WIP- The Green Man is Quilted!

Well, it is not like me to stick to a project until it is finished, LOL! But I have been excited by the online workshop with Pamela Allen, and am really enjoying the pieces I have created in this class. So, here is the latest progress on The Green Man. I used black, dark green, sage green, shiny emerald green, and even Glow-in-the-Dark thread to define some woodsy motifs in this piece. Can you see the rather primitive frog on his forehead? There is also a lizard hidden in the foliage on the side.
But the unexpected surprise I think will be thought-provoking is the subtle text in the lower part of the quilt. After I do some shading with my inks, it will show up a little easier. Explanation:


The Green Man is such an interesting subject. I have been researching him on the Internet since choosing him as my subject for the two-color composition. There are many Websites devoted not only to Green Man as an architectural element, but also to his legend and lore. I have now requested one book from the library, and purchased another online. I was looking for some appropriate text to perhaps quilt into the piece, or use on the back or label. Choices abound, including works by Shelley and Shakespeare (whose Puck, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, is his incarnation of Green Man.) Some people think Robin Hood is also Green Man. But I was most taken with this quotation from William Anderson's book:


Our remote ancestors said to their mother earth: "We are yours."


Modern humanity has said to Nature: "You are mine."


The Green Man has returned as the living face of the whole earth so that through his mouth we may say to the universe: "We are one."


I have quilted the three phrases into the lower part of the quilt, almost as if they were carved into the trunk of a tree. I hope to finish this piece this weekend. I would like for him to be of an organic shape, perhaps with leaves extending over the edge. I have some fibers and other embellishments to play with, so we will see how he looks when he is finished.



And, notice, no pics showing off the back of this piece! I should have used a busy leafy print for the backing. Grendel the Gammill does not approve of using lots of different thread types, and there is an assortment of knots, "eyelashes", and other quilting judge "No-No's" on the back. I used a khaki colored hand-dye, which is the perfect shade to blend with all the greens and browns. Actually, it looks interesting, and I may end up painting the back to get another reversible quilt. Those thread glubs and pokies would make good tree bark!