Theo arrives in the Boughery and reaches Asher Glissen and Brooke’s converted studio at 107 South Broadway. Asher greets Theo with paint on his hand, welcomes him in despite working, and offers coffee and baroque music. Theo brings a bouquet; Asher recognizes the echinacea and narcissus as his mother’s favorites and appreciates the gesture.

Asher leads Theo through halls lined with artwork into the main studio, where Theo is overwhelmed by the volume and range of Asher’s output. Theo notices three active works: an unfinished oil portrait of an older man, a pencil illustration of a little girl drawing with chalk for a children’s book project, and an impressionistic nighttime riverscape done with a palette knife. Theo compliments Asher’s breadth beyond portraiture.

Over coffee, Asher explains that portraits keep his family afloat but he keeps side projects to stay creatively alive. Asher asks about Theo’s background; Theo describes growing up in Portugal near Porto, later living in major cities, and now residing in New York. Theo says he is in Golden to tend to nearby properties and mentions renting Mr. Ponder’s apartment at Ponder House, which surprises Asher.

The conversation turns personal as Theo invites Asher’s story. Asher recounts his Golden roots, an artist mother and ad-agency father, and a strained relationship with his brother, Pearce, whose daughter is Minnette. Asher describes marrying Brooke, raising their daughter Samantha (“Sam”), and caring for his parents—his father before he died and his mother through Alzheimer’s, which hurt the family financially but kept Asher close to her until the end.

Prompted by Theo, Asher reflects on what makes “good art,” suggesting it is whatever helps people see, feel, or become better, and resisting critics’ authority. Theo offers his own criterion: for anything to be truly good, love must be at its core—love for the gift, the subject, and the audience—though Theo admits he cannot always detect it and believes God can. Asher acknowledges the idea, voices insecurity about his own “goodness” measured by fame and sales, and is then interrupted by a ringing phone; expecting a commission call, Asher asks to take it and encourages Theo to make himself at home and look around.