Suzanne Joskow met Henderson Blumer at art school, and their studio was at either end of the hallway where she walked on skates.
In September 2015, Henderson Moore Blumer could sense the panic of art classmate Suzanne Zoe Joskow.
She was in her first year of her master’s degree at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles; he was in his second.It was at the beginning of the term that students began to take their criticisms and a lottery assigned Ms Joskow to one of the original positions.
“She has a week to sort out the work that everyone is tearing up,” said Mr. Blumer, 32, who swapped slots with her because he was scheduled in a month.To thank him, she baked him a batch of vegan chocolate chip cookies.(Mr. Bloomer is a vegetarian.)
“Throughout our first year, we became very good friends and an important sounding board as fellow artists,” said Ms. Josko, 38.
Each of them works in a studio in a warehouse-like hallway, he works on a computer-based interactive photography project without lenses or apertures, and she works on an abstract watercolor ink work, bleeding on colored tissue paper.After each of their criticisms, they traditionally gather with classmates and professors at Tattle Tale, a dive bar near campus.
By the second term, Ms. Joskow was given a pair of white roller skates with pink wheels to move around the studio faster; Mr. Blumer was at the other end of the hall.Together they attended art-related events, explored local architecture, and drove to real estate sales.
Despite their growing bond, it was surprising that in March 2016, at a reception after Mr. Blumer’s solo exhibition at Viento y Agua Cafe and Gallery in Long Beach, California, they shared their first kiss.
“We were both smiling but shocked by the friendship,” she said.He also remains unstable after his recent divorce from his wife of a year and a half.So they keep things platonic.At least for the next few months.
She soon invited him to his first Passover seder, which she hosted at the hotel she rented in the Beverly Grove district of Los Angeles.
“Suzanne had a magical seder in a backyard with beautiful fig and citrus trees,” he said, with 20 guests and her vegan versions of matzo ball soup and flourless chocolate cake.
That summer, he lived with his parents in Napa, where he grew up.They arranged to meet in San Francisco, had a second kiss, and soon began dating in earnest.
A few summers later, in 2020, they bought a house in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles.It was built in 1922 by AB Crist, who designed the first house in Hollywood.
“We want to get down to earth,” said Ms. Joskow from Boston.Her artistic work is now based primarily on archives and research, including a recent project on recipes for Los Angeles communities.Mr. Blumer is the Engagement and Events Manager at the California Institute of the Arts in Santa Clarita.
That New Year’s Eve, Ms Josko flew out a black bag with a ring inside after pounding a star pinata on a stone pine tree in their backyard.Mr. Bloomer picked it up and got down on one knee.At midnight, after she said “yes,” fireworks were set off around the city.
In October 2021, they welcomed a baby named Beatriz Ziva Blumer or Birdie.Mr. Bloomer secretly began to learn Yiddish so that one day he could read the poet Daniel Charney, the bride’s great-grandfather, wrote for the Yiddish daily “Der Tog” in New York.
On January 22, they were married in front of 15 vaccinated guests by Rabbi Zachary Zysman under a century-old tree in the backyard.This was followed by a California meets New England feast, including a Maine lobster roll (groom prepared a vegan version with hearts of palm), pickles from the nearby Nate ‘n Al’s deli, and the bride’s kumquat olive oil cake.
They plan to repeat the menu with a dozen different dinner guests each month this year.”We can sit down and have a real meal with people we haven’t seen in a long time,” the bride said.