Merry Christmas!

Here are two Santa Clauses by one of my all time faves- I mean the outsider artist extraordinairre, Howard Finster of course!
Now we're really opening up a can of worms because I could just go on and on about how wonderful he is! At 45 this preacher from Georgia recieved a revealation to stop preaching and instead spread the gospel by creating 5000 sacred works of art. But that didn't stop him from depicting all sorts of other things! He painted everything from coca-cola bottles to R.E.M. album covers to Elvis presley! I first fell in love with his work at an exhibition of 'outsider art' at the Dallas Museum of Art many years ago and was lucky enough to become the temporary custodian of two of his pieces (thanks Angie!!!) that sit on my desk and encourage me to be an individual! One is a cut-out of a bunny rabbit and the other is an angel. One thing that makes his artwork so special is that he loves to write advice, exhortations, and scripture in the borders and backgrounds of the work. Truly a preacher to the end! Howard also loved to decorate fingerprints by giving them little faces. Stories say that it was by staring into the image of a fingerprint that he first recieved the vision to become an artist! Howard also filled in a vast area of swampland near his home and created an environment full of art and sculpture called the 'Paradise Gardens'. Someday I'll make the pilgrimage.

This isn't my angel but looks a lot like it: