BUSY DAY, BUSY NIGHT

By Joel Ferraris

It's no longer just on Christmas trees or during the Christmas season only that you will see twinkling lights. In cities, where living high-rise allow people to select dwellings according to altitude to have better panoramic views or avoid pollution at certain levels, both distant and nearby scenery are dotted not by trees but by windows of nearby buildings. It is very amusing to see how the view changes depending on the time of the day or night where windows are lit in different shades twinkle in the dark skies.

With the excessive use of mobile phones wherein some people own more than one unit, I am inclined to imagine how busy they are talking, texting, or even playing and taking pictures using their latest model, top-of-the-line gadgets. One can only imagine how the faces of people look as they talk, expressing all sorts of emotions depending on how they receive or send their messages to the other end of the line.

Seeing all these city windows and multiplying them by a certain number one will have an idea of how many people live in the city. Multiply this population by another number and one could imagine how many mobile phones are being used. Taxi and van drivers have two to three units each. How about if there are six of you in the family?

I wonder if people, with the proliferation of gadgets of communication, are more likely to achieve deeper, mutual understanding to reach the ultimate goal of peace and harmony and finally find answers to life's many questions. If not, then this advancement that facilitate communication and freedom of expression might have only added to the confusion in people's thoughts or have hardened their hearts geared towards heightened threat to human existence as evidenced by nuclear proliferation.

With all these preoccupation and wrong focus in life there are more vital and profound things that people might have missed as they run the ratrace.

The care for their children and to set the example of morality are threatened by wrong priorities. Even worst, the hardened heart and busy mind looking the other way cannot accept the Words of God the Father Almighty, for His Wisdom has to be accepted with childlike innocence, dependence and faith. Here the two feeding bottles painted in a subtle manner represent the idea of innocence and humility.

This diptych could be arranged on the wall either side-by-side or one on top of the other, or better yet, hung individually on any available wall.

THE FRUIT UP THERE

By Joel Ferraris

This acrylic on canvas painting serves as a record of my childhood memories when my father usually brings me and my siblings to our farm in Iloilo in Western Visayas, Philippines. That hilly place is near the newly constructed Iloilo International Airport. The rolling hills are dotted with mango trees bearing fruits that are among the best in the country. The thought that here in Hong Kong I buy our farm's produce is funny.

Part of our childhood fun with my siblings and cousins was to hunt for birds and climb up fruit trees at the risk of being attacked by the bees and wasps. One uncle of mine even fell from a very tall coconut palm when he was attacked by fire ants. Miraculously he wasn't hurt by that fall as he safely landed on thick pile of dried leaves that served as cushions.

The mango tree is the favorite at that time for climbing because people will surely be enticed by the sweet smell of ripe mangoes during harvest season. Targeting a fruit to pick was initially done on the ground where one has to look up and search for ripe, golden yellow mangoes that tend to play hide-and-seek behind leaves and vines dancing in the wind. Once the fruits are taken that's when we start savoring its sweet taste especially because it was naturally ripened in its branches.

Once, when I was busy preparing coffee seedlings, I started to feel hungry. By just listening to the leaves dancing in the wind their tune were frequently interrupted by crushing sounds of something hitting the thick grass and dried leaves around. Falling ripe fruits are a welcome sight to remind me of snack time.

It really feels good to eat this untouched fresh-from-the-tree fruit without having the thought that the first bite was enjoyed by fruit bats the previous night.

THE UNLEAVENED BREAD (part 1)

Once in the past I was brought to East Avenue Medical Center because of a severe internal allergy after eating crab. For more than a day I had diarrhea and vomiting and can't breath well because of the allergy. The hospital refused to allow me in not because of money that I have to give as a deposit but because they claimed they had no water at that time. So I went around Quezon City to look for one.

Some of our country's hospital also lack funds probably and cannot accommodate more patients. My sister, a medical technologist, used to work at the Rizal Medical Center and whenever I pick her up during her midnight shift I usually see patients in beds right in the hospital corridors. That's how crowded these hospitals for the poor are. But I heard that there are some hospitals that won't allow patients in because a deposit is needed or because some of the rooms are being reserved to some doctors for their own use if they have patients coming.

Let's admit it that not only in the law profession that fraternities have their tentacles working but also in medical profession. Would you believe that frats in med schools also have bloody rumbles? I hope there's no more nowadays. I lambasted some of them in the past ( my very own frat bothers during our anniversary) why they allow this culture of violence (between frats in or in other med schools) when in fact they are trained to protect lives. It's the same in the law profession wherein students are trained to uphold the rule of law yet fratmen go around the law!

