Experimental Glass Paintings

Experimental Glass Paintings 

By Abe V Rotor

 "Let me with my art freely live and die." avr

When two immiscible mediums - oil and water-based acrylic - are mixed and sandwiched by two glass panes, the two opposing mediums create unexpected impressions of varied colors, shapes, hues and shades trapped in a network of venation. This method is extremely difficult in exactly executing a planned design or subject. 


Specimen 1 - Fan-type, typical of leaf venation, fungal mycellia and patterns of antibiosis in a culture medium.


Surprisingly however, with constant practice and experimentation you can create amazing serendipitous designs and images such as these specimens. The biologist in me seemed to have dominated my new art, spontaneously expressing my thoughts about the subject, including the interpretation of each painting.

Specimen 2 - Colony-type, typical of swarms of plankton organisms,
germinating spores, and decomposition of tissues.

Specimen 3 - Dichotomous-type, typical of branching of
plants, seaweeds, growing buds, and growth habit of
protists and invertebrate organisms. 

Specimen 4 - Bilateral symmetry, typical of dividing cells,
growth pattern of seaweeds, mosses and ferns.

Specimen 5 - Multiple dichotomy, typical of cancerous 

growth, patterns of decomposition by bacteria and fungi.

This experimental painting technique and the results that it has created and continue to create, support the argument of a professor in Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines who said, "Everyone is entitled to his theory of the arts. No theory is wrong."

Oh art! Take me to another place unfamiliar

     like Gauguin's niche in the Pacific;

where the forests and rivers and seas can talk, 

     where I can clearly hear God speak. 

Oh art! If to learn another style, another technique,

     Gladly I take the road less trodden by;

Though dim and thorns and rocks may bar my way,

     Let me with my art freely live and die. ~

Are you tired? Bored? Hug a Bunny

Are you tired? Bored? Hug a Bunny

Dr Abe V Rotor

If you feel blue, drained, or you just lack pep - hug a bunny, real or the stuff thing (like Mr. Bean). It is therapy.

If you are sick, bunny shares your pain and discomfort. It calms down your tension. Its gives you company and comfort. It never argues. It creates a quiet ambiance.

Bunny and Bunny Doll at home.

Bunny demands nothing from you but tender, loving care - TLC, the very things which you actually give to yourself.

And you are back to your feet and face the real world again.

thepensieve said...

I used to not like bunnies, but after seeing the pictures and reading the article, I have developed a new sense of liking. :) The bunny looks sweet, and yes, it might really be a friend when you`re utterly depressed.

SEMANA, Clarissa

Children, Children - Four Scenarios (In celebration of UN Children's Month, November 2018)

Children, Children - Four Scenarios

Dr Abe V Rotor  

There seems no sense of hurry, and little of duty
    for these kids to be in school, to read and write;
living more in the past than today or tomorrow,
    spending their childhood fully and bright.

Curious these children are, a helicopter alighting in their midst,
    this big bird, airplane or Superman, they see in the sky;
Flash Gordon is true after all, so with astronaut Neil Armstrong,
    setting dreams of adventure that they will someday fly.

Signs the hands tell us, the language unspoken, 
    faces full of smiles, and all the icy world broken;
wait till they become grownups and learn to frown,
    like us now wishing our younger days are reborn.   

They have learned life early with a little of everything,
    yet 'round a bowl of rice fullest is their joy and hale;
wish there were seven loaves of bread and some fish
    that once fed a multitude - and know the prayer as well,
that unlocks the power, that no one shall miss a meal. ~

Carnation- Most Celebrated Flower

Carnation-  Most Celebrated Flower  
Dr Abe V Rotor

A Bouquet of Carnation painting in acrylic, AVR 2015

Perhaps no flower can match you, oh carnation; 

 your colors each a message to convey:

fortune, prayer, celebration, a wish come true;

in garland and lei, shower and bouquet;

  never a wreath, for you are not symbol of death; 

re-incarnation that we your faithful pray.  

Carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus)  has a long history as a cultivated flower dating back more than 2,000 years, it is rich with symbolism, mythology and even debate. The name comes from the word corone (flower garlands) or coronation since the Greeks used it as ceremonial crowns. Its Latin derivative however is carnis (flesh) referring to the flower's original pinkish-hued color or incarnacyon (incarnation), referring to the incarnation of God-made flesh. Wikipedia

Today, carnations can be found in a wide range of colors, and while in general they express love, fascination and distinction, virtually every color carries a unique and rich association. 

