Findler was a professional house painter and decorator, running his own business in the Staffordshire village of Cheddleton. In the 1851 census, however, he is described as 'House and sign painter' and is said to have painted most of the public house signs in the district. After his retirement he devoted himself to painting, mostly religious subjects and landscapes. In 1874 he held his only exhibition at the nearby town of Leek. On his second marriage in 1887, the local paper described him as 'the well-known artist'.