All of Nature’s Elements: An Interview with Sculptor Norman Gitzen

By Denise Marsh

Sometimes you meet someone and you think, “this person is definitely not your run of the mill type of person” and they leave a lasting impact on you.  I met Norman Gitzen a few years back at Village Music and Café in Wellington.  He was showcasing his collection of hand-forged knives and I was intrigued. The knives were silver and twisted with an air of beauty and grandeur; almost what you might find in a Gothic fairy tale.  I don’t think I will ever think of knives the same way.   “Norm” (as most call him) is a tall man with long, flowy hair and definitely  a presence reminiscient of someone you might see in a book of mythology (my favorites in literature) or a Biblical series; not to say that Norm is religious but that his “look” is definitely spiritual  and unconventional.   How fitting it was when I later discovered that he was an artist and sculptor, very prominent amongst the equestrian community of Wellington.  The rugged, bohemian look fits well with the art that “Norm” does.  Let’s learn a little more about the artist that is about “knots” and tying in the elements to create great beauty for the public domain.  Let’s talk with the natural sculptor.

Au Naturele

AW: The art that you create is very unique, especially the choice of matierals that are utilized.  Can you explain the process you use for your sculptures, jewelry, and other pieces?

N.G: Oh my gosh. I do so many different categories of sculpture: from architectural cast pieces for the house. Building the house actually got me to start sculpting again.  I started sculpting for the house in approximately 1992. I started making cementitious cast pieces. There are other additives in it like cementing materials: bonding agents, fiberglass hairs, things to make the cement stronger; that’s what I pour into my architectural molds.   I would also hire the Foundry to cast my mini mermaid sculpture in bronze.

AW: How would you categorize your art?

N.G: I would categorize my art definitely as a “true one of a kind”.  99.1% of the time my architectural things don’t sell nearly as much as my one-of-a-kind pieces.  I make the pieces from carved wood, carved stone, welded, hand-hammered. I work with all of the materials. Materials such as glass, you name it. I do a lot with Blacksmithing.  For example, I repurpose horseshoes from Wellington, and I love making things out of them because the horse people have been my clients since the 1980’s when I moved here way before the Polo Museum was even built. I designed and gave them a price for their library and they hired me to do it.  So, that was definitely a “feather in my cap” building their library.  But before I was doing that, I was building the libraries in custom homes of some very famous polo players. 

My father was a carpenter so I grew up around tools my whole life.  We lived in Liverpool, right outside of Syracuse, New York.  We lived with woods around the back yard and we always had a fireplace, so I was constantly chopping wood. I would examine the wood and observed pieces that had beautiful wood and grain.  I noticed that there were lots of “knots” and that gave the wood more personality.   Thus, the more knots the better.   For custom cabinets, typically people like clear wood and no knots and I am the opposite. I actually LOVE the knots; the more the better.  The knots are actually the part where the tree branch used to be. I think they are beautiful.

A.W: I have heard that you are considered a “humanitarian and environmentalist”.  How have these particular titles affected your sculptures and your artwork in general?

N.G:  Well, I do donate to a few fundraisers locally in Palm Beach County because we have so many of them here. Being that I am an artist, I don’t have a lot of money to donate cash so what I do is  I donate my time or my pieces to their silent auctions or live auctions. I do this through both humanitarian and environmental organizations, which I feel are one in the same.  Without a good, strong environment humanity is done for.  And I have been with the Marshall Foundation for the Everglades for probably 30 years now; I am one of  their longest-running volunteers.   I have planted over the years hundreds and hundreds of trees like cypress trees that are trying to restore the flow of the Everglades which is so important.  Big Sugar and these phosphate plants are destroying the state of Florida.  I believe that does not only sugar kill the people who consume it, it kills the land that grows it.

A.W: Please discuss two of your greatest accomplishments as a Sculptor.

N.G: I am going to say my mermaid, “The Siren”.  As a sculptor she definitely took me the longest to finish. I started her in 1999 and finished her in 2006, so she took me about seven years! She’s 10 feet tall and she’s one of a kind. There was no Foundry involved; it was just  all hand-forged and welded. She got me a lot of attention for sure. And,  also my “Vanishing” Series with sea turtles, dolphins, sailfish and all  sorts of marine animals and also butterflies. I have been pushing this series for many, many years as it is an environmental-awareness piece. I made them “pixelated” or “see-through” for symbolism; to remind people that if we don’t change our ways, these sea creatures are going to disappear. 

But wait, even before the Mermaid, “The Siren,” one of my most money-making accomplishments was for the Boys and Girls Club in Wellington. They did a big fundraising event called “Wild Things” and they had fiberglass animals from all over Palm Beach County. The first year that they did it they used alligators and when they had the big auction at the convention center it was really fun because it was a big dinner, a big to-do.  Tickets were a couple of hundred dollars and a sit-down dinner including a Sotheby’s auctioneer, and a big giant room with about 80 alligator sculptures in it.  In fact, it looked like a big, giant cartoon with all these colorful alligators.  But, I did mine totally different and made them look like bronze statues with a big, hand-forged leaf on top of it.  Hence, mine blew away the competition.  The average alligator went for a couple of thousand but mine went for roughly $16,000.  And then they asked me to do a second one.  I would say that in the two years that I did the event I made them over $50,000.

A.W: What challenges have you encountered in your business?

