Some of you may remember this old farmhouse on the outskirts of Broxton that I photographed a few years ago. It originally featured a mural done by owner Linda Christian. She really enjoyed doing it and was happy that it brought lots of joy to passersby on US441. It’s presently being spruced up, with a new face, by Dylan Ross. Dylan is a native of Coffee County whose extraordinary talent has garnered him scores of impressive clients and fans ranging from Aaron Murray and Luke Bryan to Lennox Lewis and Dennis Rodman. His work is really fresh and colorful and he’s a working artist in the sense that he’s always creating art.
This is part of a complex of several small buildings that are all attached to one another, painted in different bright colors. I’m not sure if it’s part of a thrift-type store or someone’s personal property.
This 1885 vernacular farmhouse brought Eddie Owens Martin back to Marion County in the mid-1950s and helped forever change the artscape of Georgia. But of course, there’s more to the story. As evidenced by the Pasaquoyan totems which greet visitors at the front door, Martin didn’t consider this place on par with the backwoods landscape that cradled it. Rather, it was a universe all its own and his life’s work was the manifestation of that mythology.
Eddie Owens Martin was born on 4 July 1908 to poor white sharecroppers Julius Roe and Lydia Pearl Martin. In 1922, to escape the rural life and his father’s abuse, he left and eventually settled in New York City. In the mid-1930s, Martin had a high fever which resulted in a series of visions in which three “people of the future” from a place called Pasaquan selected him to depict a peaceful future for human beings. After receiving these visions, Martin began using the name St. EOM (pronounced Ohm), EOM being the acronym for Eddie Owens Martin. He spent another two decades in New York, waiting tables and telling fortunes. Upon his mother’s death in 1950, Martin was willed this house and the surrounding acreage. He returned a few years later and set about creating the Land of Pasaquan, as foretold in his earlier visions.
This visionary universe was literally created from the ground up, with St. EOM and the occasional assistant pouring concrete walls and creating eclectic outbuildings. Martin was an eccentric above all else and in a small town where most people were wearing jeans and overalls, his brightly colored flowing robes and long hair and beard, worn in varying styles, were a bit out of place. He was a celebrated fortune teller, as well, and Debbie Brazil recalls: “Went there many times with my Mama, for him to tell her fortune. The yard would be full of cars from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and one Sunday I remember one from Louisiana. Folks came from all around to see him.” This suggests that he had a wide circle of associates who visited Pasaquan from time to time. Locals have said that he was tolerated because he helped keep some of the local stores in business buying so much material for Pasaquan. Other than a few friends and associates, he never quite fit in. His art received little attention in his lifetime. He committed suicide in 1986 and bequeathed Pasaquan to the Marion County Historical Society. A great profile from Tom Patterson, who literally wrote the book on St. EOM, can be found at Bomb Magazine. Subsequently, thanks in large part to the work of folklorist and documentarian Fred Fussell, a group known as Friends of Pasaquan was established to perpetuate Martin’s legacy. I’d like to personally thank Fred for pointing me in the right direction as to this photo project, as well.
Even with the active involvement of the Friends of Pasaquan, the intervening years haven’t been kind to the place St. EOM left behind. Weather and time have taken their toll. But now, thanks to the generous involvement of the Kohler Foundation, the fading paint and cracking concrete (as seen on the totem above) that were beginning to threaten the very existence of this place, are being stabilized and given new life by a team of art conservators, assisted by art students from Columbus State University under the direction of professor Mike McFalls.
Upon completion of the project, the Kohler Foundation will gift the site to Columbus State University (CSU) which will oversee it. The vast majority of St. EOM’s archival drawings, paintings and sculpture, long housed here, have already been transferred to CSU.
Totems are a common form here, as well as irregularly shaped concrete walls, embellished with various sculptural medallions.
Art restorer John Salhus from Parma Conservation in Chicago has been the primary paint conservationist. Here’s a totem he’s working on that really illustrates the scope of the project. Note that one side is painted and the other, with concrete stabilization evident, is still bare.
Shane Winter, from International Artifacts in Houston, has been painstakingly leading the concrete stabilization and reconstruction.
The pagoda, set atop concrete piers, is the first and last thing you see at Pasaquan. It’s a highly unusual form in these parts.
The mural of the cross is particularly eye-catching. It’s centered on a wall depicting the galaxy (some galaxy) beneath colored circles of tin. The scalloped pressed tin is a recurring theme at Pasaquan.
Erika Nelson, an art conservator based in Lucas, Kansas, has been busy documenting every inch of the pagoda before restoration can begin. Erika is an independent artist and educator who has traveled around the country championing Outsider artists and the environments they create, as well as seeking new material for her own whimsical creation, the World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things.
The pagoda is located beside what was essentially Eddie Martin’s sand box, a ceremonial space where he often did mystical dances.
This visually complex meditation space is located directly behind the main house.
It incorporates mandalas inside and out, so it was likely a temple or altar room by St. EOM’s imagining. The outside design is just as fascinating. That’s John Salhus, in the far distance, meticulously painting the wall.
To the rear of the main house is this whimsical space, which St. EOM used as his studio.
This entryway contains nearly all the elements that can be found throughout the grounds.
A unique chimney serves as a visual anchor between the studio and main house.
