About the artist
Valla Ann is a mixed-media folk artist whose work is inspired by the landscapes at both ends of the Appalachian Trail—from her home in Blue Ridge, Georgia, to the rugged coast of Maine. Splitting her time between the mountain town of Blue Ridge and the coastal village of Roque Bluffs, she transforms found objects—bottles, buttons, pinecones, beads, driftwood, leaves, and shoreline treasures—into one-of-a-kind Forest People with personality, humor, and quiet soul.
Her work celebrates the imperfect and the unexpected. Each Forest Person carries the spirit of the mountains: playful, sacred, and deeply connected to the natural world. Through her art, Valla invites us to care for the land that cares for us, reminding us that beauty often begins with something forgotten or cast aside.
About the artwork
The Forest People began as artistic experiments and evolved into a tribe of characters full of spirit, humor, and quiet wisdom. Each one is built from reclaimed and repurposed materials found during wanderings through forests, riverbanks, and mountain trails — objects that nature or time had forgotten.
Every Forest Person is a collaboration between the natural world and the imagination. Their personalities hint at the stories of the places they came from and the hands that shaped them. Some are whimsical, some mysterious, some meditative — all of them are connected to the land and remind us to slow down, notice small wonders, and find meaning in unexpected places.
They are not decorations; they are companions, storytellers, and gentle reminders that beauty doesn’t need to be perfect — it just needs to be real.