Artist Bio
Greg Quayle "I began my sculpting career in 1968, at the age of thirteen. My parents, in their infinite wisdom, probably realized that young Greg was not destined for academics, or possibly the ability to hold a Normal Job. They saw in me, a spark of enthusiasm at a craft show, as I watched a torch-wielding sculptor joining together nuts, bolts and scraps of steel into whimsical flying machines. I was hooked. Even without much begging, my Christmas gift that year was an acetylene torch set and the rest is history. It did not take long before I was creating marketable sculptures that I sold to local gift shops and craft galleries in my hometown of Manhattan Beach, CA. I began attending and displaying at numerous craft shows throughout Southern California. I learned quickly to pay attention to my customers comments, using the information to guide me in creating sculptures that had market appeal. Humor became a focus very early in my sculptures, a smile or chuckle from a customer was good, outright laughter was the best. I see comedy in almost every situation in life, and I choose to aim at this, not the negative. I will do my best to keep you smiling. In the summer of 1972, while still in high school, I opened a retail store in the Old Towne Mall in Torrance, CA. These were formative years. Greg Quayle Metal Sculpture was located in Artisan Way, a whole section of the mall filled with nothing but creative craftspeople. At this time I was in my late teens and had few liabilities, restrictions and cares. I created everything and anything that amused or inspired me at that moment. It was a natural evolution that occurred during these years. The creations that took a long time to sell were not remade and the ones that sold quickly were replaced immediately. It was during this period, the fall of 1972, that The Original FLEA was created. Within a very short period of time it was obvious that I had hit on something special. From that point on, the FLEA was the focal point in every sculpture. After a few years of retailing, I switched my focus and lifestyle to wholesaling my work and creating at home. For several years, my FLEA sculptures were featured at a rather large chain of stores called EarthCraft, located mostly in Southern California. I moved from urban Southern CA to rural Northern CA, Grass Valley, in 1979. The desire was to relocate to a more peaceful place to raise a family. For the next 26 years I continued to create the OriginalFLEA sculptures and ship them all over the world. I estimate that I have created and sold over 170,000 FLEAS since 1972. Although I continued to create fleas in a limited way, I did take a Normal Job for 10 years. Having experienced the corporate world, It became very apparent that I needed out. In 2001 I resigned to resume a full time artistic life and I have never been happier." Jeff Quayle
"I became interested in torch work at an early age. I started helping my Dad weld FLEAS when I was 6 years old. In my early teens, I was sculpting in earnest. What started out to be an easy way to make a little pocket money, eventually evolved into a passion to be creative, (like father like son). In 1997, I moved out of my parents house and went away to college. I not only packed clothes, books and school supplies, but also my torch. I welded FLEAS in college and helped Dad keep his customers well supplied. After graduation, I moved back to the Sacramento area to start a career and life after college. After several years in the real world, I knew that I wanted to work for myself and utilize my creativity to bring smiles to peoples faces. I wanted to create the OriginalFLEA metal sculptures again. In 2004, OriginalFLEA.com was created. We are now back together for our latest endeavor and we are thrilled. We have our torches in hand and are enjoying life. We look forward to building this new web based connection to you, our customer. We welcome any feedback and comments. We strongly desire to spend the rest of our days creating and selling our special brand of artwork and spread as much FLEA humor as we are able."