So, could this mindset and culture be responsible for the policy of not allowing people in distress if they have no money to deposit...or to bar other professionals' promotion if they do not belong to the frat in power? Besides, some of the patients coming are victims of frat wars. They have no worries probably because they have doctor brods, lawyer brods and belong to the rich and could easily be accommodated. That's maybe the reason why fratwars continue., yet these victims of stupidity compete with patients in need of real help!

Professionals should examine too their priorities...either to help the poor or make money.

One kindhearted doctor I know very well in East Ave. Medical Center allowed his patient to be operated without demanding a deposit (for that expensive operation) only to find out later that the poor guy has no money at all. So the doctor and his spiritual sister facilitated an application for a funding from PCSO just to help the patient and his mom.

A person's attitude reflects his/her spirituality. This is true too with fratmen who claim they believe in God yet are ready to hurt or kill their rivals. I believe that religion cannot save us and Darwin is wrong about man's evolution. But I believe in spiritual evolution which starts from ignorance and moves on to progress into spiritual enlightenment. That's what we need to achieve so that there will be no fights and no hospitals that won't allow patients in or no candidates who will buy people's votes!

With religious images landing in the homes of the wealthy as expensive relics and pieces of art collection they cannot serve anymore as books to the ignorant because people are nowadays more well-informed thanks to media and the age of information. The materially wealthy has no power to monopolize heaven and they need to look beyond their high walls to see the needy, of whose kind Lord Jesus Christ belong after he was born in a lowly manger.

People should understand the message of Lord Jesus Christ well that they cannot love God the Father Almighty that they cannot see if they cannot love their neighbor that they can see.

Come to think of it, are the winners of this year's election happy about their victory and can sleep well at the thought that nobody bought people's votes in their name?

As an analogy, Mother Theresa claimed that it was the voice of God the Father Almighty that commanded her to leave that comfortable convent to let herself be available to the needy in the streets because in the poor homeless beggars she sees Lord Jesus Christ in need of love and care ("if you do this to the least of my brethren you do this to me"). Therefore, if a candidate wanting to "serve" the people wants to win he has to buy people's votes, especially the poor who welcomes dole outs because they are poor (just like what Randy David realized). This means he is buying the vote of and exploiting the Son of Man, the very person he/she wants to "serve"!

Everytime someone in the family dies and we go through all the hardships of sending them to the hospital while they were still alive but sick it is always money that remains the pain in the neck. We have successfully solved those monetary problems thanks to our God the Father Almighty, only to find out that the problems do not end in the hospital. Even dying is a problem and even going to heaven is another problem if you have no money!

To satisfy people's eyes and one's pride lavish funerals are available to the rich. But how about the poor? This is good business for funeral homes who see the need to compete with their rivals and convince their clients for what is even better as if these things could surely send off love ones to heaven.

Lastly the mass. One mass cost an equivalent to a meal in Jollibee I guess for those beggars outside. How many masses are needed as a sure ticket to heaven? Why not pray sincerely ourselves for our love ones in the silence of our rooms... or together with them? Why pray for them when they're already dead but don't give a damn about their spiritual enlightenment while they are still alive to make sure they go to heaven?!!!

As an experience, my prayers were answered one by one. It happened to me in the past that I got a big project and so I got big money in my account. I and my wife excitedly planned for a trip abroad only to realize this remained a dream.

My father had an accident. He was hit by a van and was hospitalized. He became inutile and for five years he went in and out of the hospital only to die eventually. Reflecting on what had happened, I was thankful to God the Father Almighty that He was able to control me, mind and heart, to accept what had happened and to recognize the fact that He sent me the much needed amount beforehand so that it will not be hard for us to face this ordeal. He gave me wisdom not to cling to money but to have stronger faith in Him instead, for He will provide for whoever loves, obeys and have faith in Him.

To the poor...and to the rich as well... a deeper understanding of why that bread during the last supper is unleavened will help in our understanding about spirituality. That's what the Philippines, my country, a Christian country, needs.

BACK TO NATURE

BACK TO NATURE

It is refreshing that from time to time I go back to painting landscapes and seascapes.

Living in the city, surrounded by high rise buildings and where everything is paved with concrete, wanting to go back to nature for good is next to impossible because the source of income for the family is dictated by where the economic pasture is greener. Besides, safety and convenience are important even if the threats of pollution replace that which comes from people's discontent.

It's funny how cities, in their pursuit of modernity and further advancements to attract business, destroy the surrounding natural environment. Real plants are replaced by artificial ones, sculptures of animals become solid memorials of how many animals were killed by man while extinct species landed on pages of books and website to immortalize their once amazing existence.

Come to think of it, environmental degradation is for creating business for commercialism and materialism are the lifeblood of the material existence of man.

