Convert Plastic Pots into Decorative Art through Finger Painting

Convert Plastic Pots into Decorative Art 

through Finger Painting* 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Dull looking flower pots can be made attractive, even if planted with ordinary ornamentals plants.  Compensate their lack of appeal with decorative painting - with your fingers!  Use the primary colors - blue, yellow and red (and white) - each finger for every color. Mix and blend as you paint.  Be sure the surface is clean and made a little rough with sandpaper for better adhesion.    

Close-up of a finger painted plastic pot.

You can also finger paint clay and ceramic pots with acrylic or oil 

paints following the same procedure.  Repair old and cracked ones 

before painting. For tin cans apply oil or acrylic primer paint first to 

arrest  rusting. Think first of a subject to paint.  Use references and 

guide.  Better still be original.  But practice first.  Study the design 

of each pot, consider the proper combination of the painted pots in 

their actual arrangement.  

Succulents are made more attractive with painted pots.  Be sure 

your colors are not "louder" than the natural color of your pants. 

Here are two designs which may not appear complementary 

when  arranged side by side.  Plan ahead the arrangement of 

your painted flower pots. ~

* Author painted these plastic flower pots at the home of his daughter and family

 in Brisbane, Australia, July 20 2023

A Child Artist's Concept of Nature

                       A Child Artist's  Concept of Nature

Workshop Exercise: 

A search for the deeper sense of meaning of a child's drawing. 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Landscape by Mackie 6, author's grand daughter, 2019

Who is the founder of science and the arts,
the philosopher seeking why things exist,
who explains the order of the universe;
discovers the laws of  Nature,
so huge and  diverse?

The pioneer is a child - the scientist, artist, 
  philosopher, from the dawn of awareness,
to years ahead ever searching  
the deeper sense of meaning 
of her drawing.

Tree of Life  

Workshop Exercise:  Correlate each item with the drawing above. Identify and explain.  The two drawings below serve as reference to the artist's focus on her concept of Nature.   

• Biological Diversity 
• Birds migrating
• Forest structure and composition
• Erosion and deforestation 
• Hillside and Upland Farming 
• Pond and Stream 
• Plant and animal domestication 
• Sun's energy and photosynthesis  
• Rocks and Soil formation 
• Hills and Mountains 
• Dicot and monocot plants 
• Fruiting Season
• Symbiotic Relationship
• Plant succession and dominance
• Watershed
• Balance and Harmony 
• Agriculture and Ecology model 
• Artistic quality

 

Orchard

Bleeding Heart of the Forest

 Bleeding Heart of the Forest

"Oh, the bleeding drops of red

where once a forest stood,

victim of greed and gold,

     now barren, cold and dead."

 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Bleeding Heart of the Forest, acrylic painting (11"x14")

 by AVRotor, 2015 

It is I, Homo sapiens, the thinking man 

 who changed the concept of creation,

 Nature to serve man, 

master and guardian. 

It is I, Homo faber, the maker,

wilderness to tame, resources to harness,

untouched these are,

they go to waste.  

It is I, Homo ludens, the playing man,
forest to hunt, mountain to climb,
work and leisure to me
keep my sanity.

It is I, Homo spiritus, the praying man,
mysteries I submit, mistakes I atone,
I, too, have a heart that bleeds,
the essence of being human. ~

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

Beautiful Nature in Verses 5: "If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere."

                   Beautiful Nature in Verses 5

"If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." 

—Laura Ingalls Wilder

Dr Abe V Rotor

Hibiscus

Photo by the author at his daughter's family home,

 Brisbane, Australia 

"I can't miss you at all in the garden,

or on some path less trodden, 

as a child in my native land then,

now in old age I'm seeing you again."

- avr  

Damsel Fly

What makes you noble, I see,

Is your frame, not scepter,

Light, strong and free

Replica of the helicopter.

Sargassum

You make a forest on the sea floor

Where the fishes hide from the storm,

What puzzles those who explore

Is your massive yet simple form.

Nymphaea in a Pond

I. too, shall kiss you

After the mist and sun,

Before I say, "Adieu,"

And your purity gone.

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." 

—Lao Tzu

Papyrus

Prototype of the quill's mate,

The scroll in Pharaoh's room,

Reveal your myth of Eden's gate

As free as the fishes roam.

