Recovery Day

I decided that I wanted to see if I could slow the pace down a bit and still try to get to work in 45 minutes...I almost did it, I finished in 45:48 with an average heart rate of 135 and the ride was fairly relaxed so I will be doing this at least once a week just to give my legs a little break and my lungs. It was a cool change of pace and I still got to work when I wanted without being too late...

We went to the BMOCA art opening last night and while I tried to like the new Batura paintings I thought they were fairly weak and uninspired. It isn't enough to just paint random cutouts on big panels and expect the viewer to connect to them...when the artist himself doesn't really even connect to them. Painting abstract art is harder than people think and I think this is a great example of an accomplished realist painter trying to paint abstractly...he is a skilled draftsman and his talent is apparent in the works, but they just really lacked a conviction. I am sure that if he sticks with this direction they will become stronger with time, that is how painting works.

Barbara Shark's paintings were very interesting from a nostalgic point of view, they represented the Shark's lifetime of events some small some big and overall I enjoyed the voyeuristic aspect of the show, they were snapshots blown up to life size paintings and the compositions were well thought out. The handling of the paint was a bit thin and amateur. A few of the paintings seemed a little forced in that they tried to convey more than we could understand from plain observation. I wanted to connect more to the events but at the same time, if I didn't know them personally would I care to view someone's family photos turned into paintings???

Jana and I both liked the work upstairs by the O.H.N.O twins, I wasn't overly overwhelmed but it was fun and playful and there was a sense of nostalgia that all 3 shows carried as a theme, intended or not, I found the most important part of the exhibit was how all the work touch on this central theme of nostalgia, cut ups from old fashion magazines to family photos to small monitors showing old cartoons and t.v. shows this 3 show set made me remember my past with a wink and grin.

Tonight we go to first Friday and the show at the Denver MCA...can't wait to ride home.