Battlte Standards

21 x 34" Cotton fabric, acrylic paint, marker Appliqued, stamped, stenciled. Machine quilted.
"Cry 'havoc'! And let slip the dogs of war."

The greyhounds are trotting off to Iran with their kalashnikovs, since there were no WMDs in Iraq.. Dogs are loyal but they are still hunters deep in their wild hearts.

The colors and design are based on the U.S., Iraqi and Iranian flags. There are echos of red state - blue state symbolism there as well.

Text over Iran: Allahu Akbar (God is Great) (appears in Arabic on Iran and Iraq's flags)
Text over U.S.: Bush is Great
Text everywhere else: God Help Us

My apologies to Alaska and Hawaii for not including them in the map.

Details

Battle Standards - detail

Battle Standards - detail

Battle Standards - detail

    O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
    That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
    Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
    That ever lived in the tide of times.
    Woe to the hand that shed this costly blood!
    Over thy wounds now do I prophesy,
    --- Which, like dumb mouths, do ope their ruby lips,
    To beg the voice and utterance of my tongue ---
    A curse shall light upon the limbs of men;
    Domestic fury and fierce civil strife
    Shall cumber all the parts of Italy;
    Blood and destruction shall be so in use
    And dreadful objects so familiar
    That mothers shall but smile when they behold
    Their infants quarter'd with the hands of war;
    All pity choked with custom of fell deeds:
    And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
    With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
    Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
    Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
    That this foul deed shall smell above the earth
    With carrion men, groaning for burial.
    
-- William Shakespeare from 'Julius Caesar'

previous quilt in series next