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“Old Sheldon” is an ink print featuring artist Meant Nelson’s grandmother crabbing. Created with a mix of hand ink drawing and Adobe Illustrator coloring.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Artist Clementia “Ment” Nelson is setting out to change South Carolina\u2019s \u201ccool\u201d factor one painting \u2013 and one tweet \u2013 at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that we are the change,\u201d said Nelson, an artist from Beaufort who wants to\u00a0modify<\/span> the sometimes negative attitude that comes with living in the Palmetto State.<\/p>\n The artist, known for his innovative abstracts, acrylics, water colors and ink sketches, has captivated an audience of almost 20,000 followers over the last decade through social media. As Nelson\u2019s Twitter bio notes,\u00a0he makes it cool to be from South Carolina. His art can be found on his website, www.mentnelson.com<\/a> and on Twitter at @mentnelson<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it is such a negative stigma, being from South Carolina,\u201d said Nelson. \u201cThis is actually kinda a cool place.\u201d<\/p>\n South Carolina hasn\u2019t always been a place he imagined he would live. After a time in college, Nelson tried to move to Los Angeles or New York City but never raised enough money.<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of frustrating myself by still wanting what wasn\u2019t possible, I was like, at least lemme change my perception, lemme change how I look at where I am,\u201d Nelson said, who now uses his art and social media to change the mindsets of others in similar positions. \u201cI\u2019ve seen how it works for me so now I\u2019m just trying to lead other people to the light.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in Beaufort,\u00a0Nelson was named after the late Sen. Clementa Pinkney, the son of Nelson\u2019s daycare director and a family friend who was murdered in the 2015 Charleston church shooting. From his boyhood, he was always known as Ment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nelson, 30, spent his childhood in the Lowcountry and attended Hampton County Public Schools. By the third grade, Varnville Elementary School identified him as a gifted and talented student, and Nelson said his teachers recognized his artistic abilities. He recalled recreating a lot of art from Lowcountry native Jonathan Green, an artist Nelson admires.<\/p>\n Even before grade school, Nelson exhibited an interest in art.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what got me started was my mother. While she talked on the phone, she used to doodle on whatever she was writing on,\u201d said Nelson. He explained that her doodles of stick men and circling words she found within the words in books was what sparked the talent that is now his career.<\/p>\n His family played an important role in his art, as did the natural world around him. \u201cI grew up in the country, played outside all day,\u201d said Nelson. \u201cThat right there made it to where I was very in tune with nature.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s common to find him at Lake Warren State Park, fishing in one of the \u201cgood spots,\u201d down the side of a bank on a long, narrow road adjacent to the lake. A visitor can find him\u00a0leaning against the rail of the platform above the water, fishing rod in hand and a bucket beside him for his catch.<\/p>\n Nelson and his grandmother\u00a0share a lot of memories at the lake.<\/p>\n Caught grandma slippin one day. Now she got her own gear pic.twitter.com\/XjBdHuGUJX<\/a><\/p>\n — ment nelson (@mentnelson) July 14, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n