About Ann Finley
Combining her love of folk art with fine art and individual expression, artist Ann Finley celebrates a career of artistic exploration, evolving from 3D metal artist to jewelry artist.
Transplanted from New Jersey to Atlanta more than 25 years ago, Ann began her professional career as an administrator and licensed professional counselor at Emory University. During this time she enrolled in a metal sculpture class at Atlanta College of Art in hopes of finding a creative hobby to balance her 9am – 5pm daily life behind a desk. Instead she found her passion and eventually, left her multiple degrees behind to pursue a career in art.
With a torch in hand, Ann founded IronCraft Folk Art and spent 8 years creating metal animals, flowers, angels and other whimsical images from her world. Her art won the hearts of many and her IronCraft creations found homes in galleries across the country, museum gift shops and national catalogs, including the front cover of Sundance and the back cover of Eddie Bauer.
Always exploring new forms of expression, in 2005 Ann downgraded to a smaller torch and began creating smaller, pendant-sized versions of her beloved sculptures. She added precious metals, gemstones and enamels to her whimsical pieces to discover yet another love worth pursuing. In August of 2008 her talents were recognized and Ann accepted a scholarship from the Arrowmont School of Crafts to further develop her enameling and jewelry making skills.
Having undergone yet another re-invention of herself, Ann left her 3D metal work behind to focus on her newest passion, “art to wear.” Her ever growing line of sterling silver, gemstone, and enamel jewelry became a hit on the festival scene and is now being introduced into boutiques across the country. In 2007 Ann began creating a line of pendant jewelry for the pet lover in us all, which she named the Barking Cat® Jewelry collection.
Ann continues to hand make all of her jewelry pieces in her Decatur, Georgia studio. When not pampering her dogs Doc, (one of a litter of 7 rescue pups, all named after the Seven Dwarfs) and Cora, her cats Nemo and Alley Cat, and future cats Ghost and Momma (outdoor feral cats being enticed to the good life), Ann is busy serving on the board of the Metal Arts Guild of Georgia, Decatur and Dogwood Arts Festival committees, and supporting animal rescue organizations.