O.V. Brantley

Artist Statement

My quilt story begins in 1954 – the year I was born in Crossett, Arkansas, a small mill town of 6000 people, and the year the United States Supreme Court decided the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education, the case that made it the law of the land that schools could no longer be separate but equal. Although it took a few years for the ruling to trickle down to my life, that decision changed the trajectory of my life, and I always felt connected to it.

I attended a segregated school for the first 6 years of my education. I lived in what was colloquially called “colored town”. I sat in the balcony of the segregated movie theater, drank from colored water fountains, and picked up food from the back door of restaurants. I did not attend school with white children until I was in the 7th grade. Having been dealt such an unfair life hand, I learned early that there are many ways to handle adversity and that each person gets to choose. I chose joy.

By the time I taught myself to quilt in 1999, I was enjoying a high profile, albeit stressful legal job, as the County Attorney for Fulton County, GA. I had left Crossett, Arkansas and obtained degrees from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Vanderbilt University Law School. I found great peace and joy in patchwork as I used cloth to reflect my guiding stars – gratitude, joy, and excellence. I found my passion.

My quilts continue to reinforce the choices I made long ago. I chose to read. I chose to dream. I chose to be patient. I chose to be disciplined. I chose to be excellent and to live a life of simple abundance keeping my family and friends close.

I embrace both my life and my quilts with joy and gratitude, but mostly I am thrilled to share my quilts with others. I love to embed messages in my quilts that encourage a life of simple abundance lived with joy and gratitude. Sometimes the quilt itself is the message. Often words are embedded in my quilts to make the message clear.

My quilts contain themes from my African American heritage such as slavery and the Jim Crow South, but overall, my quilts capture a life of simple abundance lived with perseverance, resilience, and above all, joy, and gratitude. I hope my quilt audience will realize that the best things in life are not always quick. Take a deep breath and enjoy the journey.


With joy and gratitude,
O.V. Brantley