• White carnations suggest pure love and good luck, 
• Light red symbolizes admiration, 
• Dark red represents deep love and affection, 
• Purple carnations imply capriciousness,
• Pink carnations carry the greatest significance, beginning with the belief that they first appeared on earth from the Virgin Mary’s tears – making them the symbol of a mother's undying love.

Carnation is worn on

•  Mother's Day, 
• Teacher's Day, 
• St. Patrick's Day (March 17, 2015), 
• Wedding ceremonies,

Carnation is 1st wedding anniversary flower.

January birth month flower 

Sea Cavern Mural

Sea Cavern Mural 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Wall Mural at SPUQC painted by the author, ca 2000

Visit a submarine cave of the tropical seas
through a mural of the imagination -
pristine, unspoiled, undiscovered eversince;
or one, the remnant of exploitation,
man’s endless pursuit of power and riches, 
and his concept of the art of creation. ~

Spirit of the Tree

Spirit of the Tree
Dr Abe V Rotor

  

                                    Life and death of a tree on Mt Makiling, Laguna.

Call the kapre, dwende, tikbalang

to scare or for fun;

the goddess Maria Makiling,

and Helios, the sun.

I imagine the world without them -

without them around:

     Children wouldn't be home before dark;

     and dogs at night wouldn't bark?

     Why sunflowers always face the sun,

     and go to sleep when gone;

     trespassers, beware, take the road instead,

     else on some spirit you might tread;

     over the hills and valleys thunder rolls

     when angry Thor growls,

     and mushrooms spontaneously appear

     breaking the ground like spear;

     phosphorescence fascinates us,

     after the fire has gone into ash;

     look up they’re but one - fireflies and stars,

     fireflies are the missing stars.

     holiest the altar of nature unspoiled,

     where logging was foiled,

     where the kapre lives in big trees,

     and scares with a sudden breeze;

     paddies sigh, bamboos creak and whisper,

     unseen - creatures or not – slither.

The world is alive with tales and legends;

untrue yet true, for they are a twin;

and if you pass by a tree, stop and listen

to the spirit that throbs within.~ 

The Woods - A Small World

The Woods  - A Small World

Dr Abe V Rotor

Woods, a Small World in acrylic, AVR c. 1998

Kissed by the sun to mellow,

Orange, red, and yellow;

Old and tired the leaves all bound,

Will soon fall to the ground.

They make the forest alive;

All kinds soon to arrive;

Under the trees in retreat,

Forms a carpet beneath. 

The smell of death is around,

And rebirth without sound;

In the light and warmth of sun,

Touching the sleeping one.

It wakes up to the first rain 

Pushing its way to gain

A place among creatures all -

Response to Nature's call.

The bridge of life and death is short,

Yet its link is like fort,

To preserve the generations

As they come and go forth. ~

Taming the Giant Alovera

Who would suspect this octopus-like plant growing in the wild to be of great importance to health and grooming? Thanks to the revival of traditional and natural medicine. Various formulations - from lotion to juice drink have suddenly emerged in the market. 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Miss Jules Rojas Sta. Maria holds a huge potted  Alovera (=Aloe barbadensis) at home in QC; cross section of leaf showing gel-filled parenchyma cells. Food, medicine, cosmetics products etc are prepared from the aloe vera gel.

It looks menacing, octopus in many ways - fleshy with radiating arms lined with spines, spotted all over, and wrestling with other plants. Formerly growing wild, it is now cultured for its many uses, reviving its importance in ancient Egypt, Greece, China, and other regions. 

My dad used alovera to treat minor burns. He would pick a leaf,  split it after removing the spines along the edges, and make a poultice over the affected skin. When I became a father myself I did the same thing to my kids.  Alovera imparts immediate relief and prevents infection. And healing takes place faster than any natural means I know. 

I used to joke my friends whose hair is vanishing (the HIVs). "Mag alovera kayo," an advice to apply crushed alovera to grow back thinning hair. And they would laugh like we were in a beer garden, then throw back the challenge at us who were then well into our middle age. 

Just as alovera is hair rejuvenating, it is also effective in skin care and protection. No wonder alovera has been in use as gel pack even before someone introduced mud pack, an invention inspired in the animal kingdom. Old folk say, the gel is moisturizing, and as it dries slowly binds the skin cells from sagging. Take it from a scientific explanation.  

