Decatur exhibit shares the story behind more than 2,000 works by Karen Shiman

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — An upcoming art exhibit at the Decatur Area Arts Council will highlight the life and legacy of a woman whose creativity, adventure and dedication to giving back left a lasting impact around the world.

Karen Gahlon Shiman created more than 2,000 works of art over the course of her life, exploring a wide range of mediums, including oil, watercolor, pastel, sculpture, woodcut prints and papier-mâché. Despite the sheer volume of work, her art was rarely shown publicly during her lifetime.

Now, her son Brian Blasingame is working to share both her artwork and the story behind it through exhibits and charitable projects. That includes a new exhibition opening at the Decatur Area Arts Council.

“My mom lived a remarkable life,” Blasingame said. “She created over 2,000 works of art across every spectrum and medium. It’s just a remarkable use of her life and spare time.”

Shiman was born in Minnesota on Aug. 2, 1941, just months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Her father, an attorney, soon became one of the first FBI agents under J. Edgar Hoover. Growing up as the first grandchild in a family of Swedish immigrant farmers, Shiman developed a deep respect for hard work and creative expression early in life.

Her artistic journey began at the age of six, when her father gave her a paint set that sparked a lifelong passion for creating art. She later studied art at several institutions, including Downers Grove High School, Lake Forest College, the University of Minnesota at Morris and the Evanston Art Center, though much of her development as an artist came through self-guided exploration.

Throughout her life, Shiman continued experimenting with different styles and techniques, producing paintings, sculptures, prints and mixed-media pieces. Her work often drew inspiration from nature, still life subjects and the world around her.

“She excelled at every kind of medium that she took on,” Blasingame said. “She painted so many subjects throughout her life — from nature to water scenes, trees to hundreds of still lifes.”

While art was her passion, Shiman also built a successful career in finance.

She took a secretarial job at the investment bank Salomon Brothers while raising two young sons in Chicago. She quickly rose through the ranks and became a trailblazer for women in the industry, eventually serving as an executive vice president trading futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Despite the high-pressure environment of financial trading, Blasingame said his mother always made time for art and exploration.

“That was just her day gig,” he said. “What she did with her spare time is really what resonates with me in her life.”

Shiman had a love for scuba diving and travel. She began diving in 1978 and eventually logged more than 2,000 dives exploring oceans around the world.

Her travels ultimately led them to Bonaire in the Dutch Caribbean, one of the world’s most popular shore-diving destinations. After retiring, she split their time between the United States and Bonaire, where she took on an ambitious environmental project.

Over 14 years, she helped build an underwater habitat by hand, stacking stones to create a coral and sea life nursery near her home. Today, the reef continues to support marine life and has even become a designated coral reforestation site visible on satellite maps.

Throughout all of these experiences, Shiman continued creating art.

Her home was filled with paintings and sculptures, including bird decoys and wildlife pieces crafted from materials like wood, clay, stone, and papier-mâché.

“It covered the walls of our homes,” Blasingame said. “People would come over and see all the artwork and think she collected it. Then they’d realize she made it all.”

Shiman approached art much the same way she approached life, as something to be experienced rather than something meant for recognition.

“She never exhibited her artwork throughout her life,” Blasingame said. “It was all just done for her own pleasure.”

Later in life, Shiman faced personal hardships with the same determination that defined her career and creative pursuits.

In 2015, she lost her husband and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Rather than slowing down, Blasingame said she approached the diagnosis head-on, exercising up to three hours a day while continuing to create art.

“She was never somebody to wallow in her problems,” he said. “She just had incredible will and character in everything she did.”

Shiman died on May 17, 2022, shortly after arriving at her home in Bonaire.

Today, Blasingame is working to preserve and share his mother’s legacy through a project that uses her artwork to support charitable causes.

“My end goal is to use the rest of my life to develop and share her story and share her artwork with exhibits,” he said. “By the time I die, I hope I’ve left behind a self-fueling charity engine to support the causes that were important to her.”

Those causes include Parkinson’s research, ocean conservation, arts programs for children and other community initiatives.

The exhibit at the Decatur Area Arts Council is one of the first steps in that mission.

The exhibit will run from the 7th through the 23rd of the month, with an opening reception scheduled from 5:30-7 p.m. on the 10th. A portion of the proceeds from artwork sold during the exhibit will be donated back to support the Decatur Area Arts Council.

Blasingame hopes the exhibit will inspire people not just through the artwork itself, but through the example his mother set.