#I’vebeentoparadise

And I helped save this historic landmark from burning to the ground.

I first became aware of the art of Howard Finster from my grandmother, who was a big fan of his work.  She and my mom had been to his famed Paradise Gardens in Summerville, Georgia in the 90s, and my grandmother had brought back a signed print and a book of the grounds that I looked through years later, admiring the photos of his quirky creations.

Self-deemed “Man of Visions,” Howard claimed to have had his first vision at age three of his deceased sister and communed with God through his entire life as he devoted himself to create “sacred art.”

He built Paradise Gardens as an artistic expression of his celestial visions and spread the word of the Gospel, a seemingly never ending project which he believed he had been “commissioned by God” to create.

He produced a shocking amount of original artworks during his lifetime (46,991 to be exact) and was catapulted into the limelight when he designed album covers for Talking Heads and R.E.M. in the 80s.

Just under a 4 1/2 hour drive from my current home in Asheville, NC, I set out with my BF and a pal on a mini road trip midsummer ’16.

Just minutes from our destination, we accidentally took a wrong turn and found ourselves headed down the entrance of a state prison ominously shrouded in barbed wire.

We turned around in a hurry, but then ended up taking another wrong turn which forced us to pull into and quickly back out of a private prison guards only back road, paralleled by a big warning sign that the area was under heavy surveillance and that crossing the line on the private road meant a serious fine for trespassing that would end up as jail time.

My heart skipped a beat in my paranoia that our hood or front tires might have barely grazed the invisible barrier separating our world and that of the garish institution looming ahead of us.

But in a matter of minutes we arrived, safe at the foot of Paradise.

When we exited the car the heat of the sun was intense, pressing down deep and hard against our bodies.

The fences that enclosed the grounds were decorated with playful and colorful figures by iconic artist Keith Haring.

We walked in the entrance building (its sides adorned with Finster’s paintings) and approached the counter to pay admission (which helps maintain the grounds.)

“Seniors?” the friendly man at the counter asked us.

“Seniors?!” I gasped, laughing.  “Jeez I hope I don’t look that old!”

“Oops, I meant students,” he said, just barely chuckling.  “Hey, I don’t know, you could be vampires.”

Inside before we made the descent back out into the harsh noonday sun, there were even words to be gleaned in the bathroom.

There I also read a quote:

“I am a stranger from another world, and when my work is finished I will go back to other worlds.” –Howard Finster

We ventured out onto the grounds.

There was so much to look at it was hard to know where to point my camera next.

 

“I never seen a person I don’t love.” -Howard Finster

 

C’est moi.

Finster had a thing for bikes.  Here’s a sculpture tower made with bike parts.

Catch the decaying typewriter blending in with the landscape?

Love the eyebrows!

A glimpse of the “Mirror House” dancing in the sunlight.

So many little details in the mosaics.  The closer you looked the more you saw.

Entering the Mirror House.

What fun!

I walked through this old shed, just looking at all Howard had left there, and peeked my head out the back door just to see a fence that separated the property from a house behind it and the jungle-y Georgia foliage thick and green.

Coke bottles collected dust and spiderwebs.

So many bike handles.

By the time I had walked back through and out the door from which I had entered on the opposite site I heard the crackling.

FIRE!

It crawled through the dry brush at an alarming speed.  Creeping through the fence from the neighboring property onto the grounds of Paradise.

I panicked.

My uncle is a firefighter and he instilled in me from a young age my sense of vulnerability against such a force of nature.

My boyfriend and I both grabbed our phones in an effort to call for help, but neither of us had signal.

With that, my boyfriend took off running in the direction of the entrance house, way over on the opposite side of the property.

It wasn’t long before he returned, the man who had welcomed us as seniors (vampires?) upon our arrival with him, in a frantic rush to stop the encroaching flames.

He pulled a hose from nearby and let the water fly, stifling the fire.

Soon after the fire department arrived and fully saturated the area.

Another employee of the Gardens came running, thanking us for saving the grounds, though really it was just that we happened to be in the right place at the right time.

“You guys saved this place!” he called to us.

“Hash tag I saved a historic landmark today, what did YOU do?!” he yelled out to us in his jubilation.

And with that, and the drama under wraps, we were free again to continue to explore the property.

Smoke carried from the extinguished fire.

Made from bottles.

Upon closer inspection of the above scene…

I love dogs.

A view through the window of the “Meditation House.”

This beautiful garden was a place of dreams, where you felt your truest potential was in fact attainable.

Dream, dream, live it… create art, believe…just dedicate yourself.

Mr. Finster, through his 3D rendition of his unshakeable faith and optimism joyously reminded me of that.

If only I could thank him.

RIP Howard Finster

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Leave a comment and tell me: have you ever been to a “garden” that’s inspired you? Besides Brookgreen Gardens (which I visited a couple summers ago) Paradise Gardens is on the top of the list for me.

I highly recommend checking out the official Paradise Gardens website (http://paradisegardenfoundation.org/) to read more about this fascinating man, and hopefully plan a visit for yourself!