Lenona
2023-11-30 17:15:11 UTC
He did advertising work for others, including an alphabet poster for Levi's.
(At first glance, it looks like the pictures he did for one of his books, but the letters in the book are VERY different, as you'll see. Same goes for a Cyrillic alphabet poster he once did.)
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/jozef-sumichrast-obituary?id=53075469
(with photo)
Born July 26,1948, one of three children in Hobart, Indiana. Son of Joseph and Stella Sumichrast. Brother to Donna Roti and Robert Sumichrast. Jozef worked in several jobs in high school, one of them in a Jewel grocery store. While in high school, Joe met a teacher who turned him onto perspective drawing. This teacher had his students work on drawings for his own home. Jozef was impacted by the intersecting lines of blueprints. He used this information when he started illustrating in advertising.
Jozef took college classes at Indiana University Northwest. Next was entrance into the American Academy of Art to become what was called back then a "commercial" artist. To pay for his tuition, he worked at U.S. Steel in Gary, Indiana. He took a chemistry test and was put into metallurgy where the "ingredients" of the metal had to be perfect to make the best steel. The pay was 2 times over base pay on Sundays which meant he had to get his art projects done at the same time working at the mill.
Joe graduated from the Academy in 1967. He continued to take classes there and at the same time delivering local newspapers with a friend. He started working part time at Stephen Gross advertising agency. 1968, enter Susie Snyder. She graduated from Bradley University with an advertising degree. She moved to Chicago to take a couple of classes in advertising, from the American Academy. Susie lived in the Three Arts Center, a house for creative women in different fields, opera, art, fashion design, and interior design.
Jozef and Susie were married in 1971. They both had jobs in advertising. They decided before starting a family they would travel in Europe for 7 months and 2 months following in Africa. The first child Kristin was born on September 22,1976. Jozef and Susie lived in a high rise on Michigan Avenue in Chicago which did not allow pets or children! They quickly purchased their first house. The second daughter Lindsey was born in Deerfield in 1979.
They spent growing up years in Deerfield Illinois, followed by moving to Lake Forest in 1986. Two years later, the advertising field ended. They had a 5th grader and 2nd grader. Jozef went on to become a renowned bronze sculptor and Susie took over a business in Wisconsin creating custom rugs and carpets for interior designers and architects.
Jozef spent hours watching programs like This Old House, learning how to remake anything and everything in an older house. That and a love of landscaping, turned an acre of land into an award winning property. 2008 saw the birth of the first granddaughter Kassidy (Kristin with husband Eric Pepping) next was Bree Pepping 2009. The third grandchild was Rachel (Lindsey with husband Greg Benner) born 2012. Maci Pepping arrived 6 months later in 2012. All girls so far, then Lindsey and Greg had two identical twin boys, Weston and Barrett in 2018.
Jozef has been an amazing artist, a wonderful husband and an active grandfather. He had a wry sense of humor, knew the lyrics to just about every 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s music. He had a "steel trap" mind for details and seemed never to forget anything. He was unique, creative, intelligent, kind and supportive.
Our beloved Jozef passed away September 3, 2023...
https://prabook.com/web/jozef.sumichrast/778730
(short resume)
https://www.jozef.com/openlife.html
(colorful photos from his life - the bottom one is funny)
https://www.jozef.com/bibliography/Multidimentional/index.html
(long 2006 article about his sculpture, with several photos)
https://jozef.com/rev_nelson2.htm
(article about his work as an illustrator)
Excerpt:
"Much of Sumichrast's artistic success and fame have resulted from his ability to force things into shapes: his distinctive pictorial alphabets, which blend the fantastic and the mundane, the careful and the grotesque. Grounded in crisp realism, they burst into strident exaggeration. For example, he renders the details of feathers, a monkey's fingers, or a pleat in a skirt with sharp accuracy, but an elephant's trunk is the same size as its leg, and Groucho Marx "L" smokes a cigar the size of a loaf of bread."
