Press Exposure

The creation of Quetzalcoatl

The space is in a little Hotel in Amatlan, Morelos, Mexico… The legendary birthplace of Quetzalcoatl. This particular building is under construction, and will eventually be used for education purposes. Education on spirituality as a whole. From Hinduism to Christianity, Chakras to Mayan Meditation. Todo.

I so rarely write a statement to go with a painting, but my commissioner asked if I would please write a list of all the symbology included in the painting. Here is that list.

Quetzalcoatl

Quetzal- bird

Coatl- snake

Large snake/human eyes

Small inner bird eyes (quetzal, Horus, eagle, chicken)

Horus Eyes

Phoenix

Pyramid (6 steps representing original stone cut Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt)

Wadjet (cobra female deity, protector of Horus. Egypt)

Upper and lower triangles, meshing in center to create star tetrahedron

Christian Cross

Astrological Cross

Bird talons holding snake (Mexican flag)

Aztec and Mayan Calendar

Gears, representing father time (only reason for prayer, with only presence there is no need)

Quabalic tree of life

Chakras… all 7, and the return to the original flame at top.

Peyote flower (male)

Ahuasca vine (female)

Fibonacci, repeatedly

Sirius a and B

DNA

4 elements

Fire (in the wings)

Air (the wings)

Earth (the mountains)

Water (drops in the meditation hands, as well as flowing down the mountain)

Most importantly… the Bee and Bee hive, may we have its full attention.

Morelos

So I found my way to my destination, deep in the mountains of Morelos. It’s a holistic retreat focused on consciousness. Around every corner is mystery and enchantment. At moments I am overwhelmed by the attention and layering of details in this hotel boutique, but in actuality that is what I strive to create in every painting.  And that is precisely why I am here. To paint. The Aztecs had an enlightened figure the same as Jesus, Buddha, Horus, Krishna or Muhammad… It was Quetzalcoatl. They have asked me to come and paint an image based on geometry that represents the idea of Quetzalcoatl representing the same principles that all of the other Christ like figures represent… Unconditional love and enlightenment. The foundation will be based off an image of Horus, starting way back in about 3000 BC. I will be creating the image in the education area. Every week they bring in school children of every age to educate them on higher consciousness. I am quite impressed with the large steps Mexico is taking in educating the youth in spirituality. It is quite refreshing.

I will write more as the mural starts to unfold….

A Day in Mexico City

Once again I am called back to Mexico to paint in a mystical place. My destination is a holistic retreat in the state of Morelos, in a little town they believe is the birthplace of Quetzalcoatl. Before I am swept into that reality I landed in the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere, Mexico City, population 21 million. To refresh and further my education on the Aztec and Mayan history I made a quick stop at the Anthropology Museum. The image of the calendar is not the Mayan Calendar but the Aztec. They are often confused because of their circular nature, and very similar idea of combining solar and lunar equations. Both calendars have 13 twenty day cycles. But the Aztec is a bit more complex, having a 365 year made up of 18 months, each lasting 20 days. The months were divided into four five-day weeks.  The Mayan calendar was created around 3372 BC, while the Aztec calendar was created in 1400 AD. Some might go as far as to say the Aztec calendar was the next step in the Mesoamerican year calendar system from the Mayan. Meaning a calendar might not have ended, but continues on somewhere else. The Aztec Calendar does not end.

The photo of the beautiful cathedral in the Center of Mexico City is actually where the Aztec calendar once was on top of the main temple of the Aztec empires capital Tenochtitlan. The Spanish conqured the city in the mid 1500’s destroying all of their temples and placing their own structures on top. It wasn’t until the cathedral was having repair work done to it in 1790 that the stone calendar was discovered and uncovered.

Now I am off into the mountains to visit Quetzalcoatl’s birthplace… The last photo is the beautiful and quaint town of Tepotzlan, the town of magic.

South Austin’s Cathedral of Junk

The creation of a Snow Board Design.

While doing some work in NY I caught wind of an event called ‘Wicker Man’, where hundreds of people gather with fire dancers, drum circles and a 50 foot tall structure of a man that burns during the night. Sound strangely familiar? Maybe some of our ancient Celtic relatives have passed this tradition down. According to Caesar the Celts built a big wicker statue of a man that was used for human sacrifice of the community’s thieves and criminals.

This particular event had no human sacrifice, just lively people, food and beverage, music and dancing, and an archer with flaming arrows setting the wicker man on fire. Before they set Mr. Wicker on fire there was a small speech given about how we should release all the unneeded from this past year into the fire, and let it die with the falling leaves of the autumn season.

Upstate New York’s Wicker Man was created by Dr. Brian McCandless a MD of internal and nuclear medicine. When I asked him about how the party came into being, he said it was a celebration of the natural world and it’s seasonal changes, and he informed me that it was more closely related to the Gaelic Samhain festival then to old ideas of Wicker Man. Samhain was a cleansing festival at the time of harvest (late October to November). Brian’s idea was to write down all the ideas and events from the past year that are no longer needed and to place them in the wicker structure, releasing them as they burn. Of course this brought up questions of Burning Man and the Temple burn. Dr. McCandless has never been to Burning Man and actually did not even know of the Temple and its writings. (I would say 95% the attenders of Wicker man have never been to Burning man) He did say that of all the rumors he had heard of Burning Man, the trading idea was what he would most like to incorporate into his event.

Dr. Brian McCandless, in his spare time, is a brilliant builder and sculpture. (All of the sculptures included above are of his creation) The property where he throws Wicker Man is somewhat of a studio for him. Sometime after Wicker Man I returned to the property to get a good look around in the daylight. His eccentric barns, haunting sculptures, wheeled structures and wood stove hot tub all create a very surreal space for an art lover to truly admire. I am quite impressed with Brian’s hobbies and his humble attitude towards all of his creations. He told me that he lives a somewhat reserved doctor’s life that in return helps fund his creative interests.

Wicker Man can be compared to Burning Man in its musical and creative style, although I would say that the majority of its structure is based on much older ideas that traveled here from Europe. Better yet, I’d like to think it’s deeply seeded in our human nature to let Autumn move into our beings and give the unneeded and no longer desired a chance to Fall away. I, myself, did approach the festival with the intention of burning away a part of my character I felt I had no more room for. I haven’t seen that part of me since Wicker Man.

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