The rocky Blue Ridge of upstate South Carolina is the smallest landform region in the state. The area's high hills and low mountains (highest is 3,560-foot Sassafras Mountain) are home to the Cherokee people, once the largest group of Native Americans in the southeast. Traditions and customs of the Cherokee, and Scots Irish settlers who arrived in the 17th century, pervade the cultural landscape of the Blue Ridge. The area is home to the most diverse community of animals and plants in the state, and is popular among hikers, naturalists, hunters, and anglers. Fast moving, whitewater rivers of the Blue Ridge are a playground for canoeists and kayakers.
Meet artists from the Blue Ridge area of South Carolina below. Please note many of the web videos include transcripts. The artists are trained professionals who often use tools not considered safe for inexperienced users. Please review the safety disclaimer.
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Ernie Denny's vision of a nature-based sculpture program was inspired by a dream about children playing inside a giant bronze flower. The program's "gallery" would be nestled amid rolling hills of the...
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Like snowflakes, no two coiled kudzu baskets are alike. The basket is complete when the maker is pleased with its size and shape. In this optional step, Nancy shows how to add a handle to a finished...
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The nature-based art form blends natural materials, manmade construction and landscape into mysterious expressions of our relationship to the earth. The Serpent Mound in Ohio attributed to the Adena...
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Several art forms and concepts are experienced through the nature-based sculpture program: Experiential: "Allowing the viewer to experience the sculpture by entering its space allows the viewer to...
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Folklore is often the inspiration for Nancy's weavings and paper collages. Stories of "Uktena, the Great Snake" have been passed down through numberless generations of Cherokee people. Using a basket...
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Nancy travels from her home in the Upstate to Sandhills State Park in Patrick to collect needles for her baskets. Dried needles are plentiful due to controlled burning of the park's long leaf pine...
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Artworks in the nature-based sculpture program are categorized as "ephemeral" and "extended ephemeral." Ephemeral work has a relatively short life span. Works like Patrick Daugherty's Sittin' Pretty...
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An old saying goes, "If you’re going to plant kudzu, drop it and run." The vine grows up to a foot a day during summer months and chokes the southeastern landscape with a dense, green mat of foliage...
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Kudzu's aggressive growth and status as an unwanted plant creates an abundance of materials for resourceful artists and crafters. Nancy uses the vine in baskets, paper, jams, jellies, teas, and most...
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Nancy Basket processes Kudzu fibers to make pulp paper for her distinctive art. Please note that Nancy is a trained professional, who uses equipment or procedures that would not be considered safe...
