Sculpting Garden Art

If ever there was a real-life equivalent to the classic movie line, "Build it, and they will come," it is Fryar’s Topiary Garden in Bishopville, S.C. (pop. 3,670), created by living sculpture artist Pearl Fryar.

"This place was a cornfield," says Fryar, 65, pointing expansively around his three-acre topiary—a stylized, ornamental form of gardening. But in lieu of a Field of Dreams baseball diamond, Fryar has planted and laboriously shaped and molded between 400 and 500 pieces of eye-popping abstract sculpture cut from live oak trees, boxwoods, cypress, holly, hemlock, honeysuckle and pine that abound on his property.

"For over 15 years I’ve created it, doing a piece at a time," Fryar says. "Without a plan, I broke all the rules. For one time in my life, ignorance paid off."

On average, it takes Fryar three to five years to fashion one of his creations. He has tended to "Fishbone," a towering 20-foot sculpture that displays the tree’s ribs, for nearly nine years.

"You start with shoots," he says of his sculpting process. "Tie and cut, tie and cut. It’s not like I can finish it in a couple of weeks, like a painting. With this, you’re going to be at it for a couple years, and then you have to maintain it."

Media coverage, from gardening magazine articles to regional television appearances, alerted people to Fryar’s artful grounds. Now as many as 150 visitors daily may walk the sculpture-laden lawns. Though admission is free, a donation box in the driveway encourages contributions that enable Fryar to maintain the haven.

"My word, I was just astonished at how peaceful and beautiful the whole setting is," says Linda Y. Foster, a visitor from Columbia, S.C. "You can tell that it’s done with love and patience and a lot of determination. You just have to see it with your very own eyes. This is awesome."

Fryar’s amazing transformation into a living sculpture artist wasn’t something he’d considered while growing up in Clinton, N.C., nor after he entered the military, got married and began a 36-year tenure as a troubleshooter for a beverage can manufacturer.

"I really hadn’t accomplished what I wanted to with my job," Fryar recalls. "Rather than let it get me down, I took that same energy and put it into something I had control over."

That something turned out to be topiary. A local Yard-of-the-Month contest provided Fryar with incentive to start his journey. Though it was later determined that his home lay outside the city limits, thus disqualifying him, Fryar was on his way, working on his passion with pruning sheers and outdoor lights well past midnight after a 12-hour day at his regular job.

In 1996, a fortuitous meeting with Polly Laffitte, former South Carolina State Museum curator of art, changed Fryar’s life. Upon seeing his work, Laffitte invited him to display his living art at the museum’s "Still Worth Keeping" exhibition for self-taught artists. Fryar’s work was an immediate sensation.

Today, Fryar gives presentations at museums and art institutions all over the United States, and his art now earns him a full-time living. In addition, he is artist-in-residence at nearby Coker College in Hartsville, S.C., where he treasures the opportunity to impart his philosophy to young minds.

"My idea is to teach students to use their creative ability," Fryar says. "You might be a person who arranges flowers, or you might be an interior decorator. It’s tapping that creative resource that you have within yourself. Work hard. Somebody will notice you and help you, and then you’re going to succeed."

Fryar hopes his work, which now includes metal sculpture, will inspire others to assist aspiring artists. As nature unites with art at his stunning neighborhood sanctuary, its humble creator reflects further on the unplanned rewards of effort.

"You can’t get any place by yourself," Fryar concludes. "You never become bigger than that person who helps you."

Alan Ross is a freelance writer from Bisbee, Ariz.

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