Native Aloe vera is grown by garden enthusiasts for its neat radial symmetry and modest inflorescence.

Researches discovered in alovera the presence of keratin, the primary protein of hair, consists of amino acids, oxygen, carbon, and small amounts of hydrogen, nitrogen, and sulfur. Alovera has a chemical make up similar to that of keratin and it rejuvenates the hair with its own nutrients, giving it more elasticity and preventing breakage.

There is much more to this report to support alovera's rejuvenating properties. This translucent gel is made up of around 96 percent water, a type of protein made up of 18 of the 20 amino acids found in the body. And it contains Vitamin A, B, C and E which important to the body.

The selling point that made alovera build a multi million industry is its claimed anti-ageing qualities - from cosmetic products, medicine, to food and beverages.

One thing more is that alovera gel is a complex carbohydrate known as acemannan. It allows nutrients to reach the cells, nourish them and at the same time relieve them of toxins. 

------------------------------
Early records of Aloe vera use appear in the Ebers Papyrus from the 16th century BC, and in Dioscorides' De Materia Medica and Pliny the Elder's Natural History – both written in the mid-first century AD. It is also written of in the Juliana Anicia Codex of 512 AD. The plant is used widely in the traditional herbal medicine of many countries.
------------------------------

Make your own Aloe drink. Scoop the gel leaving behind the skin and any discolored part.  Simply add to your favorite prepared juice drink. Or make your own mix of water, sugar, and flavor. One leaf extract makes a liter of aloe drink.  Your product can compare  - if not better than commercial products - because it is fresh and there is no preservative added. Besides you used glass container - not plastic or alum can.  

Caution: Doctors caution taking internally during pregnancy, menstruation, having hemorrhoid problem, and degenerative liver and gall bladder condition. Oral ingestion may cause abdominal cramps and diarrhea, which in turn can decrease the absorption of drugs. Non-decolorized liquid aloe vera is carcinogenic in test animals. 

Use of topical aloe vera is not associated with significant side effects. ~ 

Acknowledgement: Internet, Wikipedia, Living with Nature Series by AVR

I Brought Nature Home

I Brought Nature Home 

Dr Abe V Rotor

My Garden Pond with wall mural by AVRotor, 2010 QC.

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. ~

Living with Nature, AVR

Ecology Mural: THE SEA ON A WALL

Ecology Mural: 

THE SEA ON A WALL 

"There is, one knows not what sweet mystery about this sea, whose gently aweful, stirrings seem to speak of some hidden soul beneath." 

- Herman Merville, author of Moby Dick, a novel about the saga of a great white whale.

Dr Abe V  Rotor

Panel A - Creatures of the Deep  

Panel B - Mangrove and Coral Reef 

Full view of the mural (6ft x 30ft)

The Sea on a Wall 

It is the sea of Ernest Hemingway, author of a prize-winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea, where a very old man caught the biggest fish in his life;

It is the sea of Moby Dick, a novel by Herman Melville, where a mad sea captain sought revenge against a great white whale, and lost at the end;

It is the sea of Rachel Carson, whose award-winning books The Silent Spring and The Sea Around Us started an environmental movement;  

It is the sea of jacques Ives Costeau  French  explorer, filmmaker, who co-developed the Aqua-Lung, who pioneered in marine conservation. 

It is the sea of Charles Darwin that brought him to study Nature around the world for four years, and led him to formulate today's principle of evolution;  

It is the sea Christopher Columbus crossed, umcharted and perilous, and with strong determination and deep conviction, discovered the New World.

It is the sea that other great voyagers crossed in search of new land and treasures, and territories they conquered from indigenous inhabitants;

It is the sea where life began some two billion years ago, and the cradle of early life forms that evolved into both terrestrial and aquatic forms;

It is the sea that covers three-quarter of the earth's surface, and whose depth puzzles man more than its breadth as to what lies deep, deep below;    

It is the sea where land creatures went to live in the sea, and sea creatures became land dwellers, save the amphibians, certain fishes and reptiles;   

It is the sea that makes our planet habitable, the prime mover of vital processes such as the water cycle the precursor of  life, and link of land and sea;      

It is the sea that provides the route of human migration and integration, of trade  and culture, and the artery of globalization in our postmodern times;

It is the sea that is the source of great inspiration to the Humanities, from painting (Turner's Storm at Sea) to music (Claude Debussy's La Mer);

It is the sea that steels and hones our character, humbles us, deepens of love and respect for one another, and  brings us closer of our Creator.   

