and painted “Still Talking” about the 
need to remember the Holocaust. 
Married to a software architect and 
artist, Daniel Bykat, she is bringing art 
into the temple by securing a grant.
Mindell of Franklin has an 
Orthodox-observant sister living in 
Israel and, when Mindell’s brother-in-
law died, she painted a picture repre-
senting the man’s brothers in prayer. 
“I used strictly watercolors,” 
said Mindell, who works in her 
Franklin home. “I take a class at the 
Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, 
and I’m learning how to embellish 
and how the watercolors work on the 
paper.” 
Mindell is a member of the 
Birmingham Society of Women 
Painters, and she began painting as a 
youngster. Although she sidelined that 
interest during a long time being an 
equestrian, she returned to artistry 30 
years ago. 
“I’ve done lots of shows because 
that’s what the Birmingham group 
does,” Mindell said. “I’ve been in the 
group four years, and four to five 
shows are planned per year, includ-
ing for the University of Michigan, 
Huntington Woods Library and 
Livonia Library. I showed once before 
at the Charach Gallery.”
Mindell, a longtime member 
of Temple Israel, has taught at the 
Bow Elementary-Middle School in 
Detroit and done accounting in the 
legal office of her husband, Bernard. 
Schooling has been at the University 
of Michigan and Wayne State 

University.
Wanchik, who physically worked 
out using facilities at The J, doesn’t 
have people in her image. Instead a 
Doc Marten shoe is in a piece titled 
“The Iconic Docs.” She chose this 
topic because the shoes often were 
seen worn by young family members.
“My husband, Larry, was sick for a 
very long time, and he died in July,” 
Wanchik said. “One of the things that 
was very important for him and for 
me was to remember the good times. 
We looked at a lot of pictures, and we 
noticed that in many of those pictures 
everybody is wearing Doc Martens.” 
The popularity of the shoes brought 
the couple laughter, and Wanchik 
copied a pair using acrylics on canvas. 
She put the image in a black floating 
frame, and a burnish keeps it protect-
ed.
Wanchik, whose artistry is complet-
ed in a home studio in Farmington 
Hills, got a business degree from 
Ferris State University. She is retired 
from a management career and has 
shown her work at the Charach 
Gallery and with presenters in 
Plymouth, Grosse Pointe, Ypsilanti, 
Warren and Canton. 

Details
Recollection is scheduled 
thjrough Dec. 11 in the Janice 
Charach Gallery in The J in 
West Bloomfield. 11 a.m.- 
4 p.m. Sunday-Thursday. 
charachgallery.org.

NOVEMBER 7 • 2024 | 37

“Just Us Girls” 
by Peggy Stulberg

Peggy 
Stulberg

“The Iconic Docs” 
by Nancy Wanchik

Nancy 
Wanchik

Judi Mindell with one 
of her watercolors

