Alumni Spotlight: Donny Finley (‘75)
By Brittney Kimber
Jax State alum Donny Finley ('75) stayed true to his passion and humble Alabama roots. He is a nationally renowned painter and continues to share his incredible talent and unique ability to offer different perspectives on the world. Finley recently painted a portrait honoring fellow Pi Kappa Phi brother Randy Owen for the new Randy Owen Center for the Performing Arts with the piece proudly displayed in the lobby.
Finley recalled his childhood and what led him to pursue art. His grandmother watched him every day while his parents worked, often telling him stories of her life while he sat on the floor drawing people from the Sears catalog.
"My elementary school didn't have art classes, but I studied photos of paintings in the encyclopedia. One image of a young boy standing in a doorway peering at the sky especially resonated with me, making me wonder about my own future," Finley said.
"Later, as I began painting while a student at Jacksonville State University, people often remarked that my work resembled the paintings of Andrew Wyeth. I was not familiar with the name, so I went to the school library and found a book of Wyeth's paintings. I thumbed through the pages and there was the painting of the young boy titled Albert's Son I had seen in the encyclopedia back in grammar school."
He continued painting and exhibiting at local art shows during his final two years at Jax State.
"Up until that point, I had worked at a sheet metal plant for seven summers and taken out loans to afford school," Finley said. "Soon, however, I was able to pay all my school expenses through my art sales. Upon graduation, I decided to give myself a year to see if I could make a full-time living as an artist."
During that year, Finley exhibited at more than forty art shows across the South. He met his wife, Janet, and made plans to sell enough paintings for a down payment on a house.
"I went to a show at a mall in Dothan, Alabama, where I sold just one very small painting for $50 and a print for $30. I came home very discouraged, but I had to prepare for two shows I had scheduled for the next weekend," Finley said.
It was later that week when Finley received a call from someone in Nashville who had been in the area on business during his art show in Dothan.
"He said he went to a mall to buy a tie where he saw my work and asked if I remembered him buying a small painting and a print. I said I did because it was all I sold. He then asked if I could drive to Nashville to see him that weekend. I told him I could not because of my schedule," Finley said.
"We ended the call, but then he called back a short while later. He said he had spoken to some friends, and they would like to throw me a party. The friends were Jerry Reed, the singer and actor, and Ray Stevens, the singer and entertainer. I took eighteen paintings to Nashville that weekend and sold seventeen of them and had the down payment I needed for my home. The businessman who invited me to Nashville was Fred Webber who would become a lifelong friend."
Finley has continued to find inspiration in everything around him — the way light hits an object, the sky, or the character in a person's face. He was drawn to paint his immediate surroundings and the people within them, whether cityscapes, rural landscapes, or intriguing individuals. Finley said he constantly explores new techniques and subject matter.
"Curiosity drives my work, which has occasionally led to unusual situations while seeking inspiration—from being threatened by a man with a gun, to having a boy in the mountains throw rocks at me, to being chased out of the lower levels of Grand Central Station in New York by individuals who had taken up residence," Finley said. "I have traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, always returning home energized and eager to paint. I frequently lie awake at night thinking of new ways to approach my work."
Finley is an elected member of the American Watercolor Society and has been included in Who’s Who in American Art. His painting, Fall Rainbow, was selected to raise money for the National Parks. Generations, an Easter egg he painted, was exhibited at the White House during one of its annual Easter Egg Rolls and is in the permanent collection of the White House Visitors Center. Three of his paintings were exhibited in the American Embassy in Morocco during the tenure of former Ambassador Margaret Tutwiler. In 2006, Finley was commissioned by Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman to create a painting for the American Ryder Cup team and later illustrated a golf coffee table book with him.
