Xul – Maya Jaguar God of Thunder and Lightning

Xul – Maya Jaguar God of Thunder and Lightning
A silk painting inspired by ancient Maya mythology, depicting Xul, the powerful Jaguar God, hanging from a Celestial Sky Band hieroglyph that represents the heavens in darkness. To me, this piece captures the strength and mystery of the Maya worldview.
 
Some say Xul is a dog, but the Maya didn’t revere dogs; they did revere the jaguar, and one look at that face, and I had no doubts. This creature held the heavens literally in his grip — and had the power to shake the earth with his thunderous roar and bolts of lightning. I first saw him on a tattered mimeographed paper in a box of notes, a rough sketch by an archaeologist, with a typewriter-written theory and the words at the top underlined in a marker: XUL (sool) Jaguar God of Thunder and Lightning Hanging from a Celestial Sky Band.
 
This silk painting is my interpretation of a partial Maya hieroglyph that I fell in love with and created to evoke the feeling of a temple wall painting. It is based on years of studying Maya glyphs, gods, and the stories carved and painted on their walls — and the generosity of Dr. Herman Smith, PhD, archaeologist, Belize, who shared his reference materials and trusted my curiosity.
 
My first encounter with Xul came while working on my hand-drawn map of Belize, Mundo Maya — marking the locations of Maya ruins with hieroglyphs and gods. The more I learned, the deeper it pulled me into the Maya world, their art, and symbology. This Jaguar god pulled so hard that a map wasn’t large enough for his power; he needed to stand alone. He needed his portrait painted.
 
For many people reading online now, it is difficult to imagine a time when we didn’t google stuff. I had boxes of papers and books from a guy with a PhD on the subject — I didn’t doubt his wisdom. I find it sad that many papers and insights might not have been published, but if it wasn’t earth-shattering news, he was not the type to make a fuss about it.
 
I didn’t have a scanner, copy machine, or camera. I was living in a stick and thatch casita with a beautiful sea almond tree growing up through the mahogany plank floor and out the thatch roof, a stone’s throw from the sea. With chatty geckos as roommates (who were there first — and kept the casita blissfully bug-free), my cooler of art supplies, and inspiration at every turn. When I visited ruins, I drew in my sketchbooks in ink and watercolor: the ruins, the trees, orchids, and those royal views from the top of the temples of the canopy and beyond. When studying reference books and notes, I drew the glyphs I found interesting in those same sketchbooks. I was absorbing it all in a way that anchored it in my mind and continues to inspire me years later.
 
I’ve filled in the gaps in glyphs left by weathering, time, and damage from vandals, blending ancient symbolism with my own artistic intuition using the Serti technique on silk. I can take a rough sketch and run with it. This is art in the spirit of art, not an academic declaration.
 
When working on silk, everything has a say: the humidity, the silk, the mix of paints and resist, and I think the Maya gods watching over my shoulder must have a hand in it. While working on this piece, the resist "shadowed" — creating a faint line around it, an embossed effect, as if it were a carving in stone. It’s not something I can make happen on demand, and it added to the spirited wildness of working on silk. On the Jaguar’s fur, I used a rock salt technique to pool the dye and create spots; it is a process I’ve used often. How well it performs is again up to the humidity, silk, and the gods; it’s always a surprise, and I felt grateful that it all pulled together to create the Jaguar’s rosettes. The result is a fusion of past and present, a tribute to the Maya Gods that continue to inspire me.

Originally a 20”x26” silk painting.
 
Each giclée is hand signed. A certificate of authenticity — also signed — is mailed separately to arrive flat and undamaged.

Printed using a museum-quality archival process with pigmented inks on fine art paper or canvas — designed to retain color and detail for decades.

Rolled prints ship in reinforced protective tubes from my studio.

If you love the artwork but the fine art price isn't in the cards right now — no judgment, I've been there — art posters are available in the gift shop.