Da da da da da da.

What we go.

We always find our way back.

We always find our way back home.

Welcome to Homegrown, where we highlight the people and stories that shaped the character of life here in Arkansas.

In this episode, we'll meet Arkansas makers who are redefining our state through their creativity and passion.

A photographer revolutionizing portraits in the Internet age.

We'll hear from an Arkansas collector and his closet full of country music history.

And finally, we'll visit an Arkansas transplant who took her self-expression to New York Fashion Week and beyond.

But we start in the hills of Mountain View, where a unique group of craftsmen are working to make what is old new again.

I think what makes our people tick here has somewhat to do with the kind of environment that we're in right now.

We live in a small community in the hills of Arkansas.

The old timers call it hardscrabble because people worked really hard just to put a living together and did everything they could do to make that happen.

And so it's a tough environment.

And people who grow up working hard have the attribute that you need in order to be a blacksmith in this kind of environment.

But you also have to have creativity.

So if people like Daniel, I can hand something off to Daniel and say, Daniel, I want you to create this table and I want this table to hold up a thick piece of glass with branches and I want to have birds and I want to be a fall table.

So there should be hand Ford's leaves laying on the ground below it at the base.

And Daniel will take that idea.

And in his mind, he pictures it and then he can make his hands create that.

And it's precisely the kind of people that we need in order to make a place like this work in such an isolated environment like the hills of Arkansas.

We wake up about 4 to 430 in the morning and we usually drive out and pick up Mr. Dennis, and then we just go straight to Valero across the street, get our breakfast.

Even though I've been here for a little over three months now, it's still at times really difficult to wake up at 4:00 in the morning.

So I'll go to the back seat.

That way I don't have to sit between Mr. Dennis and Deb and whenever I figure it out.

Oh, hey, I can lay down back here and have the entire back seat to myself.

I think I figured that out on my second day.

It's like hanging an extra 15 to 20 minutes asleep this way.

Why not?

The first time I think I came to the shop, I was in kindergarten.

And what it was, was I asked my dad.

He would come home talking about.

We're talking about stuff made.

And, you know, he didn't have time, so I had never seen pictures of it, really, and actually got to see it firsthand.

And that was probably the first time it really clicked.

Like, I kind of want to try this.

Working with Dad is interesting.

Not bad at all.

You all grab a couple more.

Great friends.

BRISCOE is all I have.

I was excited.

I had no idea what anything was.

I knew what a hammer and and him were, but that was about the extent of it.

I didn't.

I heard about where the forge was.

I had never seen a forge until that first time I came in.

I'll get to go with.

When you get to the Amboy, it's hard to get most guys to understand where to hit it, to make it move, how you want it to move, where you're there.

I'm like, That looks pretty good.

Make sure you're flat that way.

Still trying to wrap my mind around all of that when I look at it and just see one and one just as it is.

But there's a lot of different from space to be used and reasons for all the nooks and crannies in there.

I don't think it's a lost art anymore.

It was going to be a lost art.

In ancient times they made tools.

That was a big that was highly important thing.

Being able to make other tools.

A good example of what they made is this nail right here.

So until around 1900, no nails were made by a machine.

Somebody had to stand in front of an animal and make every single nail that in recent times.

In the last particularly the last 15 years or so, there's been a renewed interest in the craft that sound.

I've had other people, folks in here tell me that as long as they can hear that ringing, they knew things were okay.

Heritage You know, I grew up like this and all that.

I guess, you know, it's part of my heritage.

Made innocent.

Daniel has gone back for years there.

You can rely on you can depend on.

We tried to watch out for each other as much as possible.

Make sure no luggage bar came from getting hurt if he came.

Because it's.

I know it's just skin, it'll heal.

But.

But we all help each other.

Words helps needed it.

Sometimes we have them when they don't want help, you know, and then they run off.

But I don't I think we way orders were there for each other if one is needed you know by someone.

Yeah.

It is definitely like family.

He's a good kid.

He hasn't been here that long.

He's been here six months.

Maybe.

Daniel wanted him to follow in his footsteps, and that's what he's doing.

No one, I'm really interested in passing everything on to that that I know is my son.

There's a lot of stuff that I do know that I won't teach anybody else besides him.

As long as we can take time and have the patience with him, I think he'd make a good blacksmith.

What is the Hoffman jersey of Not enough there.

I've learned the lesson so it often your child next for you?

Always.

I'll give it a shot.

I don't know what I done, but will man his mom done.

But he's turned out a lot better than what we expected.

Thank goodness he didn't give men his mom with the headaches that I give my parents.

Look, we're going to.

This will work.

Got it.

Well, it's another form of art, to put it simply.

And no other forms of art is celebrated around the world, So why not blacksmithing?

It was a major part of life back, you know, years and years ago.

