Good is Good, But Not Great.

[mbarrick]

I finally heard back from Azure, I didn't get it. They went with someone less technical and more of an administrator. At least that is the official word. I know what really happened. They couldn't compete with what the bank is paying me. <sarcasm>What a let-down. I guess I'll have to suffer with shorter hours and more pay.</sarcasm>

The only thing I really don't like about my job is trying to describe it to people.
"I'm a Lotus Domino programmer for the largest bank in the world," I say.
Their eyes start to glaze over.
I explain further, "I write applications for their intranet."
Their eyes glaze over even more.
I sigh and say, "I like it because the money is good and I can leave it behind at the end of the day and go home and paint."
That they understand.

I need to get my ass out to more arts events.

Comments

[ex-majesty337.livejournal.com]

me to. I love art. Especially salvidor dali. Who is your favorite?

Oh, that's a tough one!

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

Odd Nerdrum (http://www.nerdrum.com) is up there both for his technical brilliance and his essays on kitch. He's a big influence on my portraits.
Robert Smithson (http://www.robertsmithson.com) is a fav for his sense of mathematics and scale. I one took a bus all the way to Salt Lake just to see the spiral jetty for real. I should have checked first - the lake rose and it has been underwater for years! His theory influenced my landscapes.
Piet Mondrian is a big influence, that's pretty obvious in my tree paintings. Heh. A goth that likes Bauhaus... lol.
As hackneyed as it may be, Van Gogh is an influence as well. You can see him in the backgrounds of my portraits.
My drawings are influenced by Aubrey Beardsley and Edward Gorey more than anything else. Also a bit hackneyed, but WTF.
My friend Elaine (/~queenvalerian) is definitely on the list.
I could go on, but I guess since I'll go with these as my most favourites since they all came to mind first.

Re: Oh, that's a tough one!

[bitogoth.livejournal.com]

if you like smithson, you must likeandy goldsworthy as well? i love his work... (and smithson as well!)

Re: Oh, that's a tough one!

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

I'm not familiar with him, which is kind of funny. I'm interested in earthworks as an extension of landscaping, in turn as part of the Western landscape tradition. My main interest is in represented landscapes, so I see landscaping as a way of representing idealised landscapes using *actual land* as the medium.

If I keep this up you'll have me talking about signs and signifiers, subjectivity, subject/object relationships and all the other wanking artspeak I've tried to purge from my conscious. Ack. Run. Hide. Drink more. Forget the artspeak. Paint for fun....

Re: Oh, that's a tough one!

[ex-majesty337.livejournal.com]

Wow thats great! so how long have you been painting?

Re: Oh, that's a tough one!

[mbarrick.livejournal.com]

Heh, is "forever" an acceptable answer? My mom has this painting of a tree that I did when I was 7 that is so clearly a precursor to my current tree paintings.

But I didn't *really* start painting until about 1989. You can take a look at my stuff on my personal website http://www.mbarrick.net - just click on "portfolio". It defaults to the paintings. Use the drop down to switch media if you want to see drawings and other things.

Re: Oh, that's a tough one!

[ex-majesty337.livejournal.com]

ok, kewl. I'll check it out as soon as I get off work today.