If you’re into outsider and folk art, then Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia is where you want to be. The Reverend Finster was a prolific artist who produced over 46,000 works in his lifetime. There’s a 4-acre property or garden dedicated to his work complete with a museum and fabulous gift shop. We wrote an article on him earlier in the blog Howard Finster “the Grandfather of Southern Folk Art” where you can read all about him and see some of his art. Recently, we visited the Garden’s May Artist Market and the pictorial is below, but first, there are two upcoming events you need to know about if planning a trip to Paradise Garden. Sounds like a fun event and the floral designs are sure to be creative. We also recommend visiting the Rock Garden in Calhoun as mentioned above. We’re going to do a pictorial post…

In my second of three posts about Reverend Howard Finster I’ll talk about his work and show what I photographed on my visit to his museum and gallery. The first post was about the cozy Air BnB I stayed in across the street from his museum and garden in Summerville, Georgia. Our timing for writing about this artist is the upcoming festival know as “Finster Fest” that will be held in a few weeks. Howard Finster was a self-taught or outsider artist. Outsider artists are typically those that have no art training and exist outside the mainstream art world. Fantasy, unconventional ideas, and at times extreme mental stress can be found in their art. In his case, he started with an outsider’s viewpoint and moved into sacred art later in life. Self-portrait Paradise Garden Museum Finster was born in rural Alabama in 1961. At the age of 3, he saw…