When Tony Gregory quit his Maryland teaching job to move to Key West in 1976, he was partly motivated by a discovery made on previous visits: on an island full of offbeat characters, he wasn’t regarded as weird.
“I was weird where I grew up, I was weird when I went to college — but when I got here, nobody cared,” said Gregory, perched in his crowded studio above the Art @ 830 gallery he owns with best friend and life partner Christine Scarsella.
Gregory, with his charismatic grin and mop of curly hair, quickly became one of the island’s “cool kids” after his arrival, living a free-spirited life within the rebel art community.
He developed a reputation as a skilled airbrush artist, pedaled around town on a high-wheel “penny-farthing” bicycle, hung out with the brilliant street performers known as Loco-motion Circus, and enjoyed one of the island’s most memorable eras.
“When we were doing these things, I don’t think everybody knew how great it was,” Gregory said. “I mean, Key West is very special and very magical, but the 1970s and beginning of the ’80s was over-the-top special and magical.”
Gregory eventually opened a store/studio/gallery on Duval Street, whimsically named Art Attack, that emerged as a local creative hotspot. He also honed his talent for painting canvases and shooting photos — and much to his own surprise, became an in-demand wedding photographer.
“I always was a photographer, but I was making my living as an artist,” Gregory said. “A friend of mine asked me to shoot their wedding and I said ‘I don’t do weddings.’”
But the buddy persisted, and Gregory finally agreed. That shoot led to a steady stream of bookings from local wedding coordinators, and later resulted in top placement on Google and other internet sites.
In 1994, he and longtime friend Scarsella launched Open Minded, an eclectic shop in the 700 block of Duval Street.
“We didn’t even know what it was going to be, but we got it off the ground and the things we carried sold like hotcakes,” Gregory said.
After their successful professional partnership evolved into a personal partnership, he and Scarsella opened Art @ 830 on Caroline Street in the Key West Historic Seaport district.
Meanwhile, though grateful for his photography business, Gregory realized he was barely painting anymore and determined to restore the balance between his two creative passions.
Today he spends about 50 percent of his time doing photo shoots and the rest painting in his studio above Art @ 830. He also still airbrushes faces and bodies for special events such as Key West’s Zombie Bike Ride.
Gregory’s paintings are sometimes abstract and sometimes representational, full of vivid colors and alive with energy and life.
“When I’m painting, I never feel like I’m working because I enjoy doing it,” he said. “I do most of my art to make people feel good.”
He often thinks in terms of abstracts, Gregory explained, but as a painting develops he lets the creative process dictate the direction it will take. From floral fantasies to swirling blends of shape and line, his works project an appealing exuberance that holds the viewer’s gaze — an exuberance that reflects his positive mindset and pleasure in his Key West life.
“All the beautiful Key West colors and floral things and the sunsets definitely inspire me,” Gregory said. “Seeing all these colors all the time definitely gets stamped into your brain.”
A few years ago, he immersed himself in creating what he calls the Key West alphabet — individual paintings of every letter of the alphabet surrounded by island elements beginning with that letter. For example, the “C” is embellished with images of a pink-lined conch shell and a cat, the “H” is adorned with lush hibiscus blossoms, and the bright purple “P” is paired with a pelican and a palm tree.
A selection of alphabet pieces is displayed in Art @ 830 — as are additional paintings by Gregory. The gallery is renowned for its vibrant blend of art glass, sculpture, unique jewelry and distinctive works by local artists and others.
When he’s not painting or shooting photos, Gregory enjoys island pursuits: pulling crab traps with two friends during the harvest season, taking his 18-foot boat out to fish for snapper and other food fish, and simply savoring time with Scarsella.
Key West may have changed a good bit since his arrival in 1976, but he still treasures the magical place he discovered where he “wasn’t weird.”
“The things that remain the same are much stronger to me than the things that have changed,” he said. “The weather, the people, the culture … I love my life.”
