MANILA, Philippines - Driftwood, old wood, stone and clay, fallen butterflies and birds’ nests, grass and fern, dried leaves and flowers, branches of fallen trees, discarded household fixtures and found objects.

They reincarnate as one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture or art pieces in mixed media of fired clay, paint, wood, metal, and other materials. They remind us of their previous lives while serving notice about their transformation into something new and different.

These are the pieces to behold at “Tira-tirahan,” the one-woman nature-art exhibit of Emma Alday― farmer, environmentalist, slow food advocate and former nun. The exhibit, which opens on Oct. 25, hopes to convey the message that leftovers or remnants (tirá-tirá) of old and new objects can be reused and recycled into art pieces.

But while tirá-tirá means leftovers, tirá-tirahan could mean a humble dwelling place―for the nonce, for tomorrow or forever. For the artist, it could also mean a work of love and concern.

“Tira-tirahan,” the art exhibit, hopes to raise funds for the environment protection program of Susi Foundation, which has been helping farmers’ cooperatives in Luzon for more than 20 years. Proceeds from the artworks will also support Susi’s Slow Food and Natural Farming Center in Tiaong, Quezon, which trains farmers and people interested in natural methods of growing plants and raising livestock.

Susi Foundation is run by Alday and fellow-former nun, Felma (Isyang) Lagahit. The two women have been written about, awarded and cited a number of times for the work they do. Both can rest easy on the fruits of their labor of some 30 years, but with nature throwing tantrums and causing lives to go haywire, they find no reason to stop and just smell the flowers. There’s work to be done.

The exhibit can be viewed at Casa Rap, a garden-restaurant on Km. 90 in San Jose, Batangas just two hours away from Makati. The name Casa Rap is a play on the Batangas-accented exclamation of delight, “Kasarap!” Owned and run by Alday and her sister Sonia, the place is a lush natural haven that serves slow food, farm food, home-cooked dishes and nature’s drinks for those weary of the city. In Casa Rap one can literally eat the flowers.

As in her previous exhibits, Emma uses rugged items in their original state and embellishes them with handcrafted stuff. She combines wood with clay figures of women at work, women breastfeeding their infants, humans and animals at the birth of Jesus. She also has acrylic paintings with real butterflies, leaves and flowers. There are old bottles made new, an aquarium made from a discarded windshield.

Several exhibits ago Emma pulled all the stops with her huge water fountain installations that were meant to grace chapels, big homes and gardens. There are none of those this time. But there will be food items and condiments as well as herbs and ornamentals for sale.

Lucky for us in this throwaway world, there are still people like Alday who pick up the pieces for Mother Nature. •

“Tira-tirahan” at Casa Rap will run from Oct. 25 till the first week of November. From Manila, take the South Luzon Expressway then turn right at the Batangas/Quezon exit. Drive on till you reach the Star Tollway on the right. Enter, drive on and take the Lipa exit. Turn left toward San Jose. Watch out for the Km. 90 marker. You may call 09053213068.