Last summer,  I had the opportune time not just to visit my bestfriend in the East Coast, my brother in the West Coast, but also more of nature and art where all have brought me ruminations and felicity.

Starting off in April, I went to marvel at the "Spoliarium'", housed at he National Museum of Fine Arts in Manila, it won gold medal at an art exposition in Europe in 1884.  Painted by Filipino artist Juan Luna on a canvass of enormous size, it depicts a horrendous scene from Rome of fallen gladiators being pulled to their final destination at the Colosseum.  It was one masterpiece that ignited the revolution in my country towards the end of the 19th century.  Pen is not just the only one mightier than a sword, so is a paint brush!

Bryant Park in New York gave me an emotional shot of sunset, setting down behind skyscrapers and of people having a good time.  I knew I would soon leave the place and my friend whom I had seen again after more than twenty years.  Like everyone else around us, we had the moment just like we used to, walking, laughing and talking.  We painted the town red too, though not as reddish as the sunset anymore.

Henri Matisse's "The Red Studio" at the Museum of Modern Art  in New York and "The Joy of Life"  at the MoMA in San Francisco were paintings different from the aesthetics of the Renaissance and Classical Arts.  Yet the excitement of his painting comes from his colors and strokes that can feed illusion and imagination.  I couldn't comprehend the childlike execution yet seeing past the form, it gives me a different perspective in appreciating art.  It was enlightening to see both upclose,

Seeing beautiful creations, among them these two, so cute and funny completed my vacation last July.