Arester Earl

Arester Earl (1892–1988) was an African American quilter. Her quilts incorporated appliquéd, stuffed charms, vibrant colors, and fabric crosses arranged in patterns reflecting African spirituality and folklore.[1]

Personal life

Arester Earl was born in Covington, Georgia, the daughter of a preacher/farmer who owned a farm of over 1,000 acres. She picked up the art of quilt making from her stepmother and older sisters.

Robert Earl, Arester's husband died September 1937.[2] She only returned to quilting in the 1970s after raising their five children.[3] Though a native of Covington, Earl lived some part of her life in Macon, Georgia.[4]

Earl died in 1988 in Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 96.[5]

Artistic style and works

Earl's signature quilting style included individually stuffed colorful fabric blocks joined together with long stitches, developed to accommodate her poor eyesight and paralysis on one side of her body. She quilted lying down in bed and is said to have remarked that quilting "means life to me."[3]

Earl's use of vibrant colors also set her quilts apart.[6] She reportedly favored bright colors because "they showed up better."[7] Her unique style has been described as "off-beat," "improvisatory,"[8] "uneven," and "haphazard."[9] The apparent imperfections of Earl's style highlights quilt making as a process.[10]

Into her quilts, Early often sewed small red squares, which may have functioned as protective charms. Textile scholar Maude Southwell Wahlman called this pattern of bright squares contrasted with duller large squares, a "mojo" quilt. Like the stuffed shells in Earl's "Shell" quilt, representing the powers of the underwater realm, these elements symbolized Kongo spiritual beliefs.[11][12] Earl confirmed that her use of the repeating cross motif echoed the Kongolese belief of the soul's return in the cycle of birth, life, and death and the common African-derived cosmogram patterns she encountered as a child.[6][13]

She disclosed that her "Red-and-White Dream" quilt was inspired by childhood memories that returned to her in dreams.[5][6] She reportedly dreamt of other patterns, too.[8]

Earl was included in Wahlman and Ella King Torrey's 1983 book Ten Afro-American Quilters: Featuring Mozell Benson, Arester Earl, Johanna Pettway, Martha Jane Pettway, Plummer Pettway, Susie Ponds, Pearlie Posey, Sarah Mary Taylor, Lucinda Toomer, Pecolia Warner.[14][15]

Ella King Torrey, president of the San Francisco Art Institute, owns one of Earl's most famous pieces, "Log Cabin." The quilt, which hangs in her dining room, is part of the Torrey Quilt Collection.[16]

References
  1. Arnett, Paul (2000). Souls Grown Deep: The Tree Gave the Dove a Leaf (Vol. 1). Tinwood Books. ISBN 978-0-9653766-0-0.
  2. Jones. (September 5, 1937). "COLORED." The Atlanta Constitution (1881-1945) Retrieved from ProQuest.
  3. "Collections Object: Squares and Bows Quilt". Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  4. "The Outsiders Wesleyan Series Shines Spotlight on Folk and Vernacular Artists." (March 20, 1998). The Macon Telegraph, p. 12. Available from NewsBank.
  5. Copelon, Dianne (February 23, 1996). "Exhibit Shows Quilts as Visual Jazz, Gospel". Orlando Sentinel.
  6. Bennett, Lennie (January 31, 2005). "Patterns of Improvisation". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  7. Thompson, F. M. (October 29, 2006). "Quilting Exhibit Tells Tale of African Heritage: Quilts Made by Southern Black Craftswomen are on Display at the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. Retrieved from ProQuest.
  8. Ferris, W. R. (ed.). (1983). Afro-American Folk Art and Crafts. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-60473-391-4.
  9. Bembnister, Theresa (February 27, 2003). "In the Black". The Pitch. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  10. Laura Stewart, S.,art critic. (February 6, 1988). "Masked Enigmas, Jazzy Stitches Hark Back to their African Roots: [3 Star Edition]." Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved from ProQuest.
  11. Benson, L. (2001). "How Houngans Use the Light from Distant Stars". Journal of Haitian Studies, 106–135.
  12. Russell, Charles (2001). Self-Taught Art: The Culture and Aesthetics of American Vernacular Art. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-57806-380-2.
  13. Stevens Jr, P. (1986). "Marketing Folk Art". New York Folklore, 12, n1-2.
  14. "Ten Afro-American Quilters: Featuring Mozell Benson, Arester Earl, Johanna Pettway, Martha Jane Pettway, Plummer Pettway, Susie Ponds, Pearlie Posey, Sarah Mary Taylor, Lucinda Toomer, Pecolia Warner / by Maude Southwell Wahlman and Ella King Torrey". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
  15. Wahlman, M., & Torrey, E. K. (1983). Ten Afro-American Quilters: Featuring Mozell Benson, Arester Earl, Johanna Pettway, Martha Jane Pettway, Plummer Pettway, Susie Ponds, Pearlie Posey, Sarah Mary Taylor, Lucinda Toomer, Pecolia Warner:[an exhibition]. Center for the Study of Southern Culture, the University of Mississippi.
  16. Serrell, Allison (December 19, 2001). "Ella King Torrey / Art Institute president's collections have a story to tell". SFGate. Retrieved 2020-08-08.
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