In 1968, Marie Johnson created Woman with Flowers, a contemplative mixed media painting featuring a young black girl grasping two flowers against an urban backdrop. Woman with Flowers is a stellar embodiment of Johnson’s vibrant painting techniques. Drawing inspiration from her family and her life in the Bay Area, Johnson encapsulates a quotidian moment of the black, female experience in Woman with Flowers. The central subject of the painting is a woman wearing a blue dress with a white flower collar and sleeves. Her brows are furrowed, her eyes are heavy and her lips are pursed, evoking a sense of quiet sadness that contrasts the brightly hued flowers in her hand. Fenced into her little garden plot, the female subject stands in front of an urban environment composed of three distinct buildings made of visibly differing materials. She stands in front of a multi-level house, perhaps an apartment complex. In each visible window of this building, other various subjects carry out the regular routines of daily life.

During the 1960’s, Johnson became increasingly active in the San Jose chapter of the NAACP. Johnson was particularly dedicated to establishing access to equal job opportunities for minority students. Johnson’s artistic practice was particularly influenced by her participation in the March on Selma in 1965. Johnson explains, “When I came back I felt as though abstract work had to go on hold. So I started painting my world around me.” This momentous shift in Johnson's practice is evident in Woman with Flowers, as her commonplace depiction of a girl in her garden favors realism. While the Civil Rights Movement inspired a technical innovation in Johnson's oeuvre, one might consider how the legal strides and personal struggles centered around the movement also effected the content of the work. The urban backdrop could be a direct reference to the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This Act, commonly known as the Fair Housing Act prohibited the discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing. With this new found interest in depicting her everyday life, the struggle for blacks to found adequate, affordable housing was a harsh reality improved by the Fair Housing Act. In contrast to the legislative success of the anti-discriminatory housing policy, the black community during the same year suffered a deep loss with the murder of Civil Rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr in 1968. The quiet, almost sorrowful demeanor of the central female subject could be a reflection of how Johnson felt loosing a dear comrade, the figure may embody the sense of grief that the black community suffered after the loss of Martin Luther King Jr. Despite the legislative gain in housing, the black community felt a sense of confusion about the direction of the Civil Rights Movement after the death of its undisputed leader. With hands grasping a pink and a blue flower, colors that are often used to signify gender, Johnson may be contemplating the future of innocent black girls and boys during this tumultuous and fragile moment. Using a mix of media, Johnson is able to paint her uncertain reality in an approachable and deceptively innocent manner.