Snapshot In Time: In September 1978, when the woodblock print ESPERANZA was being created by Carol Summers, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona was officially recognized by the U.S. government. Key to the event was the request that Yaquis be allowed to cross the border from Esperanza, Mexico and other Yaqui settlements to attend ceremonies on the newly created reservation in Arizona.

Art Smart Fact: In ESPERANZA, Summers has masterfully used Symmetrical Balance to give the viewer a sense of stability in this complex modern art landscape. Symmetrical balance is achieved when opposite sides of a work of art are balanced by similar elements. You will find symmetrical balance is used most often in works of art that feature portraits or architecture, however, it is noteworthy that Carol Summers frequently uses it in his woodblock printing in landscape compositions.

About The Art: The name of this Hispanic artwork, Esperanza, means hope in Spanish. It is also the name of a small town in Mexico near the Yaqui River, the largest in the desert state of Sonora, Mexico and just south of the Arizona border. Along the river (depicted here in the center of the woodcut print ESPERANZA) are hills and ponds of irrigated lowlands where wheat, corn, rice and fruit are grown. The river flows through this part of the desert to the Gulf of California. During the summer the heated sunsets in the area fill the sky with a warm pink, a common theme in art Mexican. Esperanza is a peaceful, beautiful town with much of its history coming from the indigenous Yaqui Indians.

All of the colors used in the woodcut print ESPERANZA were originally invented by the local Yaqui people using age-old plant dye recipes. In his woodblock prints Summers has been aware of the colors available to convey art Latino style or those in Mexican folk art for a number of years. His wife Joan was a recognized weaver with a good working knowledge about these and other art Mexico textiles and dyes.

Note: With the purchase of any of the original Carol Summers woodcut prints from Peggity's you receive free a four-color, 48-page Catalog Raisonne; and a four color, 64-page 50-Year Retrospective Exhibition Catalog (including a color woodcut frontispiece); and the museum poster ROLLING SEA.....all personally signed by Carol Summers. Each of these items can also be acquired separately at Peggity’s.