Daily Inspiration: Meet Quenton Colby

Today we’d like to introduce you to Quenton Colby.

Hi Quenton, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been an artist but specifically since second grade winning second place in a drawing contest. After that I was selling karate pictures in seventh grade for 50cents. After high school, I did ended up attending three different colleges, majoring in fine art but didn’t finish since I was on my own with no family support and not very motivated or focused which I do regret. I was the only one in my family who tried college but felt I was ok without a college degree. During college, I did work for several years doing caricatures at six flags but got tired of the long hours and stupid uniforms so that job expired quickly,lol. I’d say the beginning of my career was when I got a job painting landscapes on furniture for a faux finishing business for a few years which soon dissolved after 9/11. From there on I knew I couldn’t work for anyone else so I started cold calling designers and talked my way into jobs doing interior specialty finishing and commission paintings. It’s now been over 20 years and have developed a name for myself working with big builders and architects. I’m now doing large scale projects for commercial jobs specifically Venetian plasters, murals and other architectural finishes. Client list includes The Sheppard Center, Bobby McAlpine, Tom Glavin, Alton Brown and Usher.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I can definitely say I’ve played the role of a “starving artist”! After the market crash in 2008 I lost a ton of work, had to move out from my apartment and move in with my girlfriend (who’s now my wife of 12 years). But the biggest obstacle I’ve overcame was In 2001, right after Covid, when I suffered from a massive heart attack right after a four hour bike ride. Luckily, it happened in front of people and was eventually saved by a defibrillator. The best thing was that I was locked out of my house and had to keep riding when it happened less than a mile away so there were people to call 911. Otherwise, my family would’ve came home and found me unconscious or even worse, deceased. At the time, my work consisted of lacquering furniture but after my heart attack I said no more and decided to focus on my talent and start taking on more creative projects. Five years later I’m going hard with my Venetian plasters and large scale murals!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I specialize in wall textures and custom murals. With the plasters, I give walls an organic earthy stone look. You see a lot of this in restaurants and hotel lobby’s. I would say I get a lot of recognition from my ATL mural in summerhill and my work at Rose and Crown in East Cobb. There I plastered several rooms, one in which I painted a landscape mural on then two of the other rooms were an antique mahogany wall finish and last but not least a commission painting in the lobby where you enter the space. Seriously put my stamp on this beautiful restaurant!
And I think what sets me apart from others is the complex hand movement and colorful layers in my plasters. I don’t hold back and try to make sure my finishes have a long and durable shelf life so it gets better with time.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Riding bikes all across town with my buddies which is what I still do to this day! I’m very active so exploring on a bike is timeless for me. I’ve raced mtn and road bikes for over 20 years but now I’m just doing endurance rides with ma buddies! I’m also an outdoorsman and grew up hunting and fishing and golfing. You’ll also find me spinning records on occasion! You have to keep life interesting and explore as much as possible!

Pricing:

• My plaster work can cost $25-50 sf
• Murals are priced per job.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @qcstudio