Man, I'll be as you know, as needed.

But it's still a, you know, in its own right, a beautiful form of art.

There's a lot of machines out there now that can they can take pictures and reproduce with the machine.

And that's not the same as doing it Handcraft not them, not number.

It passed it pass first.

Try as far as telling him how special it is for me to have him up here working with me.

I like he pretty well knows got a lot of love on his page.

But the most important thing in the world for me right now, I wouldn't trade the last four months for another him working up here with me.

I wouldn't trade it.

It took me a lot to learn what I learned, what I know, and I still iron it.

You know, I get things that go along there like you go, I got to do that.

We got to taste.

And it got like William and Brayden to do it or or if it is going to be lost, you know?

All right, This ain't going to be around much longer.

It takes sometimes two or three years to create a a master blacksmith.

I can't remember in the last number of years where we've ever had an opportunity just to hire a blacksmith off the street.

Typically doesn't happen that way.

The the art of blacksmithing and working with metal in that way.

I don't want to see that lost.

I don't want to see that gone.

I want to see it carrying on to the next generation and I want them to see the value that it holds.

Once knowledge is lost, it's really hard to get it back to the same state it used to be like where there's been techniques lost over the years, there's been knowledge lost and we may never get that back.

As sad as it is, I just wish I actually had enough time to pass all of it long term, the knowledge needs to be passed down.

It definitely does.

As far as production, blacksmithing, I can see it coming to an end for some people because the older bodies just don't hold up like it used to.

I've run across several guys that young guys that wanted it and is interested in it and in reality they're the ones that would keep it going.

But if it's not passed down, it's going to be lost.

You know, all the ones I know, they're they're my age.

Yeah, I definitely think it's important to carry on the tradition.

Definitely the work of Daniel, Dennis and the others at Urban Forge is truly incredible, how they honor the old ways while creating something new is the mark of a true innovator.

North Little Rock photographer Jason Sterling excels in a different type of innovation.

His mastery of visual effects is bringing new excitement to Arkansas sports photography.

Again, that's good to see it.

Artist Both This year.

I need them.

Awesome.

The term that most people who do this type of sports work, they call it sports.

It's so I typically ask my teams like, what kind of look do you want?

90% of the time they want a dark background.

They were focusing on.

Well, at first it really didn't catch on.

I really had this kind of style of photos since 2014, and back then I wasn't using fog machine or atmosphere aerosol and candles used baby powder.

Baby powder looks really cool, but is also very messy.

Don't recommend using it.

So this is my father, a high school senior, and we set his bat on fire.

The kid's name is actually blazing and I have a special mixture that I used it lights and it goes up and my one second and it's gone.

So you got to be quick take for taking the picture.

The kids really like the fire photos.

I just I can't do it for all my teens.

It just takes too long to kind of set up.

Or if your name's Blaze, I mean, if your name's Blaze, we have to.

So I had an idea.

What if I show my behind the scenes on a regular phone?

And what it actually looks like is a professional camera with lighting beacons?

Just show the difference.

I get people coming and videos.

This could easily be done in Photoshop in like 5 minutes.

I can do it right now in one minute and I don't have to do it later.

The more you can do in-camera, the less post work you have to do is going to make your life so much better.

This has the most views online of any of my reaction videos, and that video was shared by ESPN SportsCenter, and I have a couple of reaction videos that I've posted on TikTok and Instagram that have like over 30 million views.

It makes my job kind of rewarding to actually see people like react that way.

The photos I take, I want these kids and their parents to actually have something that they want to like hanging on the wall.

They want to remember the quality, the, you know, the lighting.

You know, I got to have this the new profile in a Jason's work always gets a big reaction.

Duty comb was an innovator to making elaborate rhinestone covered suits that got big reactions from the likes of Porter Wagoner, Elvis Presley and Gram Parsons and have become iconic symbols of Americana.

Well, when I was a kid, my father and I used to sit in the car because you couldn't get radio reception in the house and listen to the Grand Ole Opry.

And he would tell me about nudie and about nudie suits.

And they say that when you get old, you collect the things that you liked as a kid.

And from there I started a collection of new research.

Most people don't know who Nudie was, but generally the first question is people look around in amazement and go, What is this?

They're really iconic.

I mean, even if you don't know what they are, you've probably seen them from, you know, concert footage or, you know, photographs.

They really are a unique piece of of history in the country music world.

Nudie Cohn was a tailor in Hollywood, and from the books I've read about him, he started out making outfits for men's clubs, for strippers and a country artist, Porter Wagoner.

People like that that were in the California area got him to start making suits for and that's where it all grew for him.

He actually did Elvis's go lamé suit from skull showman Hank Snow.

Bill Anderson.

However, Ray Price, one of the more famous one from the rock areas, is Gram Parsons, where you had marijuana leaves and everything else on it.

