Finster’s Caddy.
You can keep the painted daisies and faux rhinestones…
The original art car
Category Archives: Whatever
Paradise Gardens
A couple weeks back I visited Howard Finster’s Paradise Gardens. I’d never heard of Finster before visiting the High Museum in GA and had been sort of plotting to see the place ever since.
: )
He’s probably most well known for the type of work featured in this post… the fact that I included such a photo in a post relating to a client’s mental illness tells you what I think about Finster’s mental stability, but anyway…
Rather than being turned off by the religious nature of his art, I think I like it because of that… it’s so improbable to find bible verses painted on bicycles, on Cadillacs, on windowpanes and random pieces of cardboard.
Sadly, most of his “good” art has been carted away to museums and what’s left behind at Paradise Gardens is mostly just the weird stuff, but I enjoyed that, too.
; )
I could (and may just!) do a whole post on the randomness of the place.
Mostly I thought I’d share these couple pix of the mosaic work I found throughout the garden…
Finster was a collector of found objects and a recycler extraordinaire.
Nothing there is very well-kept anymore, but that makes the beautiful bits that much more interesting, I think.
Blue daze
Of the twenty-five (!) or so plants that I’m experimenting with out on the deck these are, by far, the happiest. It was so beautiful out there early in the season… I should have thought to photograph the flowers sooner.
Says who?
Who says you can’t have strawberry shortcake for dinner?
: )
It’s summer, after all and strawberries are in season. I’ve been using this recipe and the only challenge has been getting the real whipped cream just right. Any tips?
Sunflowers
Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others again are plain, honest and upright, like the broad-faced sunflower and the hollyhock. ~Henry Ward Beecher, Star Papers: A Discourse of Flowers
Self-portrait at 42
Birthday silliness at the Fernbank Science Center where we had hoped to watch Venus do its thing across the sun. There was a sell-out crowd, so we played in the kaleidoscope instead.
Self-portrait with two rabbits
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| Feeling a little silly tonight! |
Skyline
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| Downtown Atlanta skyline from the Jackson St. overpass |
Beth G. is coming for a visit later this month! And she wants to shoot the skyline, so I tried out a couple places for the best view. This spot downtown is nice, but standing on the overpass was a little scary and vertigo-inducing. Midtown has the prettiest buildings, but finding a spot to shoot from is a challenge.
3/29
It’s amazing how the world begins to change through the eyes of a cup of coffee.
~Donna A. Favors
The February photo challenge subject today is HANDS… mine are happiest around a cup of coffee.
The mug, by the way, was made by flockmate KatDoc!
Tres leches
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| Today’s science experiment |
Something about baking, as opposed to cooking, makes it much less intimidating to me. And making cupcakes, well… they’re just plain fun!
While out and about yesterday (truthfully, I was lost at the time) I stumbled across a little bake shop that had tres leches (Spanish for three milk) cupcakes as their special of the day. I’d always wanted to try this Latin American specialty, so I forked over the $5.00 for two of them.
They were yummy enough (addictive, honestly) that I decided to try making them myself today. I followed the recipe I found here and… oh my goodness, these are so delicious! According to my taste tester, they’re even better than the ones I bought yesterday!
Tres leches is traditionally a cake, but it’s so super rich that I almost think it’s better suited to cupcake form… you know, just a couple bites. These aren’t your traditional cupcakes, either, because if they’re made right and drenched in milk, you’ll want a spoon for all the sweet goodness at the bottom.
: )