Nature comes alive with children on a wall mural. "My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature." –Claude Monet

Nature comes alive with children

in 60 detailed scenes

For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it." —Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Mural Paintings and Verses by Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature School on Blog

Imagine hugging a tree host of butterflies,

a street post made alive by art's sweet lies,
nature's art of camouflage and mimicry,
tools for survival, sharing and living free. 

"There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it." —Charlotte Eriksson

The blue whale, the biggest creature that ever lived,

bigger than the dinosaur, and man a minuscule;

lucky it is to touch, to talk to, to listen to its song,      

plaintive with a message for man to heed its call.

 Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. —Albert Einstein

It's a kugtong, giant lapu-lapu, and it's true,

dweller at the bottom of the sea,

zealously guarding its cave from anyone;

no fisherman dares, but she,

who is learning to face danger from images

before dealing with reality.

"There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature—the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter." —Rachel Carson

A twin by the waterfall and stream,

and another twin fishing;

reality and imagery are but one -

parallel worlds we live in.

"Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home 

we’ve ever known." —Carl Sagan

 Never kiss a parrot we are told, 

just listen to it talking;

save in circus, among the bold, 

on picture, toy and painting.  

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." —Laura Ingalls Wilder

Sentry the whole night through, an owl retreats 

at sunrise into  its abode, the hollow of a tree,

and finding a girl playing with butterflies, wonders

if  the garden is always open and  free. 

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you."—Frank Lloyd Wright

   

The friendly capybara, the biggest rodent,

never has been  tamed, never a pet; 

but on a wall, earns love and respect

beyond anime other creatures create.

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." — Henry David Thoreau

Touch the rays of the sun through the trees,

be like the butterflies and bees, 

the singing birds and the splashing fish, 

breath the cool morning breeze.

"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet 

and the winds long to play with your hair." —Khalil Gibran

 

Do you like to live at the edge of the sea,

where the tides rise and fall and stir,   

the waves in rhyme and rhythm with the wind,

where creatures appear and disappear?  

"Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body. Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell. And so she has." –John Lubbock

Beach party by imagination, hear the music

of the wind and waves, song of the sea gull, 

the wall comes alive with echoes of lilting 

children, friendship and abandon extol.

  "Leave the road, take the trails." —Pythagoras

 

 Can we live under the sea like the fish

among corals and  seaweeds?

Only fairies in the world of fantasy do,

yet without the sea all dies,

for the sea provides our basic needs.   

 

 

 This is how big a kalaw is, as seen in the wilderness;

its body pitch black, breast bright yellow, beak bright red;

take time, it's now tame on the wall, posing to viewers,

its imagined sonorous call reverberating far and wide. 

 "Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself." –Henry David Thoreau

 Splendor on the grass, the world's still,

minute to hour, year to a lifetime;

 company of a few, we touch and fill

some vacuum, through nature sublime.

 

"Choose only one master—nature." —Rembrandt

 

 A bed of grass takes these children 

to the field and the meadow;

a waterfall and stream in make-believe 

to the ends of the rainbow.~ 

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." —Lao Tzu

Under the Sea in Greek's mythology, with a touch of Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea.  

Young Neptune - he rules the sea 

on make-believe scenery;

in a far land of fantasy; 

 it's the power of  imagery. 

Endangered Wildlife represented by the deer and vanishing rainforest, a global challenge to save both the species, more so, the ecological system and biome. 

Philippine Deer - a lost family in our time,

kneels a girl in prayer consoling

in an act of friendship and love sublime,

a distress call for help begging.

"For a time, I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." –Wendell Berry

Hornbill or kalaw is now an endangered species.  Attempts to domesticate it as pet 

most often fail, as wild life animals generally resist man's intervention in the guise of "benevolence."  

He hasn't seen the kalaw in its abode,

only in images and stories told;

yet he cares for the creature once bold,

now orphaned, lonely and old.

  

Rising with the creatures of the rainforest, as a steam of light seeps through the trees in a pristine and sacred ambiance.  

