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Traditional Art

The traditional arts of basketry, pottery, textiles, weaving, and woodworking are demonstrated. 
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Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Making a Duck Decoy 6

Video

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Making a Duck Decoy
Episode 6
Decoy makers use field guides, photographs, and duck mounts as references for painting their decoys. Tom mixes ordinary house paints to achieve the unique colors of many species of waterfowl. After...
Land - Penn Center | A Natural State
   - Episode 12 Process of Making Batik 2

Video

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Process of Making Batik
Episode 2
Arianne uses the batik process of fabric design, a traditional art she mastered while living with the Yoruba culture of Nigeria. Batik uses wax and layers of color to create vibrant images on textiles...
Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Eastern White Cedar | A Natural State  9

Video

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Eastern White Cedar | A Natural State
Episode 9
Decoy wood needs to be light and resistant toward water and waterborne, termite-like insects that bore into wood. Atlantic white cedar is an excellent variety of such wood, but the tree’s population...
Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Making a Duck Decoy 3

Video

Grades

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Making a Duck Decoy
Episode 3
Ducks use their tails to signal whether they are at rest or in danger. Tom carves the tail so that it feathers slightly upward, a sign that the duck is at ease with its surroundings. The process uses...
Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Making a Duck Decoy 4

Video

Grades

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Making a Duck Decoy
Episode 4
To float properly, the body of the duck must be hollowed out with a hand drill and chisel. Buoyancy and stability are achieved by combining a hollow interior with lead weights applied to the underside...
Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Spotlight 1

Video

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Spotlight
Episode 1
The ability to work with wood was an asset on rural farms where lifestyles required self-sufficiency and living off the land was common. As a boy, Tom carved his toys - small boats that he floated...
Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Tom Boozer's Tool Box | A Natural State 7

Video

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Tom Boozer's Tool Box | A Natural State
Episode 7
Tom's toolbox is a museum of traditional woodworking implements. It contains a 150-year-old drawknife, a hatchet, his father's wood rasp, his grandfather's brace and bit, a mallet of resilient...
Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Making a Duck Decoy 2

Video

Grades

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Making a Duck Decoy
Episode 2
Tom uses keen eyes and a drawknife to carve the slope of a duck's back from the natural curve along a block of white cedar. The basic forms of a tail and the base of the neck are revealed during body...
Making a Duck Decoy - Step 4 | A Natural State
   - Episode 5 Carving 8

Video

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Carving
Episode 8
No carving tool keeps an edge without occasional sharpening on a stone. Farmers and woodworkers brought hand-powered grinding wheels to the Americas during the 16th century. Many artisans and farmers...
Land - Live Oak | A Natural State
   - Episode 10 Culture 6

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Culture
Episode 6
Adesola Falade processes indigo and designs fabrics for Arienne’s studio and boutique, the Ibile Indigo House. Ibile (pronounced E-be-lae) is a West African word meaning, "those who are messengers...