The Reverend Howard Finster (1916 – 2001) was one of the country’s most talked-about folk/outsider artists. In 1965, he said that he heard a voice from the Lord which told him to transform two acres of land in Summerville, GA into a "Paradise Garden." Using junk, broken dolls, tools and clocks, he embedded these materials in concrete walls which surround both a 30-foot tower built of bicycle parts and his own church called "The World's Folk Art Church."

"Paradise Garden" was an ongoing project that expressed his religious convictions and creativity and he explained that he assembled the pieces for a purpose -"to mend a broken world." In 1976, he had a vision of a tall man at his gate (the Lord) who directed him to begin painting "sermon art" because, "preaching don't do much good - no one listens - but a picture gets on a brain cell." The voice commanded him to paint this sacred art and to create individual paintings and portraits of personal heroes, religious and patriotic images and to pass on his spiritual messages to the world. Finster’s paintings have evangelical themes and inspirational images which come from his own interpretations of the Bible. Angels and saints as well as earthly characters are often portrayed, and all of his paintings contain witty, printed quotations known as "Finsterisms."

Several of his paintings show how he was influenced by the imagery on postcards,  popular magazines, cultural icons like Elvis Presley, historical figures and, of course, figures from the Bible. Some of his creations have joined the contemporary art and music world through his paintings for the album covers of the rock groups REM and The Talking Heads. Other artists to use Finster art on their record covers include Memory Dean, Pierce Pettis, and Adam Again.

Finster made art out of nail heads, gourds, bottles, mirrors, plastic, snow shovels and even an old Cadillac. However, the majority of his works were usually made out of plywood or heavy canvas, with the works ranging in size from a few square inches to 8-9 feet in height. His art was original, innovative and expressive. In 1994, a portion of his Paradise Garden was installed as part of the permanent collection of Atlanta's High Museum.

He believed he came from another world and is often referred to as "This Stranger From Another World." Finster believed the more he painted, the more people he would save, and went on to create over 46,000 works of art. The works are presented in many forms, sometimes called "paintings in tongue," visions of other worlds where people live in harmony. Finster had his visions for the future. "A day when one computer will run the earth and the final day when giant tidal waves will cover the world. And then the time will come for G-D to create men again - men like the Reverend Howard Finster."