Sunday, July 27, 2008

Eulen nach Athen


So, with only 12 days to go and nearly everything packed, this is what I found when I arrived on campus this afternoon. It looks as though someone in the Campus Planning office was cleaning and organizing on Friday and just threw the old stuff out the back door. I need these boxes like a hole in the head, but they're so beautiful: clean, empty Xerox™ copy paper boxes, with lids! I filled my van and took some finely proportioned standard brown cardboard ones as well.

Atelier



The search for an apartment goes on, with some interesting possibilities developing. We may have a shot at a Wohnung that isn't being offered by agents. We should know something this coming week. But I'm pleased that the search for a studio space is already complete. The pictures above show the empty studio I 've rented, with south facing windows. It's 75 square meters and in a former school building in our old neighborhood of Bredeney. It's a beautiful space, and large enough that we could fit any apartment we wind up renting into it with room to spare. In fact, if the apartment search continues to go badly, we could spend a night or two there in a pinch.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Wohnungssuche




With only 15 days until we leave Logan, I'm getting a little nervous about finding an apartment in Germany. I've been following listings for furnished places online for a month now. There are often really nice apartments apparently available, but when you contact the real estate agents to arrange a rental, the good ones are always mysteriously no longer on offer. I've realized over time that these apartments are like the €29 rt. flight to Budapest: always fully booked and only advertised as bait. You call about the €29 flight, but wind up accepting the one for €120 at 5 am.

So there are lots of apartments available, just not the one you want. We are juggling the importance of criteria that aren't really easily compared. Is it better to have a place that's close to public transit but lacks a washing machine, or should we go for the Altbau facade and pay a little more than we've planned? Rüttenscheid is the coolest neighborhood, but expensive. Maybe we'd prefer a more working class crowd in Steele or Frohnhausen.

I'd like to resolve this before we leave, but we're starting to consider that we may have to arrive in Germany and find a place once we're there.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Three Weeks to go





Only three more weeks until we leave Logan and I've finally completed all the paintings I've been working on this summer. Most of them are committed to an exhibition at the Hidell/Brooks Gallery in Charlotte. The show won't take place until March of 2009, but I'll be shipping all the work for the show before I leave the States. With the paintings complete, I can shift my focus to photographing the work and crating.


Monday, July 14, 2008

Packing Drawings For Show in Colorado

Before we leave for Germany I need to prepare work for a couple of
exhibitions. These drawings are going to a show at the Youngers Gallery at Northeast Junior College in Sterling, CO.