Biljana Beran was a medical doctor working in an emergency room in Sarajevo, Bosnia, when one day a friend took her to a gallery to see the work of artist Joze Cuiha. The effect was immediate and permanent. Much to the concern and chagrin of her family, Biljana gave up her promising medical career and in 1986 opened an art gallery. In 1996, after immigrating to the U.S. during the Balkan Wars, Biljana held fast to her vision and opened another art gallery La Jolla, which is at 1250 Prospect St., Suite B21, next door to George’s at the Cove. “I realized that day what I really wanted to do with my life — what I was supposed to be doing.” Biljana said. “Art is my obsession, it is my consuming passion. I am most happy when I am in my gallery and surrounded by art. I think of my artists as my family.” On May 1, Biljana opened a new show at Galeria Jan featuring the work of Cuiha and Los Angeles-based sculptural and ceramic artist Peter Shire, both influenced by Pablo Picasso, called “Hommagio a Picasso.” The show will run until May 23. The feeling in the gallery on opening night was as if one had stepped through the doorway into Eastern Europe, perhaps into a James Bond movie. Strains of the Serbo-Croatian language, which Biljana speaks, wafted through the air. Artist Peter Shire, bearded, and dressed in baggy brown trousers and a blue striped Russian Navy shirt made merry and entertained the gallery-goers by explaining his colorful, comical sculptural contraptions and teapots of geometric wizardry. Simple, childlike ink drawings by Cuiha, resembling and playing off the famous sketch by Picasso of Don Quixote astride his stallion accompanied by Sancho Panza on his burro lined the walls, but with a dash of color and a bit of humor added in. Some larger paintings by Cuiha also adorned the walls, some abstract and some more iconic and symbolic as if Picasso had been born and raised in the Balkans under Orthodox Christianity rather than in Catholic Spain. One intriguing painting depicts a nun all in black with red mystical symbols on her face, seeing all but saying nothing and judging none. Donna Shire, Peter’s Japanese wife, also on hand for the opening, said that both she and Peter were very happy to have his works at Galeria Jan because, “This is a place where you can stretch your mind, become more sensitive and a better observer.”