- [Announcer] This presentation is made possible in part by grants from the Greater Montana Foundation, the Sweet Grass Community Foundation, and the Crazy Mountain Museum.

("On the Tip of My Toes") - Many people remember and will fondly tell you about the first time they met Jessica Zemsky.

The family had talked about Jessica and Jack and said, "Oh, you've gotta meet them.

They're wonderful.

Jessica is just so full of life," and they didn't exaggerate one bit.

("On the Tip of My Toes") (classical music) Jessica began life in Brooklyn, where she grew up and discovered her passion for art.

- What it was was a family story.

It's all those years ago.

It's a mother and father, and always a dog, and a sister.

And that was the whole family.

The sister's name was Pauline.

(classical music) I went to a grade school, P.S.

188, and I met this little girl and she was what I mistakenly, because I didn't know that grammar existed.

Instead of saying, "An artist," I said, "I want to have supper with my little friend."

She's a artist and she's going to have an art class lesson.

If I could sleep over at her house, we could go to class, the little class together.

And so everyone said, "Fine."

And so we did.

And I began to notice in her room, funny little toys and funny little books, and a lot of little things, and she said, "Would you like to try to draw that?"

And I didn't really know much about drawing, but I said, "Of course."

And just picking up the materials that you use is so exciting to me.

And this stick makes an orange mark, and this stick makes a green, funny green mark.

And some of them are very pretty.

("On the Tip of My Toes") And you'll find if you go through a few years of work that you have been doing up until you're being, forgive me, paid for them, so that people want them, you'll find that you choose different things as you get more experienced.

("On the Tip of My Toes") - Jessica's work is so spontaneous, so colorful, so full of life.

- Her job is to acknowledge the beauty in life around us.

People who know her see that and feel it when they look at her paintings, and color's a big part of it.

I mean, she's an Einstein of color.

- She's gonna be remembered for bright colors.

The flow, and the way she drew her flowers and hair, and the way she formed her drawings and paintings, and how one part of the painting would bring you to another part, but you didn't go point by point by point.

You went in a more linear fashion.

That's where the education really came in.

Just the way everything flowed and the way things, the way she brought things to life were magical.

- [Barbara] It was about 1975 when Jessica and her husband, Jack Hines, settled in Big Timber.

The two talented artists spent the next several decades together.

(gentle music) - [Sallie] They personify sophistication.

They can meet, greet, visit, eat, partake of any kind of ceremony in any style of home, a teepee, an igloo, a mansion, a castle, with dignity and grace, that sophistication.

("Beautiful Moments") - [Barbara] The two were different in their approach to the creative style, yet, devoted to each other, each enjoyed without exception.

The others' respect as a professional and love as a mate.

("Beautiful Moments") - Jack and Jessica had a beautiful relationship between them.

And I just remember everywhere we went, Jack would be driving, Jessica in the passenger seat, and me in the back, and I could always see them holding hands.

They held hands everywhere they went.

They were just a loving, wonderful couple.

("Beautiful Moments") - [Barbara] In a documentary film in 1978, Jessica said... - [Jessica] What I enjoy most is to work with living things.

I have the human condition in my works somehow.

I feel it so much.

The only thing people have in common in living is each other.

And if I can feel something enough in a picture to catch someone's eye, someone I don't know, someone who might even not speak the same language I do, that they might see a painting or a drawing and say, "Oh boy, I know all about that.

I've been there."

It's a big deal.

It's a big deal for me, and sometimes for them too, and you can't do much more with one lifetime.

I don't think."

("Light High Classical Piano") - [Barbara] Many hundreds of subsequent drawings, sketches and paintings later, she still says... - So many things to say and not to say, but life is marvelous.

That's all people have is each other.

- That's how my mother sees the world in a fantasy, in a positive way, always positive, never negative, but it's just more color and more beautiful, and brighter and more wonderful.

And that's how she sees life and sees the world, and that's how she shares it with everyone around her.

And it's compelling.

You wanna be part of that.

You wanna see what she sees.

You want to be in that experience, and it's remarkable.

