Video
Flattening. Brooms come in round and flat shapes. For our camera, Peter chose to create a flat , sweeping end that is more typical of a modern broom. Peter flattens the broom by jumping on it. A vice...Piedmont | A Natural State
The mountainous upstate transitions into the gentle, rolling hills of the Piedmont as one travels closer toward the coast of South Carolina. Piedmont farmers of the 18th and 19th centuries laid the foundation of the state's cotton farming economy, while devastating the area's thickly forested terrain in the process. Today, the Piedmont is home to one of the fastest growing economies and urban populations in the state, the Greenville-Spartanburg area. Conservation efforts to protect rivers and wildlife widen as the growing impact of urban and suburban development change the landscape.
Meet artists from the Piedmont 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.
Within this Series
Video
Cutting the Broom. The final step in creating a broom is to straighten out the sweeping end with a pair of scissors, a step Peter calls "giving the broom a haircut."Video
Peter obtains many of his broom handles by collecting driftwood from rivers. Whitewater rivers of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge may yield rhododendron and dogwood, while the flat meandering rivers of...Video
The unique geology of the "Fall Line " forms rocky, whitewater rapids typical of the Blue Ridge on the Saluda River near Columbia, South Carolina. Much of the land along this section of river is...Video
Artifacts are manmade objects, sometimes referred to as material remains, that are recovered during the excavation process. Pot shards, intact pots, rubbing stones and arrowheads are examples of...Video
The bean pot is a traditional form that resurfaced in the Catawba potter’s repertoire in the early 1990s. Master potters used an image from an anthropological record of the early 1900s to guide their...Video
Peter is a physical education professor at the University of South Carolina, where he teaches canoeing and kayaking as a healthy pursuit and a fun way to enjoy nature. In this video, we take a trip to...Video
One theory suggests that the traditional American broom has its origins in Benjamin Franklin's beaver skin hat. In the late 1700s, Franklin received a whiskbroom from France, purchased by a friend who...