I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH THE MAYAB AND ITS REAMING FORCE SINCE THE FIRST DAY I SET MY FEET ON ITS ANCIENT GROUND.

We (not as in The Royal We, but as in my-companion-and-I we) were taking a trip to visit some friends and celebrate my birthday in the Riviera Maya.

It was a great time to visit, Tulum had neither become an epicenter of chaos and over branding, nor had it had its infamous attack of seaweed waves yet. It was summer, low season and, most importantly, quiet. Work and pleasure would take me to Yucatan many times again after that great first visit, but until this moment I had not explored beyond the Eastern shores.

LAST NOVEMBER I FOUND MYSELF PACKING UP FOR ANOTHER VISIT TO THE LAND OF ALUXES AND ITS VAST SHORT JUNGLE.

I would be working on art direction for a photoshoot taking place in Plantel Matilde, the equivalent of Superman's fortress of solitude that mexican artist Javier Marin built for himself, just a short trip out of Merida.

In the months previous to this trip, I had been putting all my time and efforts on a series of 4 paintings titled after the 4 elements: air, fire, water and earth.

Each one of these pieces represent the forces behind each element, and the place that each symbol holds when translated down to palpable life.

It didn't take me 2 minutes to realize that this opportunity would grant me the privilege of bringing my paintings along for the ride. I figured that these were the grounds where these pieces should be documented for my own creative files, and also to further the story behind them.