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Robert Quinlin spent the better part of the past two pandemic years toiling away with sheet metal and geometric shapes.
The retired bariatric surgeon from Fox Chapel handles a welding torch like a scalpel, cutting triangles, cubes, dodecahedrons — a circular-type structure with 12 flat faces — and other “golden shapes” pleasing to his eye.
“There is simple beauty in geometry,” Quinlin said. “It’s not everybody’s taste. Every time I light up that torch I learn something.”
His largest pieces are about six feet tall and stand outside of his garage.
Quinlin, 75, primarily does TIG welding — tungsten inert gas. It uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to heat the metal and is used in many industries.
Retired surgeon Robert Quinlin of Fox Chapel welds a new work of art pic.twitter.com/XKuYvQzo5Y
— Mike D. (@MikeJdiVittorio) January 13, 2022
He learned welding skills from friend, Daniel Kohn, a retired doctor and past president of the Maryland Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, who operates a clothing business out of Baltimore. The two were medical school classmates and have known each other for about 50 years.
Vases were among Quinlin’s earliest works. He has close to 100 creations. Most of them involve sheet metal and brass.
They all have some built-in imperfection to give a genuine feel, not like it was stamped out by some robot in a factory.
Quinlin tends to sketch out his work and sometimes makes paper models before heading to the work bench.
“My favorite tends to be the latest thing I’m doing,” he said. “It’s a combination of mediocre welding and mediocre art. It’s an odd day if I don’t (pick up the torch).”
He does it for his own enjoyment with no plans to sell the pieces or have an art show.
Quinlin was born and raised in Shrewsbury, England.
He was working as a teen in a turkey processing plant and had dreams of traveling the world with a friend.
“We were going to fly the coop,” Quinlin said. “What’s to lose?”
Plans changed when the friend got in to the Royal Naval Academy. Quinlin would turn to an uncle in Pittsburgh, also named Robert, who would help sponsor his immigration to the United States.
“I worked until I had enough to come here, and I came here by boat in 1965,” Quinlin said. “When I first landed in Pittsburgh I arrived by train from New York. My uncle got me a job working at Mellon Bank. I worked in the check processing department. I never had any idea what I was doing. They had a huge push at that time for everyone to go to college. Unfortunately, I had no qualifications and no money.”
With a little help from his uncle and some networking, Quinlin got into the University of Pittsburgh and earned a soccer scholarship.
“Some foreigner with a legitimate English accent showed up, and they were happy,” Quinlin said of his college admission. “They gave me a tryout on the soccer team, and it was fine. This is America. I didn’t know what to study. They had freshman orientation. I went around asking people what they were going to do and how they planned their lives. I paid particular attention to what all the smart kids were going to do. All the smart kids wanted to go into medicine. I said, ‘Well, I’m going to give that a try.’ ”
He majored in biology and went on to medical school, graduating in 1974.
He finished a residency in 1979, spent a year in Colorado and came back to Pittsburgh to be a surgeon. He worked at UPMC Montefiore, Shadyside and St. Margaret, among other places.
Quinlin was instrumental in developing West Virginia University’s bariatric surgery program. He retired about six years ago.
Quinlin has a commercial pilot’s license and was part-owner of a small charter air business out of the Allegheny County Airport in the early 1990s. .
“We provided crews and maintenance for corporate customers in Pittsburgh,” he said. “I was really more of an economic partner. It’s such a sexy business flying airplanes and coming in and out of hangers. Really, really thin margins. … I got into flying because it was such a great thing to do.”
He also built and sold two helicopters.
“You come to the United States and can do pretty much anything you want here,” Quinlin said.
He has lived in Fox Chapel the past 20 years.
“I like the openness here,” Quinlin said about the borough.
Quinlin was married for about 16 years to Dr. Elizabeth Sagan, a urology specialist with UPMC.
The two have four adult children, Molly, Kate, Annie and Max.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to mention the full medical career of Dr. Daniel Kohn.
Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-871-2367, mdivittorio@triblive.com or via Twitter .
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