The area leads around the side of the house toward the carport, connected by more of St. EOM’s whimsical walls.
In a small valley just to the right is a temple that hasn’t been completely restored.
Here’s one of several geometrically-influenced wall designs.
One section of wall is topped with snake sculptures. I’ve read that locals [children, mostly, I suppose] believed that St. EOM had a herd of trained rattlesnakes who acted as his protectors.
And here’s my favorite from a section of wall containing colorful depictions of Pasaquoyans.
This circa 1894 gabled-ell cottage is the home of Mike Jones and Stephanie Astalos-Jones. Stephanie writes: All the art here IS for sale. There is a small sign on the corner of Lexington and Highway 72 that says “art for sale” and points this way…Our hope is that our house is known as an art house where people can come and find original art.
It was hard not to stop after seeing this big hand on a tree in the yard.
Regarding the beautiful decoration of the house, Stephanie explains: Every bit of that is hand painted. I’m a pysanky artist (batik work on egg shell) and I wanted to put pysanky style artwork on the house. I’m also a professional actor…
There were three sculptures in the yard, and the remains of an old tuba attached to a post. Stephanie notes: My husband is a sculptor and a jazz saxophone player. Those are his pieces you show in the yard. It’s nice to see them again since all are sold now.
This oversized fiberglass advertising figure always gets my attention. I’ve found older images online that suggest that this was once a muffler shop, and that the figure was called the Muffler Man. The building is now known as God’s Marketplace, a non-denominational faith-based service center.
This statue of Brer Rabbit on the courthouse lawn is one of two in Eatonton, the other being located at the nearby Uncle Remus Museum. It’s one of the most colorful and unique monuments in Georgia. The community embraces Joel Chandler Harris but to its credit equally promotes Alice Walker. I think they’re just proud to claim two world famous authors, no matter how far apart they are on the spectrum.
The whimsical statue stands atop a granite pillar, with the epigram: Brer Rabbit – Born and Bred in the Briar Patch – He Survives Forever by His Wit, His Courage and His Cunning.
Eatonton Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
For the unfamiliar, Paradise Garden is the life’s work of the late Reverend Howard Finster (2 December 1915 or 1916-22 October 2001). A man of strong religious faith, Finster was a tireless folk artist who used his boundless energy and talent to spread the word of God in every available medium. The folk art chapel (above), as well as much of the garden itself, is presently being restored after going back to nature in the time since his passing. His own words sum up his mission and are often used to describe his philosophy of reusing, recycling and casting nothing of value aside: “I took the pieces you threw away-put them together by night & day-washed by rain and dried by sun, a million pieces all in one!” As a matter of fact, Finster created over 40,000 pieces of art in his lifetime.
Howard’s Cadillac
Howard Finster rose to national prominence and widespread fame in the 1980s thanks to his work being featured on album covers by the Talking Heads, R.E.M., and many others. R.E.M. even shot much of their video for “Radio Free Europe” at the garden and featured a cameo of Howard. During this time Reverend Finster was also a guest on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson which helped cement his national reputation.
This the Rolling Chair Ramp Gallery, where work from fans and admirers, as well as ephemera and memorabilia from Howard’s life are displayed. He built this structure mainly to share his message with those who were unable to walk around the garden.
Visiting Paradise Garden for the first time was a life-changing experience for me.
Tributes to Howard
The people of Chattooga County are understandably proud to call Howard one of their own and in all my travels around Georgia, they are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
The Coca-Cola Bottle House was used as a pump house.
This giant cement shoe is one of my favorite items in the garden.
Finster was a visionary and you see it everywhere at Paradise Garden.
While he’s inspired many, none can come close to the breadth of his work.
It’s easy to see that this place was his witness and his way of preaching.
The mirror house is being restored.
A tribute to Howard Finster.
Some of Howard’s “supplies”.
The tour is entirely self-guided, unless you ask for a guide, and you are guaranteed to get lost in the whimsy of this place. Consider that a good thing.
Detail of George Washington portrait by Finster, and the front porch of his home, now the visitor’s center. Washington was one of Howard’s favorite American icons.
From Anne McDaniel, here’s a history of this curious landmark: “Mr. A. D. Williams was a peach farmer. We think he was the first peach farmer to ship peaches out of Georgia. He had no children and the people who worked for him were treated like family. He built a dance pavilion in the middle of the lake across from his home and once or twice a month would have picnics for the workers and they would dance until the wee hours. He enjoyed bowling and he had a two Lane bowling alley in his basement. In the back of his home were formal gardens which was his life’s passion. There was an open fireplace there. There is a glass peach mounted on it. The city of Yatesville recently tried to buy the peach but the family would not sell it to them.On the side of his house he built a small pond where the lighthouse was built. It was on the side of a huge playground and a three hole golf course. The lighthouse was built as a novelty for people to enjoy. He provided entertainment for not only his guests but their children.When he died, the house and all the property was left to a nephew and they moved from Florida to Yatesville. His daughter, Lisa Williams, won the Georgia Junior Miss title. They sold the house to a family and the property and the house is in complete disrepair. Such a shame that this once grand place is in such a mess.”
Once the largest apple market in the South, Cornelia is still a large producer. In 1926, the Southern Railway gave the Big Red Apple to the city. It has become a statewide icon.
Cornelia Commercial Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