In a diorama-like presentation, 

this child acts like he is a part, 

the lead character of a living fable;

wish the scene shall not depart.

"Wish we are part of Nature in diorama; wish it is real and we shall not depart." - avr

“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” ― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

 

 

 

 

“I do not miss childhood, but I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I took joy in the things that made me
happy.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane

“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.” ― Ruskin Bond, Scenes from a Writer's Life

Children and Nature “Because children grow up, we think a child's purpose is to grow up. But a child's purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn't disdain what lives only for a day. It pours the whole of itself into the each moment. We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in its flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung? The dance when it's been danced?

It's only we humans who want to own the future, too. We persuade ourselves that the universe is modestly employed in unfolding our destination. We note the haphazard chaos of history by the day, by the hour, but there is something wrong with the picture. Where is the unity, the meaning, of nature's highest creation? Surely those millions of little streams of accident and willfulness have their correction in the vast underground river which, without a doubt, is carrying us to the place where we're expected! But there is no such place, that's why it's called utopia.

The death of a child has no more meaning than the death of armies, of nations. Was the child happy while he lived? That is a proper question, the only question. If we can't arrange our own happiness, it's a conceit beyond vulgarity to arrange the happiness of those who come after us.” ― Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia

"A thing of beauty is a boy forever." wall mural painted by the author at his city residence, Barangay Greater Lagro, QC

Three young musketeers are set to conquer the world

     away from the mall, home and school;

If Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were real and alive today,

     we wouldn't know who's genius, who's fool.

Who is the primitive, who is the civilized, oh brother!

     when we prefer the city over the quaint village,

car for walking distance, processed over fresh food,

     philosophy over instinctive knowledge.

Everything defined in rich vocabulary, but a rose is a rose

     and nothing else, energy to matter and back,

universal cycles no genius will ever truly understand,

     Homo sapiens! it is humility we lack.

Innocence in children, we make up for the falsehood

     of the world of grownups and sages;

Einstein and Darwin never knew the whys of the world,

     children have been asking for ages.

If genius is reborn in the innocence of children,

     and knowledge into wisdom distilled,

treasured in old age for the young ones' sake -

     providence and humanity sealed. ~

Portion of mural fronting Lam-ang St

 

Ecology Wall Mural is a composite painting about nature on a 90-feet long x  7-feet (average) high concrete wall of the author's residence in Lagro QC, facing two streets - Kudyapi on the northeast, and Lam-ang on the southwest. Its obtuse angle perspective gives a general panoramic view of the whole mural. 

Portion of mural fronting Kudyapi St.

The mural consists of representations of ecosystems of the coral reef, mangrove, estuary and the open sea on one side of the wall, while on the other, the ecosystems of the tropical rainforest, stream and river, intertidal zone, mountain and valley. 

The mural depicts the unity and interconnectedness of the ecosystems as one holistic Nature with resident species of organisms in their natural state. The presence of man in the mural exudes his playful character, and adventurous nature in exploring the landscape. Some historical and fictional aspects take the viewer to Ernest Hemingway's prize-winning novel The Old Man and the Sea, and Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, while views of Mt Makiling in Laguna and Mt Pulog in Benguet, are typical of many favorite views on the local setting.  

The author took six months to complete the mural using as medium acrylic paints conventionally applied with paint brushes. Twelve overhanging LED spotlights were installed to light the mural for evening viewers. 

Explore the cave, these kids are challenged,

seeing three of their age emerging;

adventure can never be explained or written;

one must submit to a deep urging. 

“Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.” ― Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

A series of articles about the mural has been published in the barangay newsletter (Greater Lagro Gazette), the Ilocano magazine Bannawag, and on the Internet, Living with Nature [avrotor.blogspot.com].Christmas with Nature is the mural's theme this Season. Camera enthusiasts and children in the neighborhood  frequent the place as  a sort of mini park.  This article, the fifth of a series, is earnestly dedicated to them. ~

                        

                               The Garden Pond - Microcosm of an Ecosystem.  

