mirror house, Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens

#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.”

entrance, Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens

Paradise Gardens mural

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

bathroom quote Paradise Gardens

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.

Paradise Gardens church

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

chapel Paradise Gardens

Howard Finster folk art

I never seen a person I didn't love -Howard Finster

 

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

 

Bobo reflection at Paradise Gardens

I took the pieces you threw away sign at Paradise Gardens

workshop full of trinkets Paradise Gardens

You only look back to see where you come from but victory is ahead, Paradise Gardens

you don't need drugs - Paradise Gardens

painted car, Paradise Gardens

cloud house Paradise Gardens

C’est moi.

Bobo at Paradise Gardens

building at Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens

gloves Paradise Gardens

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

bicycle tower Paradise Gardens

bicycle bush Paradise Gardens

mosaic wall Paradise Gardens

Catch the decaying typewriter blending in with the landscape?

typewriter-Paradise-Gardens

Love the eyebrows!

snakes-Paradise-Gardens

snake Paradise Gardens

trash Paradise Gardens

Birdhouse Paradise Gardens

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

mirror house & doll statue at Howard Finster's Paradise Gardens

baby doll statue Paradise Gardens

Paradise Gardens water

Paradise Gardens garden

Paradise Gardens mosaic statue

Paradise Gardens

duckie in mosaic, Paradise Gardens

faces and hands sculpture, Paradise Gardens

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

alligators riding on cat sculpture, Paradise Gardens

alligators in cat, Paradise Gardens

sculptures, Paradise Gardens

ducks sculpture, Paradise Gardens

ducks and seashells sculpture, Paradise Gardens

Entering the Mirror House.

entering the mirror house, Paradise Gardens

What fun!

inside mirror house, Paradise Gardens

selfie inside mirror house, Paradise Gardens

mirror house doorway, Paradise Gardens

optical illusions inside mirror house, Paradise Gardens

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.

shed, Paradise Gardens

Coke bottles collected dust and spiderwebs.

spider web bottles, Paradise Gardens

So many bike handles.

bike handles, Paradise Gardens

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!

fire at Paradise Gardens

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

fire creeping into Paradise Gardens

fire threatens Paradise Gardens

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.

mini chapel, Paradise Gardens

window on mini chapel, Paradise Gardens

mini-chapel-window-Paradise-Gardens

perfume bottle and seashell inside mini chapel, Paradise Gardens

inside mini chapel, Paradise Gardens

through the window inside mini chapel, Paradise Gardens

Smoke carried from the extinguished fire.

smoke from fire, Paradise Gardens

mirror house with smoke from fire, Paradise Gardens

smoke from fire at Paradise Gardens

view of mirror house with flowers, Paradise Gardens

view of the mirror house, Paradise Gardens

structure made from recycled bottles, Paradise Gardens

Made from bottles.

close up of bottle structure

mosaic sculpture wall, Paradise Gardens

wall mosaic sculpture, Paradise Gardens

pipe and jewelry in mosaic sidewalk, Paradise Gardens

artwork mosaic wall sculpture, Paradise Gardens

a walk through Paradise Gardens

mushroom in wall mosaic sculpture, Paradise Gardens

owl in wall mosaic sculpture, Paradise Gardens

face in wall of mosaic sculpture, Paradise Gardens

view of grounds at Paradise Gardens, Summerville, Georgia

mosaic wall sculpture at Paradise Gardens

hand in mosaic wall sculpture, Paradise Gardens

intricate wall mosaic sculpture, Paradise Gardens

bike wheels through mosaic wall sculpture window, Paradise Gardens

H. Finster name in wall art mosaic sculpture at Paradise Gardens

Paradise Gardens building mosaic, snake

Paradise Gardens

Upon closer inspection of the above scene…

look closer, Paradise Gardens

window, Paradise Gardens

I love dogs.

dog in mosaic, Paradise Gardens

Boston Terrier in mosaic, Paradise Gardens

Paradise Gardens

ceiling, Paradise Gardens

Ken doll, Paradise Gardens

bike shop, Paradise Gardens

bunny, Paradise Gardens

face in mosaic, Paradise Gardens

face, mosaic, Paradise Gardens

you are in a vision vortex, Paradise Gardens

steeple-Paradise-Gardens

view of steeple, Paradise Gardens

angel, Paradise Gardens

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

meditation house window, Paradise Gardens

banjo man, Paradise Gardens

steeple reflection, Paradise Gardens

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.

cute little clouds, Paradise Gardens

RIP Howard Finster

Howard Finster etching


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!

 

 

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