Howard Finster Cadillac - Paradise Gardens
by Rebecca Korpita
Title
Howard Finster Cadillac - Paradise Gardens
Artist
Rebecca Korpita
Medium
Digital Art - Digital Art - Photograph
Description
This is a digitaly enhanced original photograph of Howard Finster's (the late great folk artist) Cadillac still sitting in his garage in Paradise Gardens in Georgia. Howard is long gone now but his presence hovers.
Howard was in his back yard repair shop, fixing a bicycle, when he looked at a paint smudge on his finger and had a vision of a human face. The voice of God commanded Howard to "paint sacred art," and for the next quarter-century he did just that.
Howard transformed his yard into what he called Paradise Garden, four acres of quirky buildings, junk-studded pathways, and sculptures made from other people's trash. He dated and numbered every one of his 48,000+ artworks, usually colorful plywood cutouts covered with busy designs and Bible verses in tractor enamel paint. Howard was known for painting 2-D Coke bottles and angels, spaceships and smiling clouds. Caps and hats in his artwork often had human faces, like Howard's finger.
I was fortunate in getting to meet Howard and I have been to Paradise Gardens three times. Some things have deteriorated beyond repair after his death, but I was happy to see that it is being preserved now by the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation thanks to Jordan Poole who was instrumental in getting this done.
Uploaded
June 15th, 2019
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Viewed 1,538 Times - Last Visitor from Dearborn, MI on 04/25/2024 at 12:04 PM
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Comments (3)
John M Bailey
Congratulations on your feature in the Fine Art America Group "Images That Excite You!"
Bob Lentz
Congratulations! on this unique image’s being Featured in “The Artistic Aperture” group, and also Liked, Favorited, and Facebooked.