Garden Pond at the author's residence in  Lagro QC

with surrounding wall mural painted by the author

"Paradise is regained with our children.  Oh! If only man's wisdom 

can bring back Paradise lost a long time ago."

A wall is empty no more, it dissolves into forest and stream

running down soft under the feet, spilling onto the street;

where once a city of steel and concrete, of dust and smog

reigned, where the forces of human frailty and nature meet,

rekindling wonders and adventures of childhood little known

to the city-bred whom the Good Life in disguise would cheat!

The wall is alive in three dimensions in make-believe perspective,

progeny of primary colors - red, blue and yellow, bold and mellow,

azure sky, deep blue-green sea, prism of every dewdrop bead,

sparkle of every star at night, crystalline water Narcissus saw;

if only walls can speak to mirror human longing of a happy world,

if only man's wisdom can bring back Paradise lost a long time ago! ~

 Kim Laurence and Sophia on Christmas Day 2017 at the author's residence,  

in Barangay Greater Lagro QC, MM.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of all?

This wall mural tells and warns us before the Fall." - avr

Orangutan and her baby perched in a tree their home -

mother and child model in the wild - and for whom?

A pair of gray herons patiently stalks for prey,

no fast food, no detritus even if it takes a day.

Too small a herd, remnant of an endangered kind;

bless he who has seen a deer free, it's a lucky find.

Kakapo, macaw, or parrot talking birds and colorful;

Bird of Paradise the rarest and brighest of them all.

Serene these creatures live in peace and harmony;

wouldn't we humans wish - if only there were many?

Nest atop a tree a mother hawk takes care of her brood;

scenario we wish, rather than living on the busy road.

A pair of love birds "'til death thou us part" bound;

while a third warns of danger stalking the ground.

A boa constrictor poised to strike or just resting,

makes a story symbolic, fearful, interesting.

Butterflies and bees too, have their share of the scene;

fluttering, buzzing in disguise, discreet on the screen.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of all? 

This wall mural tells and warns us before the Fall. ~

Landscape view from a cave

 

Bats emerge from their abode  

Wonder how our ancestors lived

with birds and bats in their abode;

wonder how we live like them today

in two worlds - modern and old. 

 

Wonder why the city never sleeps,

why gregariousness our comfort;

wonder if by design or adaptation,

we crave to move from port to port. 

Wonder what we make of the future,   

caves to high rise, we rule the sky,

time and space, change our earth,

and we look up to heaven and cry. ~  

Nature on the Wall mural by AV Rotor (30ft x 5ft), at author's residence Lagro QC

An emerging new generation before a wall mural of nature painted by the author at his residence in Barangay Greater Lagro in Metro Manila, 2015

 

 

Wall mural of Nature by the author at his residence in QC is often visited for respite or photo,  for the sake of art to make-believe imagination.  Among the recent visitors is a grandmother and her grand daughter from the neighborhood. May 1, 2017   

Time has changed - and continues to change: 

Mother and Child to Grandmother and Child - 

image at the altar to scenario of  Nature.

prayer to friendly relationship with Creation.

real to the senses, yet only by imagination. ~ 

Where have the father and mother gone, 

the grandfather too, other members as well?

where is this living stream,  this pristine view?

wonder this little child in her youth and power    

to chart change as seen in this I'll corner.  ~  

Markus 1 (in stroller), with friends at home in Lagro QC, 2016

Flow gently, sweetly with the breeze

and sing with the little children;

whisper with the rocks and trees,

make every creature their friend.

Sing the songs of the forest deities,  

the cheerful crickets and birds,

lullaby of Mozart, chorus of Liszt:

“grow and be happy,” they urge. 

Who is afraid of the creatures living in the deep blue sea? 

Who is afraid on a dark island in the middle of the sea? 

Who is afraid of the surging tides and hissing wind at sea? 