Old shipwreck lies at the bottom of the sea, reminiscent of sea tragedies in the past, and fiction stories like Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The giant octopus (kraken) adds legendary flavor to this children's favorite adventure story. The wreck is virtually unrecognizable and is now part of the sea, a manifestation of nature's superiority over man, and demonstration of homeostasis, that everything goes back to Nature.   

Full view of the dreaded kraken, the giant octopus that nearly sank Captain Nemo's proto-submarine. The kraken and its kin rule the coral reef and is almost intelligent in human standard -  crafty and master of mimicry and camouflage. Close to the kraken is the living fossil, Nautilus,  after whom Captain Nemo named the first submarine.    

Species of pelagic (free swimming) fish in schools are attracted at the photic zone where the sun nouirishes the seaweeds and planktons, so with many other marine organims that make up food chains and the food web. Sunlight passes through the water like a prism, the red and warm colors dominating the shallow depth while the blue and cool colors penetrate the deepest, up to a hundred meters. The photic zone is the richest in biodiversity in the open sea. 



Author and artist Dr Rotor points to a pair of Blue Whales (Balaenoptera musculus) representated in scale with humans. The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whales. It feeds on krills (tiny shrimps) by the tons sieved by a filter-feeder system inside its mouth. At  30 metres in length and 180 tonnes or more in weight, it is the largest extant animal and is the heaviest known to have existed (bigger than the dinosaurs). Almost driven to extinction in the 20th century, the number has increased to about 5,000 to 12,000 blue whales worldwide today, thanks to various conservation programs of many countries. 
  
 
Left: Kugtong or giant lapulapu (red) awaits for potential preys at its domain. The female can reach a size of 100 kgs. Right: Coelacanth (blue), a primitive fish thought to have become  extinct 40 million years ago has been discovered on the craggy seafloor of Madagascar.  Its fins and tails bear traces of the once bony appendages of its fossilized ancestors. Its secret of survival may lie on its isolation in the deep but studies show cooperation with other organisms like anemones, arthropods and echinoderms (such as red crabs and starfishes in the mural) has certainly played a major part in the survival of this primitive fish. 

 

Mangrove is nursery and abode of many organisms at the estuary, the zone where the river meets the sea.  Here a juvenile shark rests in the entangled roots, trumpet fish lie vertically with the reeds.  The root system is home to barnacles, mussels and other sessile organisms.  Detritus is trapped here, so with silt that otherwise flow out to sea.  It is the end of land and gateway to a vast marine environment - the intertidal zone. Air bubbles are formed as gases continuously evolve. 

 

The mural provides a make-believe scene under the sea that is enjoyed by viewers,  especially the children.The mural can be viewed on Kudyapi Street corner Lam-ang Street,. Lagro QC.
----------------------
Dr. Abercio V. Rotor, Ph.D. 

Award-winning author of "The Living with Nature Handbook" (Gintong Aklat Award 2003) and "Living with Nature in Our Times" (National Book Award 2008); professor, University of Santo Tomas; School-on-Air instructor, (Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, winner of Gawad Oscar Florendo for Development Communication) DZRB 738 KHzAM Band, 8 to 9 o'clock evening, Monday to Friday.); Outstanding Teacher in the Philippines (Commission on Higher Education - CHED 2002); Filipino Scientist (DOST-Batong Balani); former Director, National Food Authority; and Consultant on food and agriculture, Senate of the Philippines.

Who is Afraid of the Sea?

Wall Mural and Verse by Dr Abe V Rotor

Markus and his Daddy before a wall mural painted by the author, Markus grandpa. 

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! ~

The Wheel - from Wood to Steel

Who says we can't re-invent the wheel? 
Dr Abe V Rotor

Royal ride on an elephant; elephant's wooden wheel wagon, Bangkok

Bullock's "gypsy" wagon, Philippines

Counterpart of the horse's chariot of war, 

the peaceful bullock's cart on rice paddies,

kariton or partigo' our village invention, 

all from the wheel through the centuries.

We wonder at technology's evolution,

from a rolling stone to wood to steel, 

relegating the wheel today to the museum,

and denying we can't re-invent the wheel.~