Paintings, Drawings & Sculptures
Artwork by Savanna. Inspired by Rainforest & the Caribbean Sea.
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Mundo Maya Belize
Original map 14”x20”created with a crow quill pen & India ink on rag paper
Mundo Maya Belize (world of the Maya - Belize)Map
Available in custom sizes as a kiln fired tile mural or a Giclee print or archival paper or canvas. Custom framing available.
Antique style chart, I created showing the mainland of Belize and the locations of the Maya ruins. Bordering the map are Mayan glyphs and animals found in the rainforest of Central America.
Originally started as a companion map to the Ambergris Caye Chart, it soon took off with an energy all of its own - as my projects often do.
I simply wanted to know the meaning of a few glyphs to include as markers for the many Maya Ruins scattered across Belize - that are partially excavated and open to the public.
That led me to Herman Smith, an Archaeologist living and working in the country. Herman loaned me reference books and soon I was so hooked on the artwork and hieroglyphs of the Maya people - that I thought I’d never finish the map. It was the beginning of a life long hobby that like many things - the more I learn the more I realize that there is so much more to learn…
For fun if you are interested - to catch you up on a few of the glyph's meanings that I've included; the hieroglyph by the Keel Billed Toucan is a combination of earth (bottom cartouche) and new growth, spring or new start - on the top half, loosely translating into fresh new earth, or new beginning for the earth or renewal, depending on the context. The strange animal hanging from his tail, in the center, is Xul. The god of thunder and lightening, he is a Jaguar, always a symbol of great power for the Maya. He is hanging from a sky band representing night and the heavens, (I love this guy, later he was recreated into a painting on silk - to stand alone as art on his own right, about 2000 years after the original artist painted him). Several others also represent the jaguar, in different context, from pictograph (image representing a word or idea) to hieroglyph (representing words or sounds). The half dark, half light, almost floral glyph (center lower left)is a symbol for eclipse. The god of the North in on the compass, the center is the sun glyph (though the compass itself is mine not Mayan - a stretch of my artistic license). More gods and animal glyphs pepper the map… you can see why having to know names can be a detriment at times… the research can take me way off course. A modern example of the pictograph is our no smoking sign… in 2000 years will anyone understand what that stick with the curlicue above it and the circle with a bar through it means? In addition to studying glyphs, I was sitting in the jungle or at the Belize zoo drawing animals that I wanted on the map. This map was a true labor of love…
Available in custom sizes as a kiln fired tile mural or a Giclee print or archival paper or canvas. Custom framing available.
Antique style chart, I created showing the mainland of Belize and the locations of the Maya ruins. Bordering the map are Mayan glyphs and animals found in the rainforest of Central America.
Originally started as a companion map to the Ambergris Caye Chart, it soon took off with an energy all of its own - as my projects often do.
I simply wanted to know the meaning of a few glyphs to include as markers for the many Maya Ruins scattered across Belize - that are partially excavated and open to the public.
That led me to Herman Smith, an Archaeologist living and working in the country. Herman loaned me reference books and soon I was so hooked on the artwork and hieroglyphs of the Maya people - that I thought I’d never finish the map. It was the beginning of a life long hobby that like many things - the more I learn the more I realize that there is so much more to learn…
For fun if you are interested - to catch you up on a few of the glyph's meanings that I've included; the hieroglyph by the Keel Billed Toucan is a combination of earth (bottom cartouche) and new growth, spring or new start - on the top half, loosely translating into fresh new earth, or new beginning for the earth or renewal, depending on the context. The strange animal hanging from his tail, in the center, is Xul. The god of thunder and lightening, he is a Jaguar, always a symbol of great power for the Maya. He is hanging from a sky band representing night and the heavens, (I love this guy, later he was recreated into a painting on silk - to stand alone as art on his own right, about 2000 years after the original artist painted him). Several others also represent the jaguar, in different context, from pictograph (image representing a word or idea) to hieroglyph (representing words or sounds). The half dark, half light, almost floral glyph (center lower left)is a symbol for eclipse. The god of the North in on the compass, the center is the sun glyph (though the compass itself is mine not Mayan - a stretch of my artistic license). More gods and animal glyphs pepper the map… you can see why having to know names can be a detriment at times… the research can take me way off course. A modern example of the pictograph is our no smoking sign… in 2000 years will anyone understand what that stick with the curlicue above it and the circle with a bar through it means? In addition to studying glyphs, I was sitting in the jungle or at the Belize zoo drawing animals that I wanted on the map. This map was a true labor of love…