That's seems to be the one most people know, but anybody disgraced the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, little Jimmy Dickens, all of those folks, they would have had a nudie or some sort.

The first time we walked through the doors for the festival this year, Brian Henry, one of the co-founders of the festival, said, Well, first priority, you need to pick out a nudie suit to wear for any of your performances.

Brian came to me and asked because they have their new roots headquarters over here if he might borrow a nudie suit and do a display at the headquarters.

And then on top of that, why don't you find somebody to wear one on stage so we can see the suits back where they belong, Which is what?

Somebody wearing them playing music.

They range from suits that were worn by huge stars.

I don't know that there's any Hank Williams, but there is a Clarence White suit, and I gravitated toward that one.

It has fringe and these beautiful kind of sterling buttons on it and got to wear it for a performance on the main stage.

It was really quite a pleasure.

What I'm looking for is bright colors.

You want the deep embroidery, you want lots of rhinestones, and then all nudie suits have a theme to them like this Hank snow suit with all the roses and then the pants that go with it.

And so we're looking for some of the wow factor.

Nudie did.

There'll be some of them.

You'll see the shirts that they're stained because they've been worn on stage by guys that are sweating.

I mean, they're old.

We want to keep them old.

You can't help but feel like, okay, yeah, I'm really in it.

I'm sort of like, look, in this part, if you're you're singing like a classic country song, Hank Williams song or something like that, you definitely feel a kind of spirit in it.

And it's it's heavy and it's cool.

There's always room for more good country blues Nudie.

Cohn was one of a kind.

His style and craftsmanship make Neal's collection of suits irreplaceable.

The most successful of innovators are often imitated but never replicated.

Individuality like that is a must in the world of high fashion.

Arkansas's own custom Mumolo knows a thing about that and spoke about it in this interview with Arkansas PBS's Epiphany.

Big Tip Monroe What's going on, everybody?

My name is Big Pearce.

As many of you all know, I started off my career as a high end designer and fashion model who sells in the Caribbean to New York City Fashion Week to being on reality TV.

I'll get us all a lot, but luckily I do have a friend that has done all that.

So today I get the type of work octo mom Lulu, will go see what she's doing now, as well as find out the source of inspiration for her blog.

Everything from like when you wake up in the morning, everything on your bed, your car, everything, your furniture, this hat you have on, the clothes you wear, obviously.

But like almost everything in life is done with this all machine.

So good.

So my mom was actually two, so back when I was a kid.

But really, yeah, I literally haven't seen anybody.

So this is like 1964.

So yeah, if you could show me to get your mom on and see her no more.

No, no, she don't retired and live that life.

So my focus is to make sure that when I'm sewing, you know, I don't let my fabric get over here now.

No, my, my, my stitches cricket now.

You know what I mean?

So how did you learn how to sew, Taja?

My aunt actually taught me it was like a crash course before I actually went to design school because I could draw really well.

But then it came upon me at the last minute that you didn't know how to sew.

So I got it.

And based on that, even though she helped me.

Thank you, Amy.

And pretty straightforward.

So it looks pretty easy, right?

I'm not going for it now because my you're doing so well.

I'm going to ask you anyway, if you were paying attention.

I put your back in it, put your back in.

So I was that kid.

I was like, bro stuff.

I jump right now.

Oh, my God, I can't afford not.

All right, So then, you know, there's no way you.

She's so quirky.

No, no way, No way.

No, I absolutely know exactly how it is.

Oh, yeah.

Was fast.

It ain't so good, though, the car.

So imagine, like, the first time you went driving.

Yeah.

You know, like, okay, too fast, but no one has another set of brakes.

So as our new phase could be your fall line, what we're doing.

Yeah.

So imagine doing this for the first time on a reality show, right?

Everybody's watching.

Your whole life is, like, put on hold for this.

And if you don't get it, you're going to get sent home.

So I do all that what you just did and still make it in the top three, you know, to keep going.

So that just gives you a little insight on my life on reality TV.

And so ended up earned a spot in the fifth season of the hit show Project Runway.

Because of her style and spirit, she easily became a fan favorite.

Ultimately ended up becoming first runner up on the show.

Now, being the person that she was, she flipped this into a successful career of design and fashion.

Now, despite her busy schedule and international travel, she decided to keep her home based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

It's like when I do a new project nowadays, even to the point I only want to do it if it, like challenges me in me some way.

So how did your partnership with Women Girl come about?

Our hashtag was like, For women by women.

So I think they understood that it needed to be fashion in their women.

You know, these are women.

They work in everyday businesses.

This is my view, their side business or their whole business.

But you want to walk into a boardroom and just look like who you look like.

They represent your brand, right?

And this way it was a way they could do it.

Where it was always a conversation piece would come with it, you know, It would just be like, What are you wearing?

