"Quetzalcoatl Shield"

Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, is one of the oldest and most beloved deities of ancient Mesoamerica. His name joins the quetzal bird of the heavens with the serpent of the earth, and in him sky and ground become one. He is the breath of wind, the bringer of learning, of the calendar, of the arts, a god of creation and of gentle wisdom. For me, creating Quetzalcoatl was a way of honoring that union of spirit and matter, the divine descending into form and the earthly rising to meet it. He reminds us that we, too, carry both the serpent and the wings. This image was originally created as a hand-pulled silk-screen serigraph in the late 1980s. The original edition is no longer available, and it is now offered as a fine art print reproduction.