About The Artist

Felix Anthony(Tony) Grigsby was born in Detroit, MI during the short period that his parents had moved away from the poverty-ridden mountains of Eastern Kentucky to try to make a better life. But after a few short years it became apparent that the city life wasn’t for everyone. Tony’s mother decided to pack up her children and move back to their roots and therefore brought her children home. Eastern Kentucky is in the deep heart of coal mining country and the lifestyle there was very rough and harsh.  His family depended on a small hillside farm to provide most of their food.  Survival required that the children learn to help out and cope at a very young age.  By the age of 6 years, Tony, his brothers and their mother would hike into the mountains to go into the old deserted deep mine shafts to dig out coal by hand. Then they had to pack the coal in grain sacks back down the mountain for fuel for their old iron, barrel style stove to provide heat during the rough winter months. 

These types of experiences seemed perfectly normal and natural, just a part of everyday life.  The values and lessons learned from these experiences became instilled in him, and as a result, he learned at a very early age that if he wanted to get something accomplished, he would have to make it happen himself.  Tony has used these lessons over his lifetime, in that he was self taught in almost every area he has worked in, including being a self-taught Artist.

As a child, Tony’s mother encouraged his interest in art. She was fascinated with the lives and works of artist such as Van Gout, Monet, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and some of the other great masters. She would read books to Tony and her other children about the lives of the great artists.  She believed that an artist was born the day that she gave birth to Tony, and to this day believes his work is that of a great artist. She tells stories about how he began drawing at age 4 or 5 and how he would use bugs, small animals, etc. as his subjects. Another of his favorite subjects was the mountainous landscape of Eastern Kentucky where they lived. Incidentally Tony wasn’t the only artist in this area, for it is the same community where Willard Gayheart, the famous pencil artist, musician and writer, lived. Mr. Gayheart lived only about a mile from Tony’s home, and unfortunately, although they have talents and artistic inspirations in common, they have never met.

In school, Tony began to draw and occupy himself with his art, while ignoring his schoolwork.  Needless to say his grades suffered from this diversion, but his artwork was gradually improving. He eventually became known throughout the school as having a great talent for art. When he reached the 11th grade, the principle recognized his art talent (although he believed this talent was just a means to a "real" vocation). He suggested that Tony attend the Hazard Community Technical Vocational School and study drafting. So after enrolling in the school, Tony found that Drafting and Mathematics came natural, and it was at this time that he was introduced to pen and ink as new tools for artistic illustration.  During his school years, he also painted and drew with and upon whatever materials were available. Sometimes he used inexpensive paints and canvas board, velvet and/or poster paper that his mother managed to obtain when money was available. Other times he would use household paints on plywood or whatever materials he could obtain. Unfortunately, most all of this work has been lost or destroyed over the years.

In the fall of 1975, Tony met and fell deeply in love with his soon to be wife, Dianna. They were married on Independences Day, the 4th of July, Bi-Centennial year 1976. She became his best friend, wife, and the mother to his children.

After getting married and earning a degree in Mechanical Drafting, Tony began working as a draftsman for a Coal Mining Company in London, Ky, about 100 miles to the southwest of his home.  Around this time his Art was put aside to make time for the more important things that were now a bigger part of his life, his wife, and their 2 daughters.  For the next 25 years Tony applied most of his time and efforts, toward taking care of his family and raising their children. And to instill in them independence and self-efficiency. He wanted to insure their survival in a world much different from the one he grew up in.  In 1987, Tony moved his family to Wilmington, NC where his wife, Dianna, attended college at The University of North Carolina-Wilmington, to study nursing.  Tony continued to work as an Assistant Engineer and Draftsman during the day, and studied at night to pass the difficult exam for Professional Land Surveyor of the State of North Carolina. He passed this exam and became a Professional Land Surveyor in 1991. 

After these achievements Tony and his wife decided that yet another move was necessary. In the best interest of their family they moved closer to their roots, and back to the Appalachian Mountains.   They settled in Hendersonville, NC, in the western section of North Carolina.  Here they spent the next 10 years, buying a home and finally putting down some permanent roots and making time for family and friends.  It was here that Tony set up a small private Land Surveying Business and Dianna worked for the local hospital as their daughters completed the final years of their childhood and prepared for adulthood.

After his daughters became adults and moved on to lives of their own, Tony began to feel that something was missing in his life.  He found himself sketching and drawing during idle time with no particular objective, and slowly came to the realization that it was all about the ART.  The art was resurfacing to take its rightful place from which it had been dormant, placed in limbo for all those years to make room for the more important family matters. In the fall of 2001, Tony realized his need to continue his art studies through his own eyes and with his own style, just as he had when he was a younger man. He decided that it was time to take the initiative and master his craft, to fine tune his natural talent through education, studying of various techniques and styles, and to gain experience from other artists. Tony knew to pursue this; it would take much commitment and dedication. He also realized it would require radical changes in his live.  Therefore, after careful consideration, Tony and Dianna decided that major changes were necessary, and together they began to put in action plans for a new and very different exciting life.  They sold most all of their personal belongings, retaining only their home in Hendersonville, NC and a few personal possessions.  They purchased a 37 foot, fully equipped Motor Home (soon to be known as The Mobile Studio). They decided to travel throughout the country, living among the landscapes of North America, with home being wherever they stopped for the day.  Currently Dianna works as a Contract Nurse, working for a Travel Nurse company while Tony maintains and manages the motor home and, at times, works random jobs along the way, while studying his Art. 

Tony soon reached the conclusion that Art was much more than creating an object on the surface of a canvas.  He feels that to be an artist, you have to live Art, requiring deep concentration and study of your subjects. You have to see, feel, smell, touch and become a part of your subjects and then when your work is complete, your Art becomes a part of you. The direction of his Artwork has now moved mostly into landscape scenes, as were many of his subjects from his early days.  Landscapes have always been his favorite subjects. Since he has always been an active outdoorsman and has worked as a Professional Land Surveyor, in which he did a lot of outdoor work, he has a natural ability to appreciate the beauty of nature around him.  As a result, the various outdoor landscapes have become his classroom and Mother Nature has become his teacher. From studying within these landscapes, he has become more in touch with nature and has become more culturally and geographically diversified. 

Each piece of Tony’s work is more than just a landscape, an event, or a moment in time. They reflect his passion for the beauty of creation that goes beyond what is seen with the eyes, but reflects what is perceived through the heart and soul.

"I cannot now change my style, which I acquired, as you can imagine, by dint of labour."   —  Henri-Julien-Felix Rousseau

By:   Reginald Vickers