North Adams, Massachusetts
Member for 15 years
Cup of Gold
Pochoir, letterpress printed from wood type and polymer plates on Crane's Lettra, monotype on Rives BFK, folio made of St. Armand paper.
22.2 x 14.6 x .6 cm
Completed in 2020
For Sale - $350
What inspired you to create this work or select this text for your submission?
I saw my first California Poppies during a two-week stay at In Cahoots Residency in Petaluma, California in the spring of 2019. With horses neighing nearby, I crouched down to study the poppies, sketching them as light hit their petals. I was awestruck by their color, which also happened to be the color painted on the door of my cottage at the residency. Thumbing through old books in a Petaluma antique store, I learned of the flower's historical significance to the regional indigenous people - Coastanoan, Coast Miwok, Luiseno, Cahuilla, and Pomo - as a medicinal aid. It is in looking back that we often learn the best way forward.
Valerie Carrigan works out of her studio in a historic mill in western Massachusetts where she produces drawings, paintings, prints and artist books, exploring the intersection of the natural world and the human spirit. She is currently a Visiting Artist and Lecturer at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, where she teaches Drawing, Design and Studies of the Book. See more of Valerie’s work here.