RUINS OF LONG AGO – THE MAYA - Acrylic Paintings by Mary Montague Sikes
Winds brush thick jungle leaves
In the mist rocky façades glow
The air sighs with sounds of the past
And ancient Mayan whispers blow.
When artist Mary Montague Sikes first saw the Mayan ruins at Palenque, the sight of gray stone structures rising in the mist held her in awe. In the jungle quiet her imagination ran wild. She walked as if caught up in a dream where ghostly shadows rise from dark corners. Even the rocks held strange images, and she recalls that sounds sighed like ancient voices crying from the sprawling, broken buildings. Mountains of heavy foliage reached out from the hiding places of the long-lost edifices now being uncovered and revealed.
Across a broad expanse of green grasses, the Temple of the Inscriptions rose as the focal point for visitors to the long-lost ruins. She could not resist the urge to record the amazing sight of this structure. Many other images beckoned her and demanded a painterly description of rocky broken ledges and ancient portals. These paintings became the beginning of her Maya Ruins series.
Exhibition is on view at Crossroads Art Center, 2016 Staples Mill Rd., Richmond, VA May 18 - July 10. WTVR Richmond TV show link: http://wtvr.com/2012/05/17/virginia-this-morning-mayan-ruins-of-long-ago/
“A Vision Beyond”
“Portal to a Temple”
“Temple of the Inscriptions”