Flying Fish

You swim through the sky,

Hide in the deep blue green

And climb up, up high, 

Such an illusion I've seen, 

Ends up with a puff and a sigh.

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

 —Rachel Carson

Acknowledgement: Internet photos; verses from Nymphaea: 

Beauty in the Morning by A.V. Rotor, A Giraffe Book 1996

Beautiful Nature in Verses 4: "Tranquility, serenity, and beauty of nature taught me how to find happiness..."

 Beautiful Nature in Verses 4

''Tranquility, serenity, and beauty of nature taught me how to find happiness in life and in the silence of eternity.'' - Debasish Mridha

Dr Abe V Rotor

Maria Makiling

"Maria Makiling wakes up

In steam that meets the cloud,

Kissing the trees to fill their sap,

And happy faces in her shroud." - avr

Shelf Mushroom

"More than Nature's architect

Building shelf and stairway,

You link life and death, 

And set for the unborn the way." 

-avr

Sunny Mangoes

"You brought down the sun,

Its magic before sundown,

To give the children fun,

And fullness of their brawn."

- avr

Nature Photography

"The lens, sun and you,

Are all the art's trio'

Sixth sense and mind's eye

Shall all rules defy."

- avr

Bamboo Fountain

"Who thirsts from the long climb

Deserves the watery cane,

Who succeeds in rising from bane

Sets a spirit sublime."

- avr

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where 

there is no path and leave a trail." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Acknowledgement: Internet photos; verses from Nymphaea: 

Beauty in the Morning by A.V. Rotor, A Giraffe Book 1996

A Child's Parable of The Black Puppy

   A Child's Parable of The Black Puppy

Anna Christina R Rotor, 12*

School Project on CLIVE, 

Year 2 Malvar, Teacher Remy

October 20, 1997

Unedited

                                      Pastel drawing by Anna Christina, 12 (1997)  
It was late in the evening when three children searched for their pet,  wondering what had happened to it.  Their dog was crying in pain and they didn't know where to find. Suddenly, at a corner of their garage, they saw the missing, white dog.  The dog gave birth to three little puppies.  The children were so delighted to see a very beautiful, white puppy with a cute, pink nose.  But they became disappointed  upon seeing two black, ugly puppies, which they didn't even had the color of their mother.  So the children poured all their love to the white puppy.  They even had the plan to make this dog an intelligent one.  After a few days, they noticed that the other black puppy was very weak.  Not for long, it died, which they didn't mind too much.

One morning, the children were shocked to see their favorite puppy lying helplessly and trying to catch its breath. They did everything they could do to save the puppy but it was too late and died.  They children felt very, very sad and tried not to cry.  But then they realized that there is still a black puppy left whom they could love like their love for their favorite pet.

They learned to love the black puppy and took good care of it.  They taught him different dog tricks and trained him to be a smart dog.

Many years passed, the children were very proud to see the black, ugly puppy grew into a very beautiful, talented and intelligent dog.  

Author's Comment:  Based on my experiences related in this parable, there is one experience that I will never forget.  It is an experience of disappointment and contentment.  At age 10, my favorite cousin died at an early age.  I always let the time pass longing for him.  Just then, I realized that I could do nothing to bring him back.  I finally knew that I could go on with my life without my sorrows.  I began to enjoy my life again and learned to love my other cousins, who sometimes I hated most.  I learned to be more considerate to them and we grew up in a better relationship.

With my unforgettable experience, there is one important lesson that I learned: The one you love least may sometimes be the one you'll love most. ~ 

* Anna is daughter of Dr, and Mrs. Abe V Rotor.  Presently, she and her family live in Brisbane, Australia. 

Nymphaea Lilies: Theme of Claude Monet's Magical Paintings

Nymphaea Lilies 

Theme of Claude Monet's Magical Paintings

Dr Abe V Rotor

Photos taken by the author at Monet in Paris Museum

 in Brisbane, Australia July 26, 2023 

"What a genius to make a masterpiece with the last rays of the sun, 

drawing each like thread and weaving the aging colors of rainbow; 

while thousands at their bidding rise early to catch the rising sun,

aiming at fortune - and failing - search it at the end of the rainbow."

                                                                                                      ~  AVRotor     

Inspiring quotes from Claude Monet for young artists

• I would like to paint the way a bird sings.

