Mary McCarthy

Wilcox County

Quilter

“Whenever life’s annoying necessities are not bearing down on me and wherever there is space” is, according to Mary, where her creative processes begin. She is “attracted to materials of one kind or another”, and said she lets her quilts “grow from that initial attraction”.

The quilt making process was instilled in Mary by her mother and grandmother who were quilters and crocheters. She studied printmaking and sculpture at the University of Georgia, but admitted that what she learned there was “reconfigured” after spending time with quilters Mary Jane Pettway, Mary Lee Bendolph and other quilters in Gee’s Bend.

Mary’s work consists of paper, yarn and fabric from clothing and thrift store items. Time spent on creating her work is not considered, but range from “two hours…some two years” she admits.

Living in the Black Belt and being “deeply influenced by the work of the quilters of Gee’s Bend…and the quiet scenic landscapes” have furthered her “feeling of accomplishment and the feeling that another person might be comforted by something I’ve made.”