(4:21 video, with his comments in the description)
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jozef+sumichrast
(many more videos)
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=586607062&rlz=1CAJMBU_enUS1086&q=%22Jozef+Sumichrast%22+books&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiR5_fKkuyCAxXQjYkEHaPvBC4Q0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=1366&bih=644&dpr=1
(some illustrations)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/818731724/the-strange-hotel-five-ghost-stories?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=jozef+sumichrast&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&referrer_page_guid=f794aafb806.c09228709f7ce9fb0b43.00&organic_search_click=1
(copy of "The Strange Hotel," with several illustrations)
You can see more of his work at eBay, such as this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325871125550?hash=item4bdf6ec42e:g:OvUAAOSwvBZhNvO-&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwNkuTLg6pD3ZqmIv82iO6c9Iah%2BGK4kzTJY9NEEPXsNTxYc1%2Bw4KQ4Cu2gGQbgECGAZJMHkG3r0JJl%2BNgpNR6HOJoZ7nS9iPz08Q%2FyhrWxHLerIfSbpJAPEq3d%2FMq8if%2BOUU22U9JMojJmeJ1Ukz%2BFh7Gj2XcGEPrK6wASW%2BKg18xytbGNy1ljRG8776D5HVoS6HdTsy1iar%2Bvo9YHJKanmnr9qY2XnTy7Vf%2FUGYz%2FojshpHzZ8LTdzsG3Qis9SX6A%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5D6q5GEYw
("Q is for Crazy" - check out the pictures and rhymes!)
"Q is a letter that's really Quite Queer.
It only allows a U to get near.
Wherever Q goes, there's a U right behind it -
Yes, Q is for crazy, so just never mind it!"
WORKS:
The Ice Cream Cone by Mildred Wilds Willard, 1973
"By bringing together his friend who sells ice cream and his friend who sells cone-shaped cakes, a little boy helps create the most popular treat at the St. Louis World's Fair."
Runaway Plane by May Garelick, 1973
"Two boys chase their runaway toy plane into a grocery store where a robbery is taking place."
The strange hotel: Five ghost stories by Marci Carafoli, 1975
"A family staying in a hotel experiences some very unusual happenings."
Q is for Crazy by Ed Leander, 1977
(alphabet rhyme book published in the unmistakeable style by Harlin Quist)
Do pigs sit in trees? by Jean Zelasney, 1981
"A young pig in search of his mother thinks of all the things she likes to do and tracks her down."
The Funny Ride by Margaret Hillert, 1982
"When his kite lifts him above the ground, a child takes a 'funny ride' as he views what is on the ground and in the air."
(At first glance, it looks like the pictures he did for one of his books, but the letters in the book are VERY different, as you'll see. Same goes for a Cyrillic alphabet poster he once did.)
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/jozef-sumichrast-obituary?id=53075469
(with photo)
Born July 26,1948, one of three children in Hobart, Indiana. Son of Joseph and Stella Sumichrast. Brother to Donna Roti and Robert Sumichrast. Jozef worked in several jobs in high school, one of them in a Jewel grocery store. While in high school, Joe met a teacher who turned him onto perspective drawing. This teacher had his students work on drawings for his own home. Jozef was impacted by the intersecting lines of blueprints. He used this information when he started illustrating in advertising.
Jozef took college classes at Indiana University Northwest. Next was entrance into the American Academy of Art to become what was called back then a "commercial" artist. To pay for his tuition, he worked at U.S. Steel in Gary, Indiana. He took a chemistry test and was put into metallurgy where the "ingredients" of the metal had to be perfect to make the best steel. The pay was 2 times over base pay on Sundays which meant he had to get his art projects done at the same time working at the mill.
Joe graduated from the Academy in 1967. He continued to take classes there and at the same time delivering local newspapers with a friend. He started working part time at Stephen Gross advertising agency. 1968, enter Susie Snyder. She graduated from Bradley University with an advertising degree. She moved to Chicago to take a couple of classes in advertising, from the American Academy. Susie lived in the Three Arts Center, a house for creative women in different fields, opera, art, fashion design, and interior design.
Jozef and Susie were married in 1971. They both had jobs in advertising. They decided before starting a family they would travel in Europe for 7 months and 2 months following in Africa. The first child Kristin was born on September 22,1976. Jozef and Susie lived in a high rise on Michigan Avenue in Chicago which did not allow pets or children! They quickly purchased their first house. The second daughter Lindsey was born in Deerfield in 1979.
They spent growing up years in Deerfield Illinois, followed by moving to Lake Forest in 1986. Two years later, the advertising field ended. They had a 5th grader and 2nd grader. Jozef went on to become a renowned bronze sculptor and Susie took over a business in Wisconsin creating custom rugs and carpets for interior designers and architects.
