By Cynthia Connell Davis

Norbert Shimkus’s sculpture Queen Bee (below) was my first encounter with his work. Queen Bee lured me in, in Elkhart, at the Midwest Museum of American Art’s juried show last fall (2024). Her fine features topped with the bee in her bonnet – her mirth, whimsy, and elegance -- captured not only my attention, but also my heart. A few weeks later, she led me to Shimkus’s Thursday noontime talk at MMAA. From there, she led me to discover his journey of 45 years, working in marketing and graphic design in Chicago, with fine art mostly on the back burner.

“I was the art kid.”

Shimkus, his parents, and sister lived in a modest bungalow on the southwest side of Chicago, close to Midway Airport. At that time, there were so few planes landing (one plane or fewer per day) that the children rode their bikes to Midway. The blimp would be parked there during the summer, and they could ride under the blimp. His sister did a little art, but she wound up in science education and has a passion for animals.

In elementary school, he realized he got attention by doing art, so he was motivated and kept on. “I was the art kid,” he says. At Kennedy High School, he had a comic strip in the school newspaper, joined the drama club doing scene design, worked on the newspaper, and majored in all the arts that the high school offered, which was a few classes in painting and drawing. When it came time to choose a college, his parents preferred that he attend a regular liberal arts college instead of an art school, to get a rounded education. He attended Illinois University and, nonetheless, majored in art and graphic design. At the daily college newspaper there was an ad department. He would design and illustrate ads and articles. A valuable experience for the career to come.

Upon graduation, in 1979, he went to work for a small ad agency in Chicago, doing keyline/paste-up. The senior designer gave him a two-color brochure to design, and within two years he was an art director/designer. “I let the art thing go to the side,” he says. Nevertheless, he adds, “I took pretty good photographs, on vacations.”

But his creativity had an early influence. His father was a talented photographer. As a young man, his father had done freelance work, such as weddings. At that time, Chicago was the center of the catalogue industry. And after he married Shimkus’s mother, he worked as a dark room technician, creating images for catalogues for big companies like Sears and Montgomery Ward. His father would bring home reams of old photo paper. Shimkus and his sister would draw on the paper. From drawing on blank paper and becoming “the art kid” in school he became a marketing designer par excellent for 45 years.

“The love of creating.”

His secret seems to be the love and the fun he feels for both graphic design and fine artwork. From 1979 until 2024, Shimkus made beautiful designs to market for a variety of products. Most recently for Indiana University Health and CHANTICLEER.

“Design was something we would labor over for days. It was not only visual; there was tactile-ness. We touched it.” He did huge ad campaigns for major shopping centers like Water Tower Place in Chicago and The Shops at Columbus Circle in New York City. He loved that work. “We used to spend days, refining a design for a beautiful brochure or campaign,” he says, “working with photographers and illustrators to craft the perfect image.

The design business changed over the years. No longer were there mannequins; now there were stuffed models. There is “adaptable design.” Instead of fine- tuning by hand, the artist changes the dimensions with the touch of a computer key. “Nuance has given way to speed and volume.” Thirty-five versions are produced, and the number of “hits” are monitored. It comes down to: are there 20% more hits on this or that version? Now, a campaign is something a person looks at online, for a second, and the design keeps getting smaller and smaller.

“Your work,” he says, “is the size of a postage stamp.”

All the while, the artist in him kept creeping back. In the late 1980’s, decorative finishing (glazing, etc.) became popular. Looking for a new adventure, he attended the Day Studio in New York and opened a small painting business. That business led to several positions at top visual merchandising companies, designing art and decorative accessories for major retailers like Marshall Field’s and Nordstrom.

“This released my inner fine artist. They would have us do large volume work; for example, fifty little collages. Or paintings inspired by famous masters such as Matisse. It made me relax and have fun creating again.” It also took him to art classes. First, at Oxbow in Saugatuck, MI, and then, at the Lill Street School in Chicago. The Lill Street School is still a vibrant art school in a 4-5 story warehouse. There, an amazing instructor, Robin Power, taught him figurative ceramics. There, he found his niche.

Needing a break from Chicago, he moved to Michiana Shores in 1999. “I met a great guy, Joe, and married him.” There was more good fortune. The couple later moved to Bridgeman, MI, where he discovered the Krasl Art Center which has a clay guild. For a small fee, you can use the studio and kiln and do firing and finishing work. “It’s a wonderfully supportive group,” he says.

“ . . .each one developing at its own pace”

His artistic process is a carryover from his career as an agency art director. Previously, he would be given a marketing problem to solve. He would develop the “concept” for the visual along with a writer. Once approved, he would hire the photographer, models, and crew to bring his “vision” to life. Now, without a formal “client”, he needs to give himself the assignment to create. “Who is the person I am trying to portray? Where do they live? What do they do? What story am I trying to tell?”

He takes his inspiration from everyday life and experiences. “My Woodland Babe sculpture was inspired by a bundle of leaves I found on a hike. My series Mustache Men was inspired by a Toby mug my mother has on a shelf. The robes and head pieces in my sculptures are inspired by the Catholic iconography I grew up with, as a child. Their attitudes, from the MGM glamour goddesses captured by the photographer George Hurrell.”

self the assignment to depict the twelve basic personality types: Outlaw, Magician, Hero, Lover, and so on. He hopes to have these completed within the year. And perhaps he will find a small gallery to display them. After years of professional work, he says, “I love a deadline.”

When it comes to building his pieces, he works using white stoneware. In his home studio, he builds “hollow,” always being conscious of consistent clay thickness and air flow. It is an additive process versus the subtractive process most people think of for sculptures. He works on each piece for several weeks, an hour here and three hours there, each one developing at its own pace. As time passes, the personality begins to develop, as well. Once completed and thoroughly dried, he brings them to Krasl for kiln firings. They go through two firings: a bisque fire and then a final Cone 4 fire.

He uses underglaze washes for most of his colors and only uses traditional glazes for select areas – all applied after the first bisque fire. He really enjoys the contrast between gloss and matte surfaces. Once the piece is finally fired, he goes back and highlights areas with oil glazes as needed. Perhaps he will define an eye color or pump up the blush on a lip.

“It’s the fashion art director playing again!” he says.

“. . .the dimensionality of affecting things”

After he retired from the agency world (2024) and moved to South Bend, his good friend Ron urged him to enter the art show at the museum in Elkhart. He won an honorable mention.

But where can a person view and purchase his work? He does not have a website, only a Facebook account: Norbert Shimkus Designs.

“I was never one for selling my work,” he says. “If you admire a piece and it’s your birthday, I might wrap it up and give it to you.”

He has donated several pieces to the Krasl Art Center that have sold. But display and sales for this artist who is possessed of true humility are waiting for a time in the future.

He has plans to sculpt a series of twelve personality types, including The Jester and The Explorer. And The Krasl Art Center has just offered him a teaching position, which started in Fall 2024..

In addition, he has another dream. His father died 20 years ago, and Shimkus still has all of his dad’s original negatives. He would like to create the story of Chicago after WWII, using his father’s work from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

“Art,” he says, “is the dimensionality of effecting (bringing into being) things.” It is the dimensionality of affecting (impacting) things, as well. Moving seamlessly from marketing design to fine art -- both affecting and effecting things -- appears to be essential to Norbert Shimkus’s nature.

“After years of creating for clients, the craft is gone.” He says this without emotion because, “It’s nice to put it [fine art making] on the front burner.” He adds with a smile, “This is my time.”

Norbert Shimkus My Time