Marian McKinney is the artist behind the designs at McKinney Forge and Design Studio. Marian has always loved art and grew up around objects that her ancestors made from metal which inspired her to continue the tradition. She has been working with metal professionally for 20 years. After receiving a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from the University of Memphis and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Memphis College of Art she worked in Memphis, then moved to Bucyrus Missouri, where she currently lives and works.
Much of the inspiration for her work comes from her natural surroundings as well as from nostalgic sources. Living in the country provides the inspiration for the organic nature of her designs. This is often combined with inspiration from sentimental sources from growing up in the south. Part of her southern heritage recalls memories of formal dinners and holidays where her family used silver serving trays. Later in life when she saw 
these trays in flea markets and at auctions it brought back memories of her childhood. It seemed a very natural progression to incorporate the trays into her work, especially since they went hand in hand with the organic nature of her current designs.
“I hope by collecting these discarded tray and transforming them into sculptures, baskets, and jewelry I can give them a new life and meaning for a new generation.”
Silver serving trays are collected from auctions and flea markets and used in many of the designs at McKinney Forge.