A look at an iconic folk art destination from an unconventional angle
Walking along a path lit sporadically by a full moon peeking through thin clouds, a white horse suddenly appeared in a tree. Nearby, a nest of snakes lay still atop their small mountain of concrete, while up the path a little farther still was a house made of mirrors eight feet in the air.
Paradise Garden is a sight,
Rev. Howard Finster’s visions a-light,
But the awe of it shines most bright,
During a visit at night
Many Chattanoogans have long known that head scratching puzzlement, mixed with jaw dropping amazement was just over an hour south of the city in little Pennville, Ga.
Paradise Garden is figuratively a two-and-a-half-acre representation of renowned folk artist Howard Finster’s mind, which religion scholar Norman Girardot described as a place of “divine clutter.” It’s busy and colorful. It’s unorganized and finely detailed. It is madness and genius served on the same mosaic plate. And, a lesser known fact is, you can have it all to yourself…at night.
Visitors can book a night or more at the artist cottage across the street from Paradise Garden. At check-in there are two keys, one for the lodgings and one that opens the garden gate after closing at 5 p.m.
If you’ve visited Paradise Garden in the daylight, you know at least a little about Finster. If you’ve never been, then you must go. But, first meet its maker.
Who was Howard Finster?
Howard Finster became in his later years a world renowned folk art icon. Had he lived, he would have turned 100 on Dec. 2. As it is, he passed away in 2001 a couple of weeks after the horrible, apocalyptic vision that was the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. While that nightmare was real, Finster’s life and work had been guided by visions of another sort.
Finster told people he had his first religious vision at the age of three. It was of a deceased sister, who told him he would become “a man of visions.” Starting as a teenager, he would turn his visions into sermons as a Baptist preacher, and later into sculptures, paintings, poems, sights and wonders.
The Rev. Howard Finster was a slight man who was never silent, rarely still, and barely slept. He was reputed to eat Folgers instant coffee crystals and wash them down with Coca-Cola. Many of his 46,000-plus paintings are marked as completed with a simple “past midnight.”
“I paint of a night time and work in the garden during the day time,” Finster told Tonight Show host Johnny Carson in 1986. “Since I retired, in 24 hours I do whatever I want to do. If I want to sleep it doesn’t matter where, I take a nap.”
In 1976, the story told by Finster goes, he was repairing a bicycle when he looked at a spot of paint on his right index finger. In the paint, he saw a face which spoke to him a three-word command, “Paint sacred art.” Doubting he could do it, but compelled by the vision to try, Finster pulled a dollar out of his pocket and created a painting of George Washington.
The face on his finger set Finster’s soul on fire for the last quarter century of his life. He started out intending to create 5,000 works of painted art. But, his passion never ebbed and he wound up creating more than 46,000, all of which he signed and numbered.
In the mid-80s, Finster became a pop culture phenomenon when he painted album covers for bands R.E.M. and The Talking Heads. R.E.M. filmed their video for the song “Radio Free Europe,” at Paradise Garden and Finster appears in it at the end. And, while the showman in him seemed to enjoy his fame, the focus of what Finster did remained spreading the word of God.
Howard Finster spoke a twang,
That turns spring into sprang,
Whether painting or singing hymn or jingle,
Bible verses he’d inter-sprinkle
Daydreams, then darkness falls
An overnight stay at Paradise Garden doesn’t mean missing out on anything that day visitors enjoy, because the fee allows you to explore the grounds in the afternoon when you check in.
The visitor’s center at Paradise Garden is in the old clapboard house that Finster used to welcome visitors and sell them art. Finster decorated the building with a portrait of George Washington on the front and a congregation of worshippers one side. A modern, glass-walled addition has been built to expand the center and house exhibits about Finster’s career and art. A video room shows a 30-minute film that serves as an introduction, or reintroduction, to Finster.
At the gift shop counter, guests are greeted by Donnie Davis, who sells admissions and gives visitors the appropriately hand-drawn map of the garden.
“You can’t go in here,” he says. “You have to go in here.”
Where you can’t go right now is the chapel, where a multi-story, spire arises that resembles an odd wedding cake. Even before Finster’s death the structure had begun to lean. It has been shorn up on the inside with strong timber so that it stands straight again, but its complete restoration by the non-profit Paradise Garden Foundation is still years away.
Where Davis said you have to go is what Finster dubbed the “Rolling Chair Gallery.” The long, narrow L-shaped building has low windows to give views of the rest of the property, so those who use wheelchairs can enjoy it.
The presence of Howard Finster is strong in the gallery. Much of what is displayed is the work of others, inspired by and given to Finster over the years—explained in the master’s own hand, written in black directly onto the white walls. “People is always giving me things made by others,” he wrote beside a small metal ring nailed to the wall.
In addition, Finster’s voice fills the hall, as interviews he gave play from speakers overhead. In one he talks about a vision of traveling through space, in which he arrived at the conclusion that the distance to heaven can be measured by the light of the sun. “Tell me how far the sun shines…that’s halfway to heaven,” he said.
Daylight is the best time to be floored by the enormity of what Finster created and its genius. The misspelled words in his paintings illustrate the fact that he had just a sixth-grade education. But the cleverness with which he transformed bits, bobs, doodads and plain old trash into art is breathtaking.
“I took the pieces you threw away and put them together by night and day. Washed by rain and dried by sun. A million pieces all in one,” Finster famously wrote. And, he told an interviewer once, “Everything I pick up I see art in it.”
Whether in daylight or dark, however, Paradise Garden astounds with the fact that seemingly every surface is covered with art, including his iconic Coca-Cola bottles and angels. The sculpture garden is made up of concrete creations that combine hand crafted faces and snakes with an eclectic mix of junk ranging from toilet tank lids, to ceramic cats, to rusted hand grenade replicas.
Flashlight beams on the concrete sculptures at night reveal the creations in smaller patches than is possible under sunlight, which makes the painstaking detail all the more incredible.
Visitors walk around the garden on concrete paths that are mosaics studded with broken bits of pottery, bicycle gears, cutlery, child’s toys and more.
During a recent nighttime visit, it was immediately evident that much of the outdoor painted surfaces that appear faded under sunlight, appear renewed after dark. A brick and concrete walk that was brightly painted with wisdom and warnings 25 years ago is now so faded that just a couple of the inspirations are legible. At night, under artificial light, those sayings pop out, as clear as the day they were painted.
A pair of nearly matching honey-colored tabby cats named Calvin and Hobbes call the garden home and at night follow visitors around. You can tell them apart by the fact that Calvin has a stubby tail. At other points you can hear them meowing in the dark, adding to the experience.
A white concrete horse that seemed to suddenly appear in a tree after dark, had not been noticed during the daylight.
Poking around Paradise Garden after dark is an affordable experience few get to have and one that you’ll always remember. In a sense, it may be like walking around Howard Finster’s brain in one of those rare times he was asleep.
How To Spend The Night
Visit the Paradise Garden website and click on “Stay for the night” or call the visitor center at 706-808-0800 or email info@paradisegardenfoundation.org
The price is $130 per night on weekdays and $150 on weekends. The one-bedroom artist cottage has a living room with three comfortable upholstered chairs, a sofa, Finster art on the walls and Finster books on the shelves. There is a full kitchen complete with dining table, dishes and cutlery.
Paradise Garden is located in Pennville, Ga., an unincorporated community between the cities of Trion and Summerville in Chattooga County.
From Chattanooga, take U.S. Highway 27 south for 47 miles and turn left onto Rena Street in Pennville. For GPS purposes the Paradise Garden street address is 200 N. Lewis St., Summerville, Ga.