Meet artists showcased this month by Noblesville Creates

Noblesville Creates is featuring three artists of the month in October. The artists of the month include Skye VanWinkle, Jerry Mannell, and Michael Jack, and each of their exhibits will be featured at a different Noblesville Creates showcase location.

Noblesville Creates is also welcoming the exhibits Dreamscape & Belief in the Judge Stone House and Members Only in Noblesville City Hall.

Information on the exhibit dates, receptions, and artist details are available below.

Stephenson House
Skye VanWinkle

Skye VanWinkle is a world traveler and an artist. Growing up with her father as a landscape painter gave her the tools to look at the world in a different way, while traveling has opened her eyes to new people, places, and perspectives. Her October exhibit in the Stephenson House Gallery, Reflections, will showcase scenes from her European adventures.

“My dad was an artist,” VanWinkle recounted. “A full-time social worker, but he did art as a hobby.”

She remembers art always being all over the house and credits his work as her first real influence. Her father painted primarily landscapes, however, while she was drawn to old family photos for source material. She would paint from 1960s and ‘70s photographs for a long time.

After obtaining a Bachelors in Arts from Purdue, VanWinkle sought to attend graduate school with the hopes to eventually teach college-level classes. This led her to the Herron School of Art and Design where she earned an Arts Education degree. Following her graduation, she taught K-12 art classes in Kokomo schools for 23 years. She notes that she completed mostly commissions while teaching and her eventual retirement was to focus on her fine arts career.

The shift from teaching to creating full-time allowed VanWinkle to travel and discover new inspirations.

“I was captivated by all the old buildings, I loved the history, it affected me profoundly,” she said of her early travels.

She soon began painting from the photographs she would take on her trip. And the more trips she went on, the more she figured out what sort of photographs to take, what would make interesting subject matter, what called to her: a moving tourist bus, a church, and more.

Her current goal with her acrylic paintings is to work realistically, but enhance color and shapes to bring out the intriguing beauty she sees. She often works in complementary color combinations to make certain details pop. A building could be painted in yellows and purples rather than their true hues, but it will match how she feels the piece should feel. Compositions might also be shifted from the original photograph to bring together a cohesive image. In the end, “it’s all about people,” she says, affirming that the individuals she meets are her core inspiration.

The full exhibit, Reflections, can be seen in the Stephenson House Oct. 4 to 26, from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Visitors can meet VanWinkle at her free First Friday reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4 on the Noblesville Creates on 8th campus.

Four Day Ray
Jerry Mannell

Fans of Noblesville Creates will certainly recognize the unique style of artist Jerry Mannell, who combines the surreal, the abstract, the colorful, and the unusual into his iconic paintings.

“I’ve hit a groove a couple of years ago and have been pursuing that,” artist Jerry Mannell noted of his latest work, which will be featured in his end-of-year exhibit at Four Day Ray Brewing in Fishers. The exhibit, Mindful, will showcase his latest work exploring intentional design through abstract painting.

Mannell’s creative process varies, sometimes starting with a composition, other times with an image in his mind, resulting in a unique and conceptual style that is somewhere between the surreal and pop genres.

He employs his knowledge from his career in graphic design and a fine arts degree to maintain interesting compositions with conceptual overtones. Disparate elements are related with color and shape to suggest subject matter and maintain visual interest.

“I have my own repertoire of abstract structures, mixing organic with inorganic representations to reference both the natural and manmade world,” Mannell said. “Hopefully people will connect those shapes or colors in a thematic way. I like to keep ambiguity so these interpretations [allow viewers to] engage with the art as opposed to just recognizing the aesthetic involved.”

See the full Mindful exhibit at Four Day Ray Brewing, 11671 Lantern Road, Fishers, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. You can meet Mannell at his free public reception – date and time to be determined. Stay tuned.

Meyer Najem
Michael Jack

Michael Jack is a lifelong learner, explorer, and storyteller. His upcoming showcase exhibit at Meyer Najem’s 2nd Floor Gallery will primarily cover images from the northwestern United States, including the Palouse region and other coastline travels. His love for the Palouse region of Washington State – a location Jack has deemed as either a bucket list destination for photographers or an unknown name and location to those unfamiliar with it – has proven to serve as the inspiration behind much of the work he has produced since retiring from his career as a corporate controller in 2008.

Photography has been an ever-developing pursuit. Upon retirement, Jack was able to fully shift his energy to it; now a well-recognized landscape photographer, the elegant lines and natural light and shadows exhibited in his work can be appreciated in many galleries. He has also been part of the Photographic Society of America since 2018 and the National Photographers Enthusiasts Group. It’s in such groups that he keeps up to date with new industry developments and continues to sharpen his skills.

Jack’s overall process remains largely unchanged over the years. Every photo may require different methods of both capturing and follow-up help. Some may need digital help to reduce visual noise, enhance color, or heighten contrasts. This produces singularly unique images that furthers his goal: showing significant local geographical features and expressing what he sees and feels in the moments of the snapshot – a windy day, incoming rain, or the crash of waves on the beach.

The Stories from the Coast exhibit will majorly showcase the Palouse region – some of the beauty as well as some of the deterioration resulting from the consolidation of farms. The Columbia River Gorge area of Oregon is noted for its waterfalls and scenic beauty. Visitors can expect to view this showcase to capture the relationship between geographical features from Jack’s adventures and the history behind them.

See the full exhibit, Stories from the Coast, from Oct. 4 through Dec. 27. This exhibit is viewable at the Meyer Najem 2nd floor gallery, located at 11787 Lantern Road, Fishers, from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visitors can meet Jack at his free open house reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 8 at Meyer Najem.

Judge Stone House
Dreamscape & Belief

In a dreamscape, which is a strange or mysterious landscape or scene often characteristic of dreams, there are no rules. Up can be down, color can be more or less vivid, physics and perspective can change with your mind’s will – your perception of the world is open to imagination. Dreams can help your process your abstract emotions, can be indicative of your belief systems, and can even teach your about yourself and others.

Dreamscape & Belief will be viewable from Oct. 4 to 26 in the Judge Stone House gallery. The Noblesville Creates on 8th campus is open noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

Noblesville City Hall
Members Only Exhibit 

The Members Only Exhibit is moving from Noblesville Creates to Noblesville City Hall during October. This annual exhibit shines a spotlight on Noblesville Creates’ Learn, Promote, Showcase, and Lead level Artist Members.

Noblesville Creates Artist Members lift each other up, advance the communities they take part in, and are incredibly talented. They hold offices, raise families, sing, dance, paint, sculpt, weave, weld, carve, draw, cook, photograph, film, act, and so much more.

The Members Only Exhibit will be viewable from Oct. 4 to 25. Noblesville City Hall is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.