This week we continue with the Healing & the Feminine Archetype theme. This lesson was taught by
Alena Hennessy who showed us how to paint a muse!
Alena talked about the different goddesses and what they represent.
I chose again to go back to my roots and explore the Aztec goddesses.
I chose the goddess Chicomecoatl. (chico meh, co atl)
Her themes are fire, providence, energy, community, abundance, fertility and strength.
Her symbols are hot spices (especially chili peppers), corn and fire. In Mexico the goddess presides over maize and all matters of plenty during the time of harvest. She is also the earth goddess and provides warmth, energy and fertility to those in need.
I chose her because she represents abundance and strength and because I love corn tortillas and chili peppers.
According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art : “the headdress is known as amacalli(“paper house”); it is the most typical attribute of the corn goddess.”
One aspect of the Aztec gods and goddesses were their insatiable thirst for blood. I will spare you the details of how she was commemorated every September.
She comes in various appearances: a girl with water flowers. She is regarded as the female counterpart of the maize god Cinteotl, their symbol being an ear of corn.
I really enjoyed drawing and painting this girl. I used watercolor paper, Pitt markers, india ink, and acrylic paints, and color sprays. I might have taken too long and not be too intuitive, but I wanted to include all the symbols she represents.
The title – Chicomecoatl goddess of Maize and Strength
Corn,
Chilies,
Strength and Abundance
Her sweet face 🙂
That is it for now, friends, posting this goddess made me hungry for tacos! LOL
Keep having fun and thanks for coming to visit!
Carmen
It has come to my attention that the image I used to create “Chicomecoatl goddess of Maize,” was actually posted on a blog without the original artist’s permission. I publicly apologize for this omission, but just as I explained to the artist, Oesparza12, (sorry, she didn’t leave her full name on her comment on this post) I used Google’s search engine and it took me to the blog where this art was posted.
Visionary Art by Carmen Alicia 