"It began for me with a love of drawing and observing things. My work is an ongoing dialogue with art history and the challenge of telling my own story through the language of drawing and painting. It is an effort to slow down and pay attention" Tony Griffin is a classically trained painter having lived in Florence Italy from the age of 11 though high school graduation. He lived with and also apprenticed with fresco artist Ben Long. During this time he received training from the atelier of Sigorina Nera Simi at the recommendation of the Italian master, Pietro Annigoni. Tony's early artistic training was heavily influenced by the Italian Renaissance masters - a set of artistic ideals that was enjoying another renaissance in the Florence community of expatriate artists in the late 70's, and that still persists. Tony returned to he United States to attend the Pennsylvania Academy (1979-1983). Today he is one of North Carolina's most noted artists and divides his time between his Charlotte-area and mountain homes.