The concrete creations of Calistoga artists Emily and Quinn Scheibal are hot.

Designers clamor for them; stores can’t keep them stocked. Their floatable concrete spheres have been featured in “Country Home” and in “Sunset’s 2006 Western Landscaping book.” While the multi-sized spheres are popular, the Scheibal’s company, Quinnterra, also has concrete bowls, Roman torsos and other garden art.

“Our work is carried at Mosswood in Yountville, Main Element in Calistoga, the Gardener in Berkeley, San Francisco and Healdsburg and ISDA & Co. in San Francisco,” said Emily, 32. “We just learned that Flora Grubb Gardens in San Francisco is going to carry our line.”

Quinn explained that the concrete spheres are hollow and, thus, float. “They make ships out of concrete,” he said.

The company name comes from Quinn, along with the Latin “terra” meaning “earth.” While the success of any young artist is remarkable, even more so is the story of how the Napa natives got together.

“We were high school sweethearts,” said Emily. “When we split up, I moved to New York and studied plaster and mold-making at State University of New York. Quinn moved around and took fine arts classes. Ten years after we’d parted, I came home to Calistoga for a holiday and ran into Quinn. We spent a week together. A while later, he had a wedding to attend in New York and we spent another week together. I moved back. We were married at his father house in Calistoga four years ago.”

The couple now shares their Calistoga home with their son, Jackson, and two dogs.

The concrete garden art collection had modest beginnings.

“I was in Portland studying graphic design and my father, Tom, owned the Bale Mill shop,” said Quinn, 34. “He designed and made metal furniture. When I came here on a holiday, he asked me to make a few concrete tabletops for his furniture. I remember it was rainy and cold when I made them. The next thing I know he calls me and says that he sold those concrete tabletops.”

Quinn branched out, making other garden accessories. When he and Emily reunited, she had the technical and design expertise to market Quinn’s work.

“With Quinn’s dad as our mentor, we worked on getting our product lines stronger, more consistent and trying new things,” said Emily. “Our first San Francisco Garden Show was in 2003 and we haven’t stopped since.”

Retail prices range from $30 for a small torso to $495 for a three-foot sphere. Quinn builds up the spheres and bowls from concrete, while Emily casts the human forms in concrete. Finishes of green, terra cotta, beige or charcoal may be specified. Depending on the weather, since that affects how long it takes for the concrete to set, Quinn may produce 25 pieces in a week. Constantly innovating, the couple is working on a penguin series of garden art for which they plan to donate a portion of the profits to an environmental organization.

Quinn is putting the finishing touches on a water feature piece commissioned for a public space in Walnut Creek.

“The piece is based on Indonesian carved granite pots,” said Quinn, who had to fashion all the fish scale-like texture on the back of the piece one by one. “They had to be rounded, so that when the water runs down the face of it, it doesn’t splash.”

The design element

One of the couple’s early supporters is designer Leslie Wilks in St. Helena. “About four or five years ago, Quinn was selling concrete top tables that were quite beautiful,” said Wilks. “When I needed architectural detail for a client’s garden I went to Quinn and discussed spheres. We worked on the color and texture of them.

“The spheres are great; they’re moveable, so I can also use them in temporary installations or when staging a house. The material is long-lasting and lightweight.”

Wilks explained that using the spheres and other decorative pieces creates depth and interest in a garden.

“They lend proportion to the garden environment. Depending on the architectural element, they can be quirky or romantic and they set off different textures. Your eye travels to the objects and brings you in visually. They can soften edges and complements the organic green of leaves and trees. It’s a nice yin and yang.”

Demand has been so high for their products, the couple decided to open their own gallery in Calistoga. The gallery is located at 3380 Highway 128, north of Tubbs Lane, two driveways after Bennett Lane Winery and is open Thursday through Monday from 10 to 5. No appointment is needed. The gallery also features the work of other artists, including Paul Block of Wine Barrel Furniture.

Quinterra’s studio is behind the gallery. Here beneath a pop-up tent ceiling, Quinn lugs bags of cement, mixes it and shapes and forms it until he’s satisfied. Figurative art, feet and torsos, litter the yard, waiting for their finishing touches.

Like many, if not most, artists, Emily and Quinn also have part time work. Two days a week, he is a massage therapist and she is a bartender at an upscale restaurant. As Quinterra continues to build, they plan to cut back their part time employment.

They also struggle with another issue.

“We want to make more one of a kind pieces,” said Emily. “That’s more in the artist category. Quinnterra has been moving toward an craftsperson-artist model and, not that it’s wrong to be a craftsperson artist, it’s taking us farther away from what we want to do. We’re hoping to do more of that with our gallery.”

Quinn agreed. “Even famous artists, like Robin, had to take work that paid while they made art.”

He hopes the community will support their endeavor. “You see garden art imported from China and other places where the working conditions are poor. We’re one of the only ones making this (type of art) in the country. I believe in supporting your own.”

Emily nodded. “Support our own village.”

Seeing the quality artwork they produce, Quinnterra will be supported for a long time.