Colored Girl Lawyer Rocks! documents my lawyer life in cloth. Somehow I managed to make it from my little segregated town of 6000 people to Vanderbilt Law School.
I chose to make the quilt mostly white because that is the world my professional life took me — mostly white. The scales of justice include the words “justice” and “peace”. The birds symbolize freedom and flight, and flowers remind me that maintaining femininity is important in a man’s world. Stars are sprinkled throughout the background because to be a star is to be excellent at your craft.
I added the word dream because when I decided to be a lawyer growing up in the segregated south, I had never seen a lawyer that looks like me. I could only dream and imagine. Now I have seen one and I like her. 🙂
Maxine Moore quilted the scales of justice, a gavel, and books into the background on her long arm machine. How cool is that! The charm near my signature says “money, success, happiness”. After all that is what it is all about.
There is a hanging sleeve on the back for easy display and a label (with smeared ink) that documents the quilt. I signed it on the front. This quilt is one-of-a kind.
Colored Girl Rocks! will make its public debut in my solo exhibit Long Time Coming: A Retrospective of O.V. Brantley's Red and White Quilts. The exhibit opens November 19, 2022 and runs through January 13, 2023 at the Emma Darnell Aviation Museum and Conference Center. I hope you can check it out.
