Extreme Needleturn, Part 2

"Extreme" seems to be the word of the day. Yet, sometimes things work out the way they should. Fortunately, my garden took center stage last week, even though it was gasping, because Friday night a hail storm that lasted at least 20 minutes with hurricane-force winds beat it up. Every tree is moping, especially the fig trees that usually sport gloriously huge leaves, which are now shredded. The citrus crop, which begins to ripen at the end of October, is mostly on the ground. It was in the high 80°s, low 90°s during the day and here’s what we found outside the kitchen door after the storm in the evening: 

The hail measured about an inch across (2-3 cm). Several inches piled up like drifts of snow.

The foot looks chilly--it might need a sock!

Just another example of the extreme forms of weather facing humanity. Guess we better get used to it.

On a more cheerful note and with cheerful colors, I turn to my favorite subject of needleturn appliqué. Many years ago, I tested out some easy ins-and-outs in "Etudes" (Studies), seen here, and then played with more complex improvisations. Improvisation I  (Jan. 1992, 31” x 30”/77cmx79cm), which you might recognize as the side frame of my blog, suggested the possibilities of complicated structures that resemble mazes, although it is machine appliqué and not needleturn.

It was made from the small scraps of a bigger project.

The following piece, Improvisation II: Où sont les tigres? Où sont les Hommes? (Where are the Tigers? Where are the Men? March 1993, 41.5"x36.5"/1m06x93cm) contains a few bits of tiger/zebra stripe fabric in the pieced background.

Tigers are an endangered species, and Men? Living in a country with a dictatorial regime led me to wonder how much people could take and what had happened to the Men who would stand up to its violence. The viewer can find the tiger fabric, but the Men?

And yet, this piece makes me very happy. My needleturn technique converged with subject matter and color taking me along a path to my own visual language. I'm glad to have had a reason to revisit it.
                  I end with a piece in the "early extreme" style--a study in forms.

Improvisation VI: Bonheur et bonne humeur (Happiness and Good Humor, June 2000, 44"x63") is a cheerful exploration of the possibilities of needleturn without a maze, just one color at a time. The background provides contrast thanks to its white layered, raw-edged cottons and uneven side edges.

However, the background now seems a bit empty. I'm tempted to come back to this piece to add stitching. The border, a commercial fabric, could use some, too. I think I'll add it to my l-o-n-g list of works-in-progress.