Arester Earl (1892–1988) was an African American

quilter Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. ...

. Her quilts incorporated appliquéd, stuffed charms, vibrant colors, and fabric crosses arranged in patterns reflecting African spirituality and folklore.

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. She only returned to quilting in the 1970s after raising their five children. Though a native of Covington, Earl lived some part of her life in

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia. Situated near the fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is located southeast of Atlanta and lies near the geographic center of the state of Geo ...

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

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." Earl's use of vibrant colors also set her quilts apart. She reportedly favored bright colors because "they showed up better." Her unique style has been described as "off-beat," "improvisatory,"Ferris, W. R. (ed.). (1983). ''Afro-American Folk Art and Crafts''. University Press of Mississippi. . "uneven," and "haphazard." The apparent imperfections of Earl's style highlights quilt making as a process. 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 Congo or The Congo may refer to either of two countries that border the Congo River in central Africa: * Democratic Republic of the Congo, the larger country to the southeast, capital Kinshasa, formerly known as Zaire, sometimes referred to a ...

spiritual beliefs. 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. She disclosed that her "Red-and-White Dream" quilt was inspired by childhood memories that returned to her in dreams. She reportedly dreamt of other patterns, too. 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 Sarah Mary Taylor (August 12, 1916 – 2000) was an African American quiltmaker from Mississippi whose work attracted interest in the 1970s. Life Sarah Mary Taylor was born on August 12, 1916 in Anding, Mississippi. She learned quilting from he ...

, Lucinda Toomer,

Pecolia Warner Pecolia Warner (March 9, 1901 – March 1983) was an American quiltmaker. Early life Pecolia Leola Deborah Jackson was born in a log house near Bentonia, Mississippi, and raised in Yazoo City, the ninth of eleven children. She learned to make qui ...

.'' Ella King Torrey, former president of the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

, owned one of Earl's most famous pieces, "Log Cabin." The quilt, which hangs in her dining room, is part of the

Torrey Quilt Collection The Ella King Torrey Collection of African American Quilts and other Recent Quilt Acquisitions is a collection of African American quilts that were procured from 1980 to 1983 by Ella King Torrey during her fieldwork with art historian Maude Southwel ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earl, Arester 1892 births 1988 deaths Artists from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American women artists American quilters American folk artists People from Covington, Georgia 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century American textile artists 20th-century African-American artists 20th-century American women artists