Folk Art is rather unique in that among all other art forms it is most prone to be influenced by the culture of the area in which the artist is producing. This is true because by definition, the folk artist has little to no training in the formal art world, techniques or art history, therefore they have nothing to go on other than their heritage and background. In the South, such artist currently draw much of their knowledge and experience for that of slavery and rural life or ancestors that were actual slaves or farmers. This viewpoint, being so en-grained in the culture for such a long period of time is relatively unique to the southern region of the United States, allows these artists to produce distinctive work that many have considered valuable and collectible for just those very reasons. The subject matter commonly found in such folk art includes laborers in the fields or marshes, landscapes of farmland, or naive reproductions of various livestock. These are the items and activities that have engulfed the lives of the majority of people in this region for the large majority of recent decades. These elements are often collected by folk art enthusiasts and displayed together as a singular motif or grouped based on the efforts of a single artist.