What's that about?

It would always spark conversation into what they're doing.

And so it's being a jacket.

Women's role as a nonprofit to empower women in the cannabis industry.

18 We could tell when summer of 2019 and to no surprise, they sold out instantly.

Simple sports bra with the women Girl logo on it.

But just little features like this is not just a sports bra, you just can just get anywhere.

It has something special.

I learned that on Project Runway.

Michael Corey That's the one thing he taught me is like a look is only good if it keeps on giving you something.

If you just have this one thing it gives you this is it, right?

You get bored easily.

So for women especially, they have to have all these different features.

So if I was to wear this and cover this up the next time I do wear it, I'd be like, Oh, do you know this is in the back?

You know?

I mean, and we decided to take what we did with the athleisure stuff, but then go a little step further and do high fashion and to show what that would mean for, you know, the cannabis industry.

And really it was like a coming out party.

You know, it's spreading.

Every state now daily or monthly is passing laws to, okay, medicinal, right?

Some non medicinal.

But the main thing is just breaking the stigma of it.

The clothing line premiered in September 2019 and set NYC Fashion Week ablaze.

It wasn't just a style statement but one of women's empowerment and also progressive thought.

And that's like most designers.

Hey, when other designers come by because when your back is turned, they're like, But you know, for my industry that we, you know, there's a lot of waste, right?

And you get rid of your clothes and people give it away and repurpose it.

But some people just throw it in the trash, right?

They don't pay for it and try to help anybody with it.

So same thing.

And then this this is all burlap.

I wanted to take fabrics that we normally look at as ugly.

Like who would think of wearing a potato sack?

Right, Right.

But taking things that we think are normally ugly and making them beautiful because I think right now inclusion is like really huge.

Everybody's about inclusion.

So how can we do that and do the same thing with like, fabric?

So this piece here, this is kind of cool because this is hemp.

So I did want to include hemp.

Hemp I didn't realize was so hard to find in America.

And most of it comes in like solid colors or like natural colors.

And then the one company I found, they had color, they were all sold out.

So they had these skirts that were pre-made, right?

So I ordered like six skirts, and I deconstructed them.

Oh, kind of repurposed it.

Yeah.

So, like, that's why you kind of see like a little crinkle that they were kind of like these gathered.

Scary, right?

I had to really think of how I could take this step.

And because I really needed to put hemp in the fabric and I mean, it's beautiful fabric.

Like when you touch it looks just like linen.

So this entire outfit here is, you know, sustainable.

Nothing's new anymore in fashion.

Broke pants or jacket.

So I'm okay.

If I do a bomber jacket, how can I switch this up to make it dope where it's not?

Um, no pun intended.

We have the thought of doing these metal plates with, like, the leaf in it where it would show through just that hardware and not the hard way representing like women.

That's how we are.

We're really resilient women.

With this metal plate, you can sit here and bend it and it will seem like it's bent out of shape, but if you really sit there, you can put air, you can put it back straight.

Marvel Kings in our right.

But she's still strong, she's still resilient.

She's still going to be metal.

Yeah.

So there's like little meanings like that in everything.

Bumps, bruises, but never broken.

That's just what strong entrepreneurs like to do.

After phenomenal showing that Fashion Week, she now looks to grow the future of the brand.

And a lot of people picked up the story and it's still being picked up now this.

So now is just to go after that momentum and keep growing with anything.

You know, like if you have a high album, you can go on vacation after you got to work like Beyonce takes no break.

If you sit down, somebody is ready to take your spot.

We've opened up a market that no one in cannabis has thought of.

So trust and believe, next season there's going to be a gazillion shows that are going to be cannabis related because now they see, oh, okay, we can do that to everyone.

And I always be that I can do it too.

So now is like stepping up that game and staying the course of what we started and just keeping the momentum going and being innovative with it.

Resiliency, creativity and down to pull off whatever needed to bring her work to the light.

Just a few of the many reasons to celebrate the toll.

Thankfully for us, her work is not yet done.

Thankfully for us, there's still more time for her to spread the glow about No, I'm afraid Arkansas is bursting with innovators from the deep rooted traditions of Urban Forge to the cutting edge technology of Jason Sterling.

Arkansas is home to countless world class voices of vision, and I'm excited to see just what we think of next.

That's it for this edition of Homegrown.

Thanks for joining us.

To celebrate the makers and innovators shaping our home into a work of art.

And speaking of makers, please take a moment to appreciate the folks whose hard work made this show possible.

I'm Don Scott, and we'll see you next time.

Forget where we came from this can change as we see the same drone that got away, away, finally, finally.

So here's to the Chiefs sunglasses, Red Bull and minivans and people who had your back when the world didn't start seemingly.

Well, forget where we came from and see changes to the same drone.

Now we know for change from this city, change just.