Tuesday, July 31, 2007

TWO LANDSCAPES, TWO CHILDHOODS







When I was young I had the luxury and freedom to walk or run around our yard and our neighbors' yard, climb trees and play with my siblings and friends.

In our province the surrounding farms and marshlands offer marvelous landscapes that blend with the horizon in the morning or afternoon sun. These memories of childhood days when we have all those energies of youth are gone with it all those wonderful natural landscapes and its ecosystem, complete with insects, toads and mushrooms, are fast vanishing or completely a thing of the past.

Nowadays as globalization and materialism, enhanced and sped-up by the digital age, spread to the far reaches of remaining farmlands the seemingly inevitable urban expansion threatens to change landscapes from natural to manmade. And as shopping malls and airports sprouted all around the country like mushrooms those wonderful natural habitats are fast disappearing.

It is said that as we grow older we will eventually experience our second childhood especially when we approach the time where we once again act in a childlike fashion...no wonder why there are diapers for adults available in our supermarkets now. When that time comes to my life a different landscape awaits me and all those memorable natural scenery of my childhood will, sadly, only be a mirage.

A look at this large painting from far distance will show the childhood image of a landscape I cherish. But slowly moving closer towards it will gradually reveal a different reality that my next childhood has to face. Inversely, as I try to distance myself from the powerful allure but empty promises of this fragile digital age and patiently approach my old age each and every day, I will be daydreaming about those magnificent landscapes of old long gone.

If God the Father Almighty wills it, it is my plan to go back and paint landscapes and seascapes again when I grow old. Alas! What inspiration is there left for me now? Well, maybe a good memory of those beautiful sceneries would help. (Joel E. Ferraris)

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