“Not I” said little Markus, “as long as I’m with my Daddy! ~

                                                     

A Tropical Rainforest Wall Mural (3.5 ft x 15 ft) in acrylic by Dr Abe V Rotor at his residence in Lagro, Block 61 61, Lot 55 (corner Kudyapi St and Lam-ang St) 2015. The mural is an integral part (3rd panel) of a larger mural (7 ft x 30 ft). The mural is made up of three sections as shown in the above photos: Emergent trees and their tenants (top); Exploring a forest stream (middle), Food web and energy flow (lowermost)

Among the countless creatures of the tropical rainforest that comprise its rich biodversity are: a rat, giant among its kind in the lowland, lives in a hollow of a tree; boa constrictor adapted to arboreal life, transient gulls adapted to both sea and forest life; tree iguana that branched out of marine iguanas, and those that live in dry conditions; chameleon the master of camouflage and mimicry; sloth, mother and young, clinging on a tree motionless and sleeping most of its life.

 

My grandson, Markus Andrei, 6 months old and his nanny - guardians of this rainforest wall mural. 

The Green Gate.  

Where is the closed gate? Open Sesame may be the password to a hidden treasure
in Ali Baba's children's tale. In this case the treasure is Nature's beauty and bounty.
Mural painting by the author 2015.

Side gate of the author's residence at Lagro QC. The gate is contiguous with the mural paintings on the walls on both sides.

It's a gate in reverse, going to Nature from the outside
     into a humble residence in the city,
where nature is borrowed in make believe sceneries
     on the screen, picture and study.

It's a gate of a far away place, forgotten or unknown,
     pristine by the laws and rules of nature,
away from the influence of man and his technology,
     the exploit of industry and agriculture.

Welcome to Nature, a representation through the art;
     but it's just a shade to the real thing;
to the senses the waterfall tumbles, the birds sing,
     but to the inner being, alive and serene. ~

  

A wall transformed, emptiness to green scenery,

amidst buildings, noise, and busy feet;

"Would you drop by for a li'l rest?" it seems to say;

a chance passersby for a moment meet. 

"Would you drop by for a li'l rest?" Green Stage on the Sidewalk.

 

To school, but quite early;

there's time to explore 

in make-believe, the wood 

on the wall, with nanny 

in a happy mood.    

The school van can wait idle,

    so with the kindly driver;

let time pass awhile waiting

    for the children to prepare.

Reminisce the youthful years,

     by the stream and forest, 

a tunnel of time and space,

     to go on living afresh.

Wildlife in our home, why not?

In imagery and reflection,

the archival art of Nature

for the future generation,

time to make up for our fault,

a grim reminder for action

Once in a while vary the scenery

     to the depth of the sea;

 bring down the sun to refresh memory

     of man's triumph and folly.    

Capture the rays of the sun,

     white doves flying for fun,

while you're innocent and young,

     and the happy days gone.

Nature is always there as you grow up;

she doesn't grow old in her own way;

only in human hands she tires and cries;  

thus the challenge of true beauty of a lass

to be a deity of Nature in mythology. ~

                       

My Garden Pond at Home, wall mural by AVRotor, 2010 QC.
Closeup of Oscar fish

I'm with Nature reading the morning paper,
     whatever news it brings for the day;
I'm with Nature with brewed coffee piping hot,
     rising in mist, whiling time away. 

I'm with Nature, with a bit of the mountain, sea,
     of rivulets, streams and lake;
I'm with Nature, clouds rising on the horizon,
     white and dark, into rain they make.

I'm with Nature, the ocean spreading out
     in a grasp from shore to its end;
I'm with Nature, in the sky of deep azure
     birds fly free to heaven.

I'm with Nature, confined yet boundless,
     by lianas, the lowly bryophyte;
Dissolving the old prison walls and bars,
    that for years barred my sight.

I'm with Nature, from sunrise to evening,
     writing my life in a poem,
While Midas touches everything to gold,
     save where I brought Nature home. ~