And still at a hundred, she's the same person.

She's limited in various ways, but she still sees the wonder in life.

What she said when she was younger and I was younger, "Every day is the best day of your life."

(upbeat music) - Whether her subjects were recruited by her, or commissioned by admiring parents and grandparents, the resulting works have always been treasured on walls of homes, galleries, museums, hospitals, and other public places.

(slow upbeat music) The young subjects, and so many of Jessica's celebrated and now recall their experiences as models for her.

(lively music) - It was a big deal then, and I think it still is a big deal now to be a part of somebody's art like that.

It was kinda fun over the years to find out how many, you know, maybe friends, that I met in college whose family had that picture of me and the lamb, and didn't know who it was, or had seen the rodeo clown picture.

She's been a big part of my family for years.

(lively music) She was always really fun to be around when we were little kids.

And of course, we thought we were gonna be stars and you knew that they were artists.

When we'd visit their house, there was paintings everywhere.

And I don't know, you kinda got to thinking you might be famous someday, (laughs) but, I guess, as famous as I ever was, was the cover of Wool Grower's magazine.

- She just had this very kind soul that was very peaceful, and I think the images that she captured were incredible, 'cause she wasn't perfect about them.

She's let your hair be wild and wispy, and really was able to connect with you, and capture kinda what you were about.

I mean, I look at those pictures that she painted of me and I also see my daughter in 'em.

I mean, my daughter had the same blonde, short wild hair, and it's just she captured that spirit of that age so well, and just made it easy to connect with her, because of kind of that grandmother just, you know, I know she always spoke very softly, and just moved very quietly, and was just, had this sense of, like, peace about her.

She just was this kind soul, and made that whole process very special and very memorable, as, you know, to a little girl.

("Almost New") - Grandma had this collection of, like, Beatrix Potter costumes, and we'd go to the cabin altogether and then she and I would kind of squirrel away upstairs in the loft, and she'd start opening these boxes of Beatrix Potter costumes, bonnets, dresses, bunny rabbit dolls, and she'd let me pick whatever I wanted and she'd dress up, you know, dress me up in these beautiful outfits.

And you know, I was six or seven or eight and it was just, like, so fantastical and fun.

And then she would paint me or draw me in those outfits, and it was just a really special whimsical memory.

- For the painting at the schoolhouse, I remember, you know, we...

I think it was me and Mike, Christensen, Don Christensen, my sister Anna, and I think my sister, Amy, who the children are, and had us play "Ring Around the Rosie" in front of that school.

And we just had fun.

It was just fun for us, kids, to kinda do that.

And we were all friends anyway, so we just started playing and went along like that.

- The piece of Jessica's that we probably sold the most of was her piece called, "When the Then and the Now Hold Hands," which we always called the ghost children.

And that piece touched everybody.

It just had a fun, ghostly feeling to it that connected with Montana, and history and children.

("Cynthia's Song") - Well, it must have been 40 years ago and my husband and I had bought this lovely, wonderful ranch in Springdale, and I saw this picture that Jessica had done, and I just fell in love with it.

So I heard they lived in Big Timber, so I brazenly called them and said, "Why don't you come up and visit me?

I have two grandchildren here."

So they drove 15 miles up a muddy road, and found us in this little hunting shack, and they played with the kids, and eventually, she painted the two of them.

And then she's continued to paint my grandchildren.

- [Barbara] Jessica is known and appreciated not only for her technical ability in art, but for her caring and nurturing for others, who may wish to try their hand in the medium.

Her books and videos continue to mentor those whom she has inspired to make an effort in creating pictures.

- "Raggedy Ann" is much more interesting than that little tiny toy that gets lost.

See how I move the values closer together, so you don't notice the spindles on the arm so much, and it should bring the hands much more out into the light.

("Sleep Well") - I think, Jessica does want to be remembered as an artist primarily, but she also has been a friend to hundreds and hundreds of different people and was a teacher to so many different young art students.

I think that was exceedingly important to Jessica.

- I said, "How you doing?"

