Saw the excellent Jim Dine Drawings show at the National Gallery today. I hadn't paid much attention to him in the past, probably because I didn't think much of his Pop art. Seeing the drawings show was a revelation. I loved the drawings. Most were of simple, everyday objects, and there were many nude studies.

The cyclists in me appreciated this quote displayed in bold type on one wall:

Drawing is not an exercise.
Exercise is sitting on a stationary bicycle and going nowhere.
Drawing is being on a bicycle and taking a journey.
For me to succeed in drawing, I must go fast and arrive somewhere.
The quest is to keep the thing alive...
--Jim Dine, 2003

Today after a lunch of gnocchi at il Cigno, a good, local Italilan restaurant where our office wished an outgoing staff member well, I decided to ride downtown to catch the Dine show. After a stop at home, I was finally able to get started at around 1:45 p.m. The wonderful thing about living here is the I was able to ride downtown, catch the show and look around the gift shop, and be back home by 6:00 p.m. The round trip is about 40 miles, and I probably didn't take much longer to get home than many of the commuters stuck in the traffic next to the trail.
posted by Bruce Wright at 10:07 PM #