Elizabeth Johnson: Both the botanical pieces you sent me and portraits Julie and Joey and Jenny In The Swamp contrast wintery, dark or pale bits of design with more summery, colorful blossoming ones, and the viewer unconsciously absorbs nature and the person within as bridging many seasons. I love the abstract decoration behind the portrait of Thom with his bike in The Cowboy and in the woman's dress in At The Soothsayer. What does it feel like to switch from portraits that suggest personality in the design to "allover-design" botanicals? Are personalities of people and plants aligned as analogous challenges with the show title Pursue?

Joan Becker: The ten small paintings prepared for this show are studies in a “series.” Several of my favorite painters have completed series of friends and acquaintances. Unlike individual portraits, a series has rhythm with which I wanted to experiment. The title of the show, Pursue, has to do with me pursuing the plants, the people, and the places: the search for meaning.