Meet Robert Shields.
Q: How long have you lived in the Verde Valley?
A: I moved here in 1986. It was great. Then we had food among the flies or food among the flowers. We had Beverly’s Market, Yellow Front, and the Flicker Shack. It was just me, Ann Miller, and Jane Russell.
Q: Tell us what you used to do?
A: I created the robot… as a mime performer. The robot did an animatronic thing, but my robot was very different, and the principles were very isolated. I was at the Hollywood wax museum and worked there as a mechanical man. I would have giant crowds, and I trained my eyes not to blink. I’d jab a fork in my palm to prove I was an actual mannequin. Marcel Marceau saw it and gave me a full scholarship to study at his school in Paris. I was the only one that received the scholarship. I lived at his house for two weeks. I was not too fond of it because I’m more into Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. So, I quit school, went on my own, and became the first street mime in San Francisco. And Marcel was really upset with me because he thought I bastardized the art of mime. And once I became famous, he realized I was my own man. And then all those mimes, thousands of them, none of them made it. And to be original, you have to be yourself, and you have to be unique.
Q: Tell us briefly about your partner?
A: My first show was a Sid and Marty Krofft show. I got hired to be a mime in the show and did a sketch. [Lorene Yarnell] was a dancer on the show, and I thought she was way out of my league. She was 27, and I was 19. She came up to me and said, “I used to watch you at the Renaissance Fair. I left my boyfriend, followed you all day, and just watched you. You’re amazing.” I [thought] I can’t believe she’s even talking to me. Then she goes, “Do you like horseback riding?” I said, “sure, and we never left each other’s side for many, many years — and we got married. I trained her in mime and physical comedy, and clowning. And she taught me to dance. She worked with Bob Fosse in three films and was a major dancer. She was on the Carol Burnett Show and was a dancer in all of those variety shows.
Q: What would you consider your greatest accomplishment?
A: My greatest accomplishment is not wanting anything, being happy where I am now and never thinking about the pool of show business and always the hustle of trying to get people to like you, dying your hair, dying your eyelashes, going to the facialists, touring, being responsible for 80 employees. I’m happy in my skin right now, doing nothing but just making art and having a good time.
Q: How long have you been doing art?
A: I’ve been in the arts my whole life. I had my first gallery show when I was 18, and I made hash pipes while in high school. I used to go to Sunset Boulevard and sell these hash pipes and I’d come home with 500 bucks.
Q: Is your house a gallery?
A: My whole house is a museum of antique toys, puppets, mannequins, and all of my artwork. But then I have a gallery on my land where people can come by appointment.
Q: I know you do sculpture, painting, and jewelry. What’s the most favorite thing for you to do?
A: I think it’s all magical. I do it all. I have so much fun making it. I’m painting, making jewelry, and drawing — I get better every year. I’m doing these giant suns that are layered. And I’m doing petroglyphs, shamans, and shaman homemakers. I do a lot of cats, coyotes, teacups, rabbits, crosses, angels, and a lot of old trucks with robots in them and robots for rent.
Q: Do you just like doing art all day?
A: I do it all day. I watch old movies from the thirties and just sit there and paint. I fill orders; I have a website and get about ten orders daily — which keeps me busy. And then I’m in about eight galleries.
Q: Where could someone see your work?
A: Art market — I do well there. I’m also in Adorn in Tlaquepaque. I’m in another gallery in the Village of Oak Creek, and I’m in Old Town, Cottonwood called Old Town Rock Shop; it’s about 4,000 square feet, and I’m the only artist there. And then I have a gallery in Jerome called Mimis Open Studio Gallery. I started with one wall, and now I have six.
Q: Who’s the most exciting person you have ever met living here?
A: There are many wonderful spiritual people I met here that are not known to anyone, but I met some magical, amazing people who have passed on. I used to have dinner with Donald O’Connor; I always liked him. Ann Miller was amazing too. Flip Wilson moved here, and we used to hang out. There’s a lady named Aurora; she’s a healer and is terrific. The guy next to me was Rudy, his wife was a school teacher, and he was just this soft-spoken guy. He was a very simple man, and I learned a lot from him.
Q: Is there anything I haven’t asked you that you’d like to share?
A: I believe in dust in the wind. Everyone always says, what’s your legacy and what’s this and what’s that. I had an interesting life, but I don’t think that I’m learning how to blend in. I don’t have that ego anymore, thinking that this is what you need to know about me. I’m a complete idiot, and I claim ignorance, and to know you’re ignorant is a significant step toward knowledge. My mind is filled with old toys, painting, creating art, and — making a salad.
