Studio Quayle - Artist Blog: May 2007

Greg Quayle

Background

I have been creating my sculptures for 39 years. I was raised in Manhattan Beach, CA. At the age of 13, I had the torch fired up in my parent’s garage and soon began selling my creations at local shops and more than a few art and craft shows in Southern California.

By 1972 I was creating my sculptures in a studio / retail store in Torrance, CA. I spent 3 formative years there building my skills and exploring all sorts of paths for my sculpted creations.

I moved my family to Grass Valley in 1979 and spent 22 years sculpting in my studio in our log home in the forest.

I now reside in Rocklin California. I am married, have 2 grown children and 3 wonderful grandsons.

How my sculptures are created

If there is some magic in the process of creating my sculptures, it is the experience. 38 years with a torch in my hand has given me the ability to do things with flame, metal and my hands that few can. The tools are simple, an oxy-acetylene torch, tin snips, pliers, a hammer and a vice. Materials are basic too, light gauge cold rolled steel and mild steel welding rod. I snip, bend, heat, pound and weld until it looks right and makes me smile. A typical sculpture takes anywhere from 10 to 30 hours to complete. I apply coloring with a solvent dye solution and then a protective lacquer finish. I also cut my own bases from premium hardwoods, sand and finish them with clear lacquer.

My sculptures are truly the definition of unique, simply because they are “One of a kind”. They are not offered in limited editions. Every one is hand created. There is only one. A collector of my work is buying a piece that no one else on earth has…. It is unique.

The inspiration

That is easy. It’s about being passionate every day. I get to create sculptures that are totally unique, one of a kind. They are detailed. They are humorous. I know I am finished with a piece when I am smiling. I hold it in my hands, I turn it around and around, and I can’t see anything to change or anything else too add. I can’t stop looking at it. It makes me smile.

Each sculpture I create, there is a spark, an idea that gets it going. I have had a love of medieval things since I was very young. I love flight, I am a pilot. I love machines. Some of the ones I create are quite accurate, some are pure fantasy, but hopefully they look as if they could be real. I love interesting characters, not necessarily the perfect human form, I prefer the slightly offbeat, quirky, odd, whimsical, ones.

I want my sculptures to stop people in their tracks and make them look and then make them look some more. I want them to recognize the skill and craftsmanship and the care that is in every piece. Maybe they say “Wow”. Maybe they snicker a little or laugh out loud.

A Wow and a Laugh ….. That is the Detail and the Humor.