Categories
art

Afghan Wedding

In the distant days of 2011 when President Obama was ‘surging’ on Afghanistan, continuing the US invasion and occupation, there was yet another drone strike on a celebration gathering and the usual denial/excuses were dribbled into those few sections of the corporate media who were slightly interested in the fate of ‘natives’. The US military refers to those places it invades as ‘Indian Territory’ and any opposition – real or imagined – as ‘hostiles’, the same terms in use when the native peoples in the Americas were being destroyed by Europeans mainly originating from Britain. It frequently names its weapons and procedures using First Nation names, e.g. Apache ground attack helicopters. I’m reminded that the current mass slaughter of Arabs by the western proxy state apartheid israel is just the latest round killing, destruction and impoverishment of much of West Asia by the USA and it’s allies such as the UK.

Anyway I was prompted to draw and then later work on those drawings, in textiles and other media such as the enamel piece on this blog.

I have a few textile versions in various stages of completion but never quite finished, the one I’m posting here had a wide border I didn’t like which I removed last year, now I am adding a blue border which will be embroidered.

Istalif Afghanistan pottery

There is a guide to Istalif pottery on the Jindhag Foundation site. I especially like the motifs used to decorate this fine handmade pottery so something loosely similar will be added to the blue border using black thread and free motion machine stitch

Afghan Wedding, 135 x 80 cm, quilted textile, 2024

I feel I’m finally completing this textile piece and can also now hopefully finish the other versions.

Categories
textiles

Afghan Boy print

This little fabric print was made with a simple stencil, I made lots but didn’t use them. Came across it this morning and thought I would add a border. The impression of a face was entirely accidental.

Afghan Boy, fabric print, 19 x 8 cm, 2018

Categories
quilt

Quilt

It’s not unusual for me to take the scissors to a fabric work in progress but I rarely hack away half in one go.  But sometimes it just has to be done.  Anyone who has ever made anything knows the feeling – it’s just not working – but a frequent sin is to fall in love with ones own work, or perhaps just not be able to see where it’s going wrong.  I suppose that’s what editors are for.

 

Afghan Wedding quilt, work in progress