Jeanine Anne Payer

The Ruth Asawa retrospective is/was especially moving to our family, not only because Ruth’s art is finally out in the World in such a major way but because we know how much she impacted so many people and we were able to experience that support and inspiration firsthand. My mom was dear friends and a sister in arms with Ruth in their shared insistence that art in the schools be valued like every other subject. Mom was on the SF MoMA panel with Ruth’s family in April, the day the sweet picture of my mom was taken. The stories we heard that day were extraordinary and it felt a little…historic actually. If anyone is interested please DM and I am happy to share the link to the talk. The last pic is of me standing in front of the drawing Ruth did called ‘Jeannine’s Sunflowers from 1999 when I brought them to her. Mom had told Ruth that this was how my name is spelled on my birth certificate and it stuck. I checked the mask she made of me when I was 28 and realized she’d spelled it with the extra n that time as well. I couldn’t believe I was the Jeanine in ‘Jeanine’s Sunflowers’. People would bring her flowers knowing she loved them and she would draw them but i had no knowledge of this drawing until it was included in the show. I felt like I was hit by lightening with a message from the cosmos…and from Ruth, to live as an artist and have a daily practice of intention, draw and work in the studio every single day. I heard Ruth say in a recorded interview that we have to make art in the space between effort and effect. To me that means we have to do the work and don’t worry about what it is going to ultimately ‘be’. The effect will naturally be there. If anyone has a different perspective on what that means to you I’d love to hear it. The show will go on to NY MoMA, then the Guggenheim in Bilbao #inspirational
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