A Natural State explores how people express a love for nature by shaping, twisting, carving, and weaving materials collected from the landscape. Some of the arts and crafts featured in A Natural State reveal the cultural heritage of South Carolina, while others employ concepts from the world of modern art. For more about this project, visit the credits page.
TO GET STARTED: Click on a landform region below to learn more about these artists and how they use the uniqueness of their environment to enhance their artistic vision. To learn more about each landform region, visit the Where Am I? section.
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"Green" pots are those that have dried naturally by sun and air circulation, but have yet to be fired. A sunny, windless day is the ideal setting for the day of a firing. Before firing, green pots are...
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Securing Weaving. In this step, Peter secures the finished weaving with a simple knot. The rough, unwoven parts of the broom straw base are cut off using a bread knife.
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Hundreds, possibly thousands, of years of weathering and erosion rendered the Hagood Mill site petroglyphs invisible to the naked eye. Amateur archaeologist Mike Bramlett discovered several of the...
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After the body is hollowed, Tom attaches the carved head of the duck. Tom takes care to attach the head at an angle that appears natural and in keeping with the attitude of the body. After the head is...
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Crucible was one of the first installations in Clemson University's Nature-Based Sculpture Program. After ten years of exposure to rain, snow and pedestrian interaction, Herb Parker began a project of...
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Arianne finishes her piece with her "signature," an application of indigo dye that creates the blacks and deep blues of her work. A finished batik is rich with patterns, dark and light colors, and...
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Wood Song Canoes, Phil's business, gets its name from the feeling he gets as he quietly glides through the water in a well made wooden boat. We visited Phil and his son as they "baptized" a new boat...
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Jimmie’s life is abundant with memories. Weaving the past into the present is a way of solidifying and unifying both. While he is an untrained artist, Jimmie understands and appreciates the very...
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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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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...