She used her hands, she says, "Life is wonderful."

And I said, "You've got a beautiful attitude."

And she says, "Well, it is."

She says, "The world is full of good people, people who really love you and help you not just to be nice, but they really care about you."

And she said, "It's all right here."

- [Jessica] It's all real here.

You can just make it happen yourself, and there's always someone right at your elbow to help you.

You can be thinking of a painting or having a thought about a place you've seen and you pass in the street, a few little children that look as though they could have lived at that place.

You want to paint and you just stop them, and you just talk to them, and in a moment they know just what you're talking about and you ask them if they would come with you and act this thing out and play the game that you want to play or pretend the thing you want to pretend or recreate the thing you felt at this place.

And there's nothing they would rather do than do that with you.

And so off you all go into "Alice in Wonderland" time and everyone has the joy of a whole new experience between you.

Not only do you recreate something, but you create something right there on the spot, and they're all the happier for it.

And you have a live experience to paint about, to talk about.

- That's what Jessica was always is exhibited with just so much joy, so much laughter, and just giggled, you know, like a child.

And she had so much youthful expression in her paintings.

She used to say that the children that she painted were young enough that they weren't corrupt by society or changed by their parents.

That they were just pure, joyful beings, and she wanted to capture that youthful spirit.

And I think she did in many, many of her paintings of children.

- I just starting to understand that in my age now, that everything we're looking for is in front of our face, waiting for us to discover it.

And that's how she lives.

- My advice is, first of all, eat well, sleep well, and do as many things as you'd like to do.

Don't say, "Well, someday, I would like to go to Bessarabia."

Now I just pulled the name, because it fell out of my mouth.

I don't know where it is or if it's a country, or if it is a country still, or where it is, or if anybody goes there, or if it's safe, or if it's hot or cold.

But it's out there.

And aren't you curious?

Wouldn't you like to do that?

Why don't you try it once and see, you may hate it or you may adore it and open your own college of your own.

Give it a whack, folks, and see what you think.

And if I'm still around, write to me about it.

That would be fun, don't you think?

- [Barbara] Jessica's appreciation of into other aspects of life.

And often, she used comparisons as she thought they fit the circumstance.

- You wonder why things do grab you.

And I saw this building, and it's out, is abandoned a long time.

Most of the kids in the neighborhood It's appealing, it looks as though if you found a lollipop in there, it would be the most delicious lollipop you've ever found.

It's just looks a word that my family uses a lot, delicious.

Whether you're eating it or looking at it or smelling it, delicious is a wonderful word, and that's what that building has for me.

It makes you think, "How would it be to go to that school?"

And so stop trying to imagine what it would be like then, because I think it's all part of the same thing.

If you can find the beauty in something or the humor in something, or the challenge in something, you've got a big head start to art.

- [Barbara] Although, Jessica and Jack's art sales supported them very well, they managed to share their talents passionately for good causes.

- When we got together the first few times and talked about the art that Jessica was going to donate, we talked a lot about the people that were in her pieces and how many people she touched through her art.

Both she and Jack just loved kids.

And the commitment to the Montana Pediatric project to St. Vincent Healthcare was how they self-actualize their commitment to kids.

- She just couldn't stand to think of a parent sitting in this room with their child in surgery and probably not even from this town, because it was a major center, and not knowing that how your child was, was it gonna be okay?

And she said, "I couldn't stand to think of them sitting in this room with all these blank walls."

So she plastered the walls with children.

It was beautiful.

- I met with Jack and Jessica somewhat frequently, and the question that Jessica always asked was, "How are the children?"

And it was before any other discussion went forward.

The question always was, "How are the children doing?"

And that was to me, a really powerful commitment or statement on her part for what she intended to happen with the donation of the art and the impact on the floor.

And so when you see Jessica's work, the children were always the focal point.

("Harvest Moon Waltz") In the case of Jessica Zemsky, it will always be about the children.

("Harvest Moon Waltz") - I want to tell you, folks, I wanna tell you that life is good, I recommend it.

("Harvest Moon Waltz")