N.G: I want to say that sales is the hardest part when you are an artist because we all love to make our art. However, at the end of the day you have to find a buyer for that piece you just made and that’s the costly part.  We are talking about the shows, the time investment and selling the work is another whole career in itself.  It is hard to find a representative that will work on commission-based items, like in Real Estate. When the house sells you get your money. It SHOULD be that way with art too but so many of these people want a salary and artists just don’t have that kind of money.  The only artists that have the money to have representation are either: independently wealthy or they have a wife, or a husband that supports them or they have another career that supports their art – a career that makes a lot of money that they can afford to do ads in magazines and art shows at really nice galleries that you pay for.  I mean when you think of Architectural Digest or another prominent artistic publication and you see this extensive article on an artist, often the magazine did not pay for the article; the artist paid to have the article done.  Lots of money was paid for that “nice story”.  I would love to show at the Equestrian horse show-the Hundred Jumper Stadium  but it costs a fortune to be able to do that. So, that’s a huge gap in what I want to do and can actually do.

Also, getting the art in front of the “right eyes” is always the difficult part…always.

A.W: How can people find your art and learn more about your showings? 

N.G: My website which is normangitzen.com would definitely do that.  The website has not been updated in a few years. However, I try to stay current on Facebook. If you want to see my newer projects, my Facebook page is the place to go.

A.W: It has become public knowledge that your house is not only an artist’s studio but quite “eclectic”. Is it true  that you designed it and built it by yourself?  Please share your “house story” with us.

N.G:  My house is called “Casa Capricorn”. I bought the one acre in the mid-eighties. I waited until it was paid off and took about five years paying for the lot. In 1990 I started building.  Yes, I designed as soon as I bought the land.  I was actually in my mid-twenties and thought back to what I grew up with in upstate New York; I was convinced that I would grow up and live in a Log Cabin.  But then I saw the beautiful Mediterranean architecture here and fell in love with that and so I designed it very Mediterranean. I always loved the Renaissance and castles, so I knew I had to have at least one round turret in the house. I spent more time working on that turret than the rest of the house; it was a real challenge.  Also, because I love Mediterranean style, I wanted specific corbels . I couldn’t find the corbels that I liked.  The ones that I found in Palm Beach County that were being sold commercially were very boring so I sculpted my own which got me back into my art work again. 

A.W: In watching some of your posts on Facebook, I have seen many critters in the background: squirrels, lizards, ducks, pigeons literally having lunch with you or watching you work.  In what way has this affinity to nature inspired your sculptures?

N.G: So, back to the house…It is my showroom. I live upstairs and my gallery and workshop are downstairs. I always say that on a good day, “ I don’t leave my driveway” because  I don’t like driving and it is only getting harder and harder to drive because people are crazy out there.

Nature is no doubt my biggest muse.  I mean, when I bought this acre, this whole neighborhood was far more wooded at the time. It has actually broken my heart to watch my neighbors come in and cut down all the trees and put up a carpet of green grass that only provides habitat for red ants. It is just so sad – they want to expose their ugly box of a house.  But I planted my lot from corner to corner, property line to property line. I gave the land back to God and it brings the land back to nature. I have a duck pond. The critters keep me company all day long. I would be bored without nature and its critters. 

A.W: What are your future plans for art and sculpture?

N.G: It is funny that you should ask. For many years people have been asking me to do workshops or to teach. Whether it be from carpentry, stone carving, welding, blacksmithing, wood-carving.  A lot of things that I have done over the years. And my answer has always been, “I am saving teaching for my old age”.  And then a couple of weeks ago, I woke up 65 years old and since the pandemic and hyperinflation, sales have been horrible.  So, now I think it is definitely time for me to start teaching and doing workshops.  Sadly, the economy never recovered since the pandemic.  Small businesses, “mom and pop” businesses shut down and never recovered .  I am up against corporate America, Internet shopping and monopolies.  As artists, we’re competing with slave labor all over the world.  I believe differently than others. 

A.W: If you could go back in time and to when you were just starting out in your sculpting business, what advice would you give your “younger self”?

N.G: Actually, my mission statement is that nature is my greatest muse with my art work.   My advice is the following for life: I gave my yard back to God. I think everyone should do it and stop with the chemicals in your yard and the gasoline engines to take care of your yards.  Everything about these manicured yards is wrong for the environment.   I say , “put nature where you live everyday and don’t wait for a special occasion to load the kids in the Station Wagon to go to a park somewhere to see nature. Put it in your yard where you live every day”.

My advice to my younger self would be to turn everyone into sales representatives.  Bring me a new customer and I’ll give you 10% of their first sale. 

An Open Road

I have not been to Casa Capricorn yet, but I know that it is definitely on my “list” for the near future.  Every single piece that Norman has created has been done with love, a remarkable passion for nature and a desire to protect its authentic beauty.    There is definitely  something pure about this type of thinking.  In a time of great materialism, political strife and a crippling inflation I seek goodness, simplicity and a return to  an open road of possibilities.  Norman Gitzen is not just a phenomenal artist, but he is an individual who reminds us that all of the good that we  seek has actually been here all along and it is our responsibility to preserve and cherish it.  If you already know “Norm” than you are quite lucky to have been touched by his artwork in some shape or form  Norm has reminded me  to appreciate nature’s beauty because  it is short-lived and fleeting.    Thank you, Norman for sharing the elements with us and showing us how we can improve our own “yard”.

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