• Color is my daylong obsession, joy, and tormentI'm never finished with my paintings; the further I get, the more I seek the impossible and the more powerless I feel.

• When you go out to paint, try to forget what objects you have before you, a tree, a house, a field, or whatever. Merely think, here is a little square of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow.

• The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.

• Now I really feel the landscape. I can be bold and include every tone of pink and blue: it's enchanting, it's delicious.

• For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment.

• “Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love.”

• “The light constantly changes, and that alters the atmosphere and beauty of things every minute.”

 

Paintings of Waterlilies by Claude Monet projected on giant screens at Monet in Paris Museum in Brisbane, Australia.  Photos taken by the author on July 26 2023

“The real subject of every painting is light.” - Claude Monet

Author's grandchildren play on an miniature garden, with a bridge across a pond of waterlilies, a masterpiece of Claude Monet at Monet in Paris Museum in Brisbane, Australia July 26, 2023 

Author's family peacefully listen to Meditation by Monti (from the Thais), Camille Saint-Saëns, The Carnival of the Animals,  Tchaikovsky's The Dying Swan, and other post-romanticism music that fit perfectly with the ambiance of Impressionism led by Monet.

 which revolutionized art in the later half of the 19th century.

 “I want the unobtainable. Other artists paint a bridge, a house, a boat, and that’s the end. They are finished. I want to paint the air which surrounds the bridge, the house, the boat, the beauty of the air in which these objects are located, and that is nothing short of impossible.— Claude Monet 

 

Monet's waterlilies amateur versions of the original as shown below. 

Claude Monet (1840-1926) painted his famous murals Waterlilies towards the end his long productive life as an impressionist. He worked with fading eyesight and in frail health. Few men have shown such an extraordinary feat. Among them was the great modern painter Pablo Picasso. Ernest Hemingway's Nobel prize winning novel, The Old Man and the Sea, pictures such rare quality with sweet irony of anonymity.

“The older I become the more I realize of that I have to work very hard to reproduce what I search: the instantaneous. The influence of the atmosphere on the things and the light scattered throughout.” — Claude Monet 

12 Brilliant quotes by Claude Monet to awake the artist in you.

12 Brilliant quotes by Claude Monet to awake the artist in you.

Monet in Paris Museum in Brisbane, Australia

"My wish is to stay always like this, 

living quietly in a corner of nature." 

- Claude Monet

Dr Abe V Rotor

Photos taken at Monet in Paris Museum

 with author's family at Brisbane, Australia,

 July 26 2023

 

1. "The further I get, the more I regret how little I know."

2. "I must have flowers, always, and always."

3. "Color is my daylong obsession, joy, and torment."

4. "The more I live, the more I regret how little i know."

5. "Eventually, my eyes were opened, and I really understood

nature. I learned to love at the same time."

                 6. "What keeps my heart awake is colorful silence."

7. "I have always worked better alone and from my own impressions."

8. "The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration."

9. "It's on the strength of observation and reflection that one  finds a way. So we must dig and delve unceasingly."

10. "No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition."

11. "I am following Nature without being able to grasp her, I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

12. “The light constantly changes, and that alters the atmosphere and beauty of things every minute.”

Claude Monet

Famous As: French Painter and Founder of 'Impressionism'

Born On: November 14, 1840
Died On: December 5, 1926
Born In: Paris, France
Founder / Co Founder: French impressionist painting
Died At Age: 86

Claude Monet was a French painter who was a founder of the Imperialism movement in the 19th century Europe. Oscar-Claude Monet is regarded as one of the most prolific painters who were ardent supporters of the art of expressing one's perceptions before nature. He gained recognition due to his works in Impression, Sunrise, Rouen Cathedral series, London Parliament series, Water Lilies, Haystacks and Poplars. Claude Monet is considered as the pioneer of plein-air landscape type painting. It is a method of iterative paintings which documents the gradual change in singular landscape with the passage of time and seasons. In an auction in 2004, his artwork ‘London, the Parliament and Effects of Sun in the Fog’ went on to be sold at a whopping US$20.1 million. A couple of years later, his painting Le bassin aux nymphéas (from the water lilies series) went on to be sold at a record price of US$71 million. This placed him in the elite list of top 20 highest paid painters. Let’s browse through the following quotes from this French Imperialistic artist. (Internet)