Once you step into Donald ¨Donnie” Quales’s 1898 home, it becomes clear that Halloween isn’t just a holiday here; it runs much deeper. Every table, shelf, and hallway of the historic home is bursting with surreal decor and creative antique oddities, turning a living space into a festive escape.
Having a house that is flourishing with decor can be overstimulating, but for Quales, it brings a sense of warmth and community.
“Everything in here, [is] basically handmade, and It took time to make,” Quales said. “It’s such a cool way to decorate, especially in the age [where] we look at all of our art from Target.”
To some people, art is as simple as putting paint on a canvas, but for Quales, art has become an abstract term, and in some sense, a rebirth. Quales acts on this sentiment with the many hand-painted animal skulls and taxidermy pieces within his home.
“I’d love to give it a second life,” Quales said. “It means it’s still going on. It’s still relative in a physical way.”
Quales also uses the decorations within his house to tell the stories of places he has entered and exited throughout his life. There are multiple encounters in his home where he has imbued beauty and meaning into mundane objects.
Quales has always been different, but Quales openly embraces the title, whether that means other people will understand his creative spaces or not. Admittedly, his family does not share his love for the unusual oddities that have been so deeply ingrained into his life, but he has learned to find comfort in his differences.
“My family is very, very conservative and deep-rooted in the south, I think they’re all afraid to come in here, tell me the truth,” Quales said. “They’ve always known I was different, we all get along and everything’s great, but they’re like, ‘dude, you’re weird, man.’”
Quales is also deeply intrigued by religious iconography. Religious sculptures and Santos figures are visible in various places in his home, and with them is a deep passion.
“I love religious iconography because people who create art with a religious or spiritual motive, they really put their heart and soul in [it]” Quales said.
Growing up in the most religious parts of the south, allusions to Quales roots and upbringing are littered throughout his home in atypical ways, such as a sculpture including a tomb in front of stained glass windows.
“Some people would think that’s morbid, but for me, a tombstone that’s never used? That’s a beautiful thing,” Quales said.
Growing up religious put a lot of fear into Quales’s mind, and with his love of artwork, he found a way to overcome and finally face his fears upfront, and he has become content with facing his fears
“As corny as it sounds, [becoming] spiritually content [was] a long journey, it took facing a lot of fears, you know?” Quales said. “[The religious iconography in his home] is almost like a trophy, I conquered this.”
Aside from his more poetic artworks, Quales keeps his most ambitious project inside of his garage, various car parts turned into a working kinetic sculpture. Thirteen years of work, and counting, has become a creative experiment that he sees in his future.
“I don’t even consider it a car, it’s an interactive, kinetic sculpture,” Quales said. “It’s gonna be all […] modernized, but I plan on driving it across the country.”
Every piece of artwork in Quales’ home is a testament to a person’s craftsmanship, whether that’s his own, a student, or someone that he will never meet. Whether it’s a sculpture or an antique organ, Quales loves to surround himself with imperfection and artwork that holds meaning.
“I invest my money in stuff I like art, you know? And I get to enjoy it.” Quales said.
For Quales, art isn’t just paint on a canvas; it’s a collection of different stories told by different people in many different, tangible forms. Engraving thousands of different people’s stories into his house is what makes it a home, and it’s an everyday reminder to him that artistic creativity is forever timeless.
“The best thing about art for me is that it just lets people think, ‘What it’s all about, you know? It’s not about making pretty little pictures just to hang on the wall,” Quales said.
