The Quetzal

(written in third person)

The quetzal often appears in Pedro Ramirez' pottery, the bird represents the artists travels to Guatemala, the country where the bird is an important symbol and where it actually resides.  Pedro is very fond of Guatemala and loves to visit, but the bird has multiple meanings aside from Guatemala.  The bird is a current event, something new amongst all of the visual depictions of what is otherwise a composition based on outdated and romanticized childhood memories.  The bird also symbolizes freedom, the actual tropical birds can be difficult to maintain in captivity and rarely breed, making them iconic to total liberty.  The presence of the bird is a visual signature of the artist, and opens up dialogue about something personal in the life of the artist.