My brother Noel Ferraris, who paints and does sculptures more meticulously than I, did a painting in the past depicting how man has invented things to distract himself from his very purpose in life while these things lead to his ultimate destruction. That painting, entitled "DISTRACTION, DESTRUCTION", won him an award in one of our country's prestigious art competitions.

Nature Trip and Cool Beach 2 remind me of our province in Iloilo in the western part of the Visayas, Philippines. Surrounded by beautiful beaches this place, where agriculture is the main source of income then, is in stark contrast to where I and my family live now.

ARTIST AND ART GALLERY - A LASTING PARTNERSHIP?

By Joel Ferraris

Good artists make good art galleries...good art galleries mean good artists. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? And good art means good price!!!

Will artists survive without art galleries? Of course art galleries will not survive without artists, especially the good ones!!! And no amount of commercial packaging and hype could hide the shallowness of the idea behind a piece of art.

Galleries are usually trying to establish their own niche in the art scene or the art world. This has lead to some sort of specialization to be different from the rest. The world city like Hong Kong proved to be one market for art from different artists of various nationalities wherein each gallery specializes in works from, say, Vietnam or the Asia Pacific region.

Having made marketing art their business, art galleries are working hard to see to it that the products they sell will be beneficial to the existence and staying power of their business. Certainly galleries have bills to pay just like any business ventures... and to survive they of course have to select artists with good reputation and/or whose works have selling power.

It is good thing that some galleries teach young artists about business professionalism...and some inspire them to be innovative in their art-making. However, on the other hand, it is a bad practice if art galleries begin to teach artists what is saleable art or not. It's even worse if these galleries, caught in financial quagmire, dictate and persuade artists to do what is saleable or not. When these things happen the thing we popularly call "artistic creativity" will be replaced by "market or business creativity".

When money comes first in the mind of the artist his artistic talent will surely suffer. When market value comes first before the aesthetic value foolish things happen. Would-be gallery owners, who have neither experience nor knowledge about art and aesthetics, will force young talents to paint what is saleable like, say, the skyline of Singapore!!!

A true artist does not intend to worship money but of course money is needed for survival. But a wise artist will make use of all the possibilities his talent could offer to make money but at the same time to make good art. If the quest for what is respectable and beautiful is not hampered by the love for riches, then good art will continue to be born.

To support the birth of good art, artists should be humble enough to do "commercial art". This is justifiably in line with their craft and they will surely excel in it and earn from it handsomely. But for some galleries this is a no-no!!! You cannot paint portraits or paint flowers or landscapes and seascapes if you are doing "serious art"..as if doing art other than this "art on a pedestal" is not serious at all.

Someone once said that anything that involves money is commercial. Therefore any kind of art being sold for a certain amount is commercial. Some galleries may look respectable because of their location and the capital involved...but their products could be ridiculously rubbish when speaking about really respectable art.

Some art galleries that we perceive as expensive might actually be selling even sterile art (ones that do not evolve at all) or expensive ( but deceptively fake) art. There was an article about this in South China Morning Post (in Hong Kong) several years ago that may have rocked the wealthy from their seats...reminding them about the thousands of dollars they have wasted on fake art from "reputable galleries" while their credibility is threatened.

So, my fellow artists, where are you going? Of course van Gogh and Gauguin also wanted money to survive just like us. But they continued doing the desires of their hearts and had been true to their calling. But of course, just like any idols, art must not be worshipped. Art is just a tool to convey something...maybe a vital message...to make life good and glorify the Sole Giver of this talent. For if art will only cause to ruin lives, then we better continue making money and forget about those things of beauty.

Pollock reached the apex of fame...but why was he not happy? There is more to life than just fame and fortune in art. There's life itself that needs to be lived according to the will of the Supreme Creator.

Come to think of it...what is art for after all? And if you ask about direction... let's stop emulating the mistakes that the masters of old have committed. Let's stop reproducing old master's work because doing so gives one a feeling as if ideas in art has come to an end. Let's rather encourage originality, innovation and new ideas because all these add credibility to an artwork's high value and not those with dubious outward packaging but lacking in substance and integrity.

When artists nurture their art seriously they will be protecting the art galleries and their art collectors as well. To some artists this is no problem but for those who are financially struggling the closure of art an art gallery representing them is a big blow to their future.

To me artists must stand firm and confident and be ready to move alone to discover new possibilities for their career, with or without art galleries. When a partner art gallery cease to exist this is by no means an end to an artist's career. Artists should therefore concentrate in making good art, at their own pace, and not by the dictates of the market because for any good art produced a corresponding buyer or art collector is waiting to get the right value for his/her money.

Although art galleries work to represent and package artists, this partnership could sometimes become a restricting box designed to suit and please an art market which, in fact, still needs to be educated for newer, more innovative and original works of art to replace old, monotonous styles.