Meet Tony Pettis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Pettis.

Tony, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had such an enormous amount of both respect and admiration for Arts and Culture. Whether it was living up North in Lockport Port New York as a minor, or developing personal relationships with key artistic figures and artists in the beautiful South of Columbus Georgia, Art’s become a huge part of me. I can still vividly remember always being seen as that one Artsy kid who was extremely talented, and also of very good usage when asked to get in groups for creative projects in class from the start of middle school until graduation week in high school. There was always a slight fear of giving myself over to Art, and that being an Artist was the equivalent to being broke. I’m sure a lot of my influence in reference to that viewpoint may have been fabricated by my own wild imagination, and the other half being a societal outlook on Starving artists. So you can imagine, finding work or figuring out what a future after high school would look like for a Young Tony Pettis was not all rainbows and butterflies.

I graduated high school with a below-average GPA and three College Credits in which one of those were Art related. And in my desperate mental state, that made me feel like jumping into yet another slot of busyness with school might not have been such a bad idea. Out of fear, I began searching for Colleges within the area that would hopefully spark my interest, all while looking for jobs at the same time. Eventually, I landed a job and the thought of making consistent income overtook my attempts to continue college life and even my passion for becoming a professional artist. I found myself working extremely hard with a few years at a wing spot and some in an athletic shoe store. Although the years spent with those companies weren’t all that bad, I couldn’t help but feel like there was a greater source of fulfillment that I never gave a chance to. At this point, work had robbed me of both a personal/Social life and any spare time for that matter. I was still able to keep my hand on the pulse of some things by uploading older works of art onto Instagram and other social media platforms.

I gained a pretty consistent fan base on Instagram in particular and one afternoon, I received a direct message that would reintroduce me to the world of art forever. Onkar Dhindsa, a New York City-based Health Coach and Private trainer, reached out to me in reference to a book he’d been wanted to create and went on to say how impressed he was with my artwork. Long story short, we created a plan around his vision for the book, and in less than three months, I’d finished the illustrations for “Growing Pains”. Our relationship grew and Onkar and I had never met, but he’d spoken to me about this idea for a book release party and Art Gallery featuring larger images of the illustrations. Of course, I agreed to this, it would’ve been insane not to. So it happened, at 20 years old I returned to New York, Manhattan this time around and cohosted a book release Art Gallery on the grandest stage of them all. That moment was a turning point for me and my career as an artist. In-between that moment and now, I’ve partnered with other Local Arts and Advocates in efforts to forward the Creative community here in Georgia. Most recently, I’ve been blessed to hold the title of Assistant and Gallery curator for Dr. Garry Pound and Pound Studio.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I think with every new journey. There’s a newer battle. And the test of it all isn’t necessarily about how good you can appear to handle it, but what you can learn as it runs its course. My biggest obstacle can be a bit repetitive. And that’s living up to the standards I’ve placed over my own life. I think our concept of time can sometimes be unrealistic. We feel that certain accomplishments should be locked under our belts and secured before we reach other phases of our lives. But that’s not necessarily true.

We’d love to hear more about your art.
I wear quite a few hats, literally and figuratively. I’ve been developing a Branding and Marketing resource called TONYtalks, and through that, I’ve held two successful Summits in newer establishments locally. I’ve also posed for several Artists and in our area along with two sessions for the students of internationally renowned local artist Bo Bartlett. With my hands being in so many pots and parts of our community, I think that sets me and my overall agenda apart from others. I’m both an artist and an advocate for the dreamers of not only my community but our generation and world. Through my endeavors, Art has always kept me centered. It’s the only avenue that channels what I feel in real time. It’s therapeutic and it pays well. Art gives us the inability to be and go wherever we choose, and freedom is liberating.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I was given the opportunity to start over, I wouldn’t change much in the sense of my work ethic, but more so on the value I’ve placed on my self-worth. Building a personal brand can cost you your self awareness and sanity. And in most cases, the business became a bigger priority than my own personal happiness. As I currently am working on getting back to that secure and place, I do often wonder how things would’ve looked if I’d started this journey off with the strive for developing a healthy career as a professional artist being second to my mental clarity. My success is and will always be measured by how much of me is left once the job is completed.

Pricing:

• 11in X 14in Portraits are 75$
• 11in X 12in Portraits are 45$

Contact Info:

• Address: 100 7th Street 31901 Columbus GA
• Phone: 762-583-5878
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @tonyartist
• Facebook: Tony Pettis

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