AUGUST 3 • 2023 | 49

who still have the shirts.
Starting artwork when she was making the T-shirts, Kutinsky 
enhanced her skills at both the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center 
(BBAC) in Birmingham and Atelier School of Art in Royal Oak. 
Sue Shlom of West Bloomfield welcomes the exhibit as a chance for 
women to look at themselves as they witness the artwork of others. In 
“Reaching for Light,
” Shlom establishes the image of trees with branches 
stretching out toward the brightness of the sun. 
“I hope I’m like a tree,
” said Shlom, who was an English teacher at 
Hillel Day School. “It has stable roots but reaches upward for elements 
that bring brightness into the world.
”
Shlom has shown her paintings at the Scarab Club in Detroit, Woods 
Gallery in Huntington Woods and the Plymouth Art Center. 
In Judi Mindell’s “Beneath the Surface,
” the Franklin artist is repre-
sented by a water color collage that shows a 
flower on a background of abstract geometric 
shapes.
“I want to show my love for nature, texture 
and color,” said Mindell, a member of Temple 
Israel who studied at the BBAC and worked 
as a teacher and later bookkeeper for her hus-
band. “The colors especially attract me when 
they run together and form new and subtle 
shades.”
Fran Levin of Troy titled her abstract 
painting of a flowering plant “Moody Blues.
” 
She began painting projects in a Pittsburgh 
high school and continued art studies to 
earn a degree in art from Carnegie Mellon 
University. Her work has been displayed at 
the BBAC.
“I like to take something and abstract 
it to show that I’m an abstract thinker,
” 
said Levin, a member of Hadassah and the 
National Council of Jewish Women. “I like 
to paint in connection with other artists 
doing their paintings because I think those 
experiences bring out the creativity in me.
”
Levin works with liquid acrylics and 
sometimes uses collage materials. She wets 
the surface of her paintings with water when 
she begins and then applies different colors 
because she likes the different effects of the 
colors that appear with that approach. 
The artists in the show present works that are representational, 
abstract and combinations of the two approaches. They work with oil 
colors, acrylics, water colors and mixed media. 
“Every woman has a story to tell,
” said Natalie Balazovich, gallery 
director. “This exhibition showcases women painters and their lives with 
both artwork and text. Both organizations that are represented have stel-
lar reputations in the art community, and this is the first time they come 
together to share themselves with us.
”
The Birmingham Society of Women Painters was started in 1944 
and has many artists working in a diversity of styles. De la Vie Studio, 
launched almost 20 years ago, has used different names over the years 
and works with artists using a variety of styles. 

Details
Her Story runs Aug. 6-Sept. 13 
in the Janice Charach Gallery at 
the Jewish Community Center in 
West Bloomfield. Gallery hours are 
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday-Thursday. 
Artists will be present for the 
Aug.6 opening reception, 1-4 p.m. 
(248) 432-5579, charachgallery.
org.

Fran Levin’s 
“Moody 
Blues” 

Sue Shlom’s 
“Reaching 
for Light”

Judi Mindell’s 
“Beneath the 
Surface” 