Jozef spent hours watching programs like This Old House, learning how to remake anything and everything in an older house. That and a love of landscaping, turned an acre of land into an award winning property. 2008 saw the birth of the first granddaughter Kassidy (Kristin with husband Eric Pepping) next was Bree Pepping 2009. The third grandchild was Rachel (Lindsey with husband Greg Benner) born 2012. Maci Pepping arrived 6 months later in 2012. All girls so far, then Lindsey and Greg had two identical twin boys, Weston and Barrett in 2018.
Jozef has been an amazing artist, a wonderful husband and an active grandfather. He had a wry sense of humor, knew the lyrics to just about every 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s music. He had a "steel trap" mind for details and seemed never to forget anything. He was unique, creative, intelligent, kind and supportive.
Our beloved Jozef passed away September 3, 2023...
https://prabook.com/web/jozef.sumichrast/778730
(short resume)
https://www.jozef.com/openlife.html
(colorful photos from his life - the bottom one is funny)
https://www.jozef.com/bibliography/Multidimentional/index.html
(long 2006 article about his sculpture, with several photos)
https://jozef.com/rev_nelson2.htm
(article about his work as an illustrator)
Excerpt:
"Much of Sumichrast's artistic success and fame have resulted from his ability to force things into shapes: his distinctive pictorial alphabets, which blend the fantastic and the mundane, the careful and the grotesque. Grounded in crisp realism, they burst into strident exaggeration. For example, he renders the details of feathers, a monkey's fingers, or a pleat in a skirt with sharp accuracy, but an elephant's trunk is the same size as its leg, and Groucho Marx "L" smokes a cigar the size of a loaf of bread."
(4:21 video, with his comments in the description)
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jozef+sumichrast
(many more videos)
https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=586607062&rlz=1CAJMBU_enUS1086&q=%22Jozef+Sumichrast%22+books&tbm=isch&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiR5_fKkuyCAxXQjYkEHaPvBC4Q0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=1366&bih=644&dpr=1
(some illustrations)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/818731724/the-strange-hotel-five-ghost-stories?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=jozef+sumichrast&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&referrer_page_guid=f794aafb806.c09228709f7ce9fb0b43.00&organic_search_click=1
(copy of "The Strange Hotel," with several illustrations)
You can see more of his work at eBay, such as this one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325871125550?hash=item4bdf6ec42e:g:OvUAAOSwvBZhNvO-&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwNkuTLg6pD3ZqmIv82iO6c9Iah%2BGK4kzTJY9NEEPXsNTxYc1%2Bw4KQ4Cu2gGQbgECGAZJMHkG3r0JJl%2BNgpNR6HOJoZ7nS9iPz08Q%2FyhrWxHLerIfSbpJAPEq3d%2FMq8if%2BOUU22U9JMojJmeJ1Ukz%2BFh7Gj2XcGEPrK6wASW%2BKg18xytbGNy1ljRG8776D5HVoS6HdTsy1iar%2Bvo9YHJKanmnr9qY2XnTy7Vf%2FUGYz%2FojshpHzZ8LTdzsG3Qis9SX6A%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR5D6q5GEYw
("Q is for Crazy" - check out the pictures and rhymes!)
"Q is a letter that's really Quite Queer.
It only allows a U to get near.
Wherever Q goes, there's a U right behind it -
Yes, Q is for crazy, so just never mind it!"
WORKS:
The Ice Cream Cone by Mildred Wilds Willard, 1973
"By bringing together his friend who sells ice cream and his friend who sells cone-shaped cakes, a little boy helps create the most popular treat at the St. Louis World's Fair."
Runaway Plane by May Garelick, 1973
"Two boys chase their runaway toy plane into a grocery store where a robbery is taking place."
The strange hotel: Five ghost stories by Marci Carafoli, 1975
"A family staying in a hotel experiences some very unusual happenings."
Q is for Crazy by Ed Leander, 1977
(alphabet rhyme book published in the unmistakeable style by Harlin Quist)
Do pigs sit in trees? by Jean Zelasney, 1981
"A young pig in search of his mother thinks of all the things she likes to do and tracks her down."
The Funny Ride by Margaret Hillert, 1982
"When his kite lifts him above the ground, a child takes a 'funny ride' as he views what is on the ground and in the air."