Finley's work has earned awards from the American Watercolor Society, the National Academy of Design, and the National Watercolor Society, among others. Additionally, his paintings have been included in national juried exhibitions such as the Mainstreams International Exhibition, Watercolor USA, the Rocky Mountain National Watercolor Exhibition, the National Academy of Arts for the Parks, the Charlie Russell Museum, and the Salmagundi Club. Finley's paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries from New York to California and are also in the permanent collections of several museums and major corporations. Most recently, his watercolor, Double Wedding Ring, was selected from entries spanning 20 countries to be exhibited at the San Diego International Watercolor Exhibition. He has authored or illustrated more than ten books and has been featured in several magazines.
"In recent years, I have had people contact me and purchase work stating they had seen my work 40 or 50 years ago in galleries, and the images had stuck in their minds all those years. Even at present, I am painting a commission for a young man who had grown up seeing my paintings hanging on his grandfather's walls," Finley said. "I think about all the highs and lows life brings, but people remembering my work through it all gives me confidence that I am doing what I was meant to do. Many of my clients are not just collectors but have become lifelong friends."
While deciding on a major, Finley was told he would not be able to make a living as an artist, but that did not stop him from pursuing his passion. Although Jax State did not offer an art major during his time at the university, Finley decided to major in business. He took a couple of art classes with Jax State professor David Daniel in addition to his other studies.
"I still use some of the techniques I learned in those classes to this day," Finley said. "One thing I learned was how to give the appearance of folds in cloth with the use of lines and patterns. One of the other things was learning to look at the positive and negative areas that light created upon an object. David would have us look at the image and reverse the light in our minds' eye and then draw it the way we imagined it. It gave me a whole new way of seeing how light affects an object."
Finley said that while he did not use his business degree in the traditional sense, it has been invaluable as he navigated his art career over the years.
"It is one thing to love to paint; it is an entirely different thing to provide for a family as an artist," Finley said.
In addition to his studies, Finley played tennis as well as pool and table tennis in the Jax State student commons. He became friends with the number one father and son team in the U.S. at the time, Mark and Wallace "Red" Wilder, who lived in Jacksonville.
"Red was later a tennis coach. They had a great influence on my life while in college as I often traveled with them to table tennis tournaments across the South. Red was like a father to me during my college years," Finley said.
"I thoroughly enjoyed my years at Jax State, so much so that it took an extra semester or two to graduate. The football team under Coach Charlie Pell went undefeated my first year there. My time as a member of the Jax State tennis team, fraternity life, and representing the school in the state collegiate table tennis championships were all great memories. I also remember playing basketball against my favorite teacher, Glen Browder."
Finley lived in the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house in a large upstairs room with a fireplace that he used as his art studio. He enjoyed participating in sports representing the fraternity during Greek Week. Finley recalled one of his favorite Jax State memories entering a poster contest, deciding to take a large, dark bed sheet and paint it for the competition. His painting won first place and was draped on the side of the bus as the cheerleaders and band traveled to the game.
"I have fraternity brothers who are great friends to this day. Randy Owen was also a fraternity brother, though I did not know him as well as some of the other brothers. After graduation, I had a one man show at the Cheekwood Museum in Nashville, Tennessee. A gentleman named Hap Townes became a client. Hap had a meat and three restaurant where all the country music stars ate, so he would sell my prints out of the restaurant," Finley said.
"By this time Randy's group, ALABAMA, had become famous. Hap told me Randy Owen came into the restaurant and bought one of my prints. Small world. When I heard of the new Randy Owen Center I immediately thought of painting a portrait of Randy for the hall. It is an honor to have it hanging there."
Finley is currently creating videos of his process creating his paintings and plans to share them at his upcoming one man show and possibly online. He credits his relationship with Christ and having his wife, Janet, who has stood with him through the tough times and times of celebration, to being the most important aspects of his career as an artist. His daughters, Catie, Leah and Sarah, their husbands, and his eleven grandchildren are inspirations for many of his paintings.
To view his work and learn more about Donny Finley, visit donnyfinley.com. His portrait of Randy Owen will be recognized at the upcoming Pi Kappa Phi ribbon cutting at the Randy Owen Center for the Performing Arts on October 13, 2026. Finley will be holding a one person exhibit at the Alabama Center for the Arts in January 2027.