Renaissance in the new age.

16. Our children will continue looking for the missing links of science, history, religion, astronomy etc, among them the source of life itself and its link with the physical world.

Linking of disciplines, narrowing down the gaps of specializations, making of a new Man and culture.

17. Our children become more and more transient in domicile where work may require, and for personal reasons, and when given choice and opportunity in a global perspective, intermarriages notwithstanding.

“Citizen of the world” is a person without a specific country. He is therefore, rootless.

Humans since creation are rooted politically, culturally – and principally biologically.

18. Our children will have a family size of ideally 2 or 3 children, enabling them to achieve their goals and dreams in life. They will strengthen the middle class the prime mover of society.

A natural way of family planning and population planning, trend of industrialized countries.

19. Our children will clean the land, water and air we the generation before littered. They will heal the earth we defaced, damage. With generation gap closed, the task will be shared by all.

We must be good housekeepers of Mother Earth now.

20. Our children will be part of devolution of power, decentralization of authority, a new breed of more dedicated leaders.

Natural History exhibit at the former St Paul University Museum QC

Children hold the key to change. It’s the Little Prince that changed and saved the pilot in an ill-fated plane crash in Sahara.

(The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery')

21. Our children face acculturation and inter racial marriages. Melange of races is on the rise – Eurasian, Afro-American, Afro-Asian, etc – a homogenization process that reduces, as a consequence, natural gene pools.

Culturally and scientifically, this is dangerous. Homogenization leads to extinction of races and ultimately, the species.

22. Our children will live simpler lives, going back to basics, preferring natural over artificial goods and services. In the long run they will be less wasteful that us.

There is always a hidden desire to escape when things get rough. This is instinct for survival either by detour or turning back.

23. Our children face the coming of the Horsemen of Apocalypse – consequence of human folly and frailty (nuclear, pollution, poverty). More than we grownups, they are more resilient to adapt to the test.

History tells us that this is true.

24. Postmodernism may do more harm than good for our children in a runaway technology and culture. They cannot and will not be able to keep with the pace and direction of change.

This is not true. “I am the master of my fate, I’m the captain of my soul.” And this is what we want our children to become – but only when they are CHILDREN OF NATURE.~

Part 2 - CHILDREN'S ART IN LIEU OF THE CELLPHONE

 A - Respite from the Cellphone 

Living with Nature Center

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Dr Abe V Rotor

Author with young art enthusiasts - Kcie, Daniel, Chloe and Julia.

A respite from the cellphone - and boredom. March 1, 2025

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist 

once we grow up". - Pablo Picasso

 

Respite from the Cellphone 

Over the bridge we go with oil pastel,

to where the stream flows out to the sea, 

among flowers and rocks under a tree;

oh, how little the cellphone can ever tell!

To where does the cellphone lead us to?

Assumingly knowing all but ne'er about life,

a friend day and night in fun and strife;

oh, if ever it is sincere and true!

Technology - applied science - not art,

talks tall in the cloud and sounds like a gong,  

leads children to the unknown all along -

to a bright future and a happy heart? 

 

B - Growing Up With Art**

in a World Apart from "Kids"  

  

Workshop attendees include parents of children participants, as well as older art enthusiasts who comprise a separate but similar art workshop sessions at the Center conducted regularly by the author upon requests from the community, organizations and schools, such as the University of Northern Philippines.  

 

Kids Growing Up With Art

in a World Apart from "Kids"  

Take a break from computers and the mall,

     confines of the small; 

break the wall of idleness, go for the ball

     fast and make a goal.  

Solve the puzzle, some genius await you

     for all you know;

left to right of the brain and back will show

     a wider view of you.   

Take the road rough, look ahead, move on,

     from the bandwagon;

it's your adventure, and follow the sun,   

     sunrise to sundown. ~

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it.” - Andy Warhol 

 “Art should be something that liberates your soul, provokes the imagination  

and encourages people to go further.” – Keith Haring   

                           

                                              

                                    “Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse.

 

Build your dream house complete and beautiful

    with creativity, original, your own;

you can't build one on the lifeless cellphone;

    live life happy with pride - and never a fool.

 

 

Listen to the birds in your drawing,

    each color a note, at the end, a song;

away from the cellphone for the time being,

    and keep out of the busy, aimless throng. 

The cellphone rings in repeated melody.

    in seeming urgency yet in idleness;

oh, what a great loss of opportunity,

    to grow up in such world of ambiguity.

       “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” – Pablo Picasso. 

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.'' Maya Angelou

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Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio, 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening, Monday through Friday