The time here is flying.....

This past week seemed to be a pretty normal week by Halle standards, but to Audry and I it was very exciting. Mostly our week consisted of working INCREDIBLY hard in the studio. No funny business at all.
Haha. Just kidding.
































In all seriousness we have been working very hard and getting a lot done. It has been difficult for me to think about my work in the past week because I am still trying to figure out exactly what my concepts are. I am working with the idea of infection and how the body responds to the infection. I am thinking about interior vs. exterior space and also presentation. There are so many things to be thinking about!!! It was nice to get some feedback from Tim on Sunday because I was beginning to struggle a bit. It is strange to be in a studio environment where your peers aren’t discussing your work with you, and I think that is mainly what I have been having trouble with. But now I have some new questions to ask myself and I think this next week will be a productive one.






























































The studio here is so cool. There are five rooms that are shared among the students, each student getting their own section to work in. In the main room there is sort of a make shift kitchen that they call the tea room. On the other side of the tea room is where the first year students have their studio space. That is also where the wheels are located. Paula is a first year student at the Burg. She is very sweet and is always so welcoming to Audry and me.

















On Friday night Audry and I ended up at Objekt 5, a little pub around the corner from the Burg that plays live music almost every night. We caught the last song of a French Gypsie band, but got to stay for some dancing afterwards. We ended up meeting a few new friends from France. We danced the night away and had a few German beers to cool us off. It was a pretty fun night.

On Saturday Audry and I headed down to the Burg for the Renaissance Festival, it was kind of funny having the Renaissance Festival at a castle, I felt it was quite appropriate. We walked around the festival that had delicious food, very cool clothing and a really interesting band playing on a stage in the back. We forgot to get money before we went and realized that they didn’t accept credit cards during the Renaissance, so we left to go to an ATM. On our way out of the gate we ran into one of the Burg students, Mirium. She is a 2nd year student at the Burg and she shares a studio with Audry. She told us that she was going to Lydia’s (another student from the Burg) flat. She invited us to come meet up with them later so we graciously accepted. We went to the ATM, went back to the festival so Audry could buy a scarf, walked all the way back to our flats, changed, bought a beer at the gas station, and finally did the 25 minute walk to the Burg (again). We met up with Mirium and she took us to Lydia and Bert’s (Lydia’s boyfriend) apartment. We hung out there for a few hours, just talking, drinking wine, and eating sushi and BBQ potato chips (YES, they do have BBQ chips in Germany, I was pretty pumped). They asked us questions about the US, and we asked them questions about Germany. Lydia is originally from Russia and was trying to explain to us the typical foods they eat in Russia. She and Bert invited us back in the morning to have a Russian breakfast with them so we could experience it for ourselves. It was a great way to spend Sunday morning. We had Turkish coffee, crepes and all kinds of things to fill them with. It was great!

Audry and I spent the rest of the day in the studio, taking a short break to make another quick trip to the Renaissance festival. While on our second trip to the festival, we thought it would be cool to see what they had at the top of the Burg. After we climbed the stairs to the top of the wall, we found the children’s section of the festival. They had face painting, and games, but the best part was the jester. He was juggling and BREATHING fire! It was soo cool. He kind of looked a little like Mahlon, so we got his business card. We just thought in case the whole ceramics things doesn’t work out for Mahlon he can learn to breathe fire! ☺


That’s all for this week. Stay classy USA.

oh shoot :(

If you have read Audry's blog you already know the bad news...
The house has been boarded up. the doors.the windows. everything.
we are at the comfort inn room 112. i love you.



Actually the
internet(in Audry's flat) that we have grown to love and cherish is DOWN. Oh Shoot. So we may not be able to get a post out for a few days due to our inability to connect our own computers to the internet. Please bear with us for another few days (we know you are JUST DYING to see what we have been up to).

HALLE back youngin

Audry and I got back from Berlin last Saturday. Since we had only been in Halle for one day before we left we had A LOT of exploring to do. Sunday and Monday were pretty relaxing days for us. Almost everything in the city was closed for Easter so all we could really do was figure out the city. We began our adventure not knowing where we were going, but as we walked we came across many interesting places and things. There are so many beautiful buildings and parks all around the city. As we continued our journey we ended up downtown in the marketplace. There are tons of little shops and restaurants that all revolve around the main circle.
Next day we decided to continue our exploration of the city but in the opposite direction.


We headed to the Burg where we were going to try and get into the studio to poke around a bit, but it was locked so we had to settle for a stroll by the river. The Burg rests on a cliff above the Saale River. All along the river there is basically nothing but beautiful green space and paths to ride bikes or walk along. It was a beautiful day and we walked for quite a while. We found that there is an “island” in Halle where there is an outdoor amphitheater, playgrounds, and a little childrens train that we, of course, took a ride on. I had a great time, but I think Audry might have been in heaven!






When Tuesday came along Audry and I finally got to work in the studio. We each have our own space to work. Susan, one of the professoren, gave us each a bucket (I think mine used to belong to Boomer?) Haha. But we got to work, and after only a few days we have gotten off to a pretty good start. I think we are going to have a pretty productive few weeks here in Halle.

One of the highlights of the week…
Heidi Grew (the former OU graduate student who we met in Berlin) and Jessica Knapp came to the Burg to do artist lectures. It was sooo nice to see them again. They came to the studio before hand and we all got to chat a bit before they gave their talks. Afterwards we were invited to have our first German beers with them and the professors. It was really nice to go out with everyone and socialize a bit after a long day. Adrian, Jessica’s husband taught me how to order a beer in German, which apparently is a necessity when you live here. Jessica’s mother was also with them; she had arrived in Berlin just the day before. She reminded me a little bit of my mom, so it was kind of comforting to talk with her. The next day, they all came back to the Burg to get a tour of all of the studios. We tagged along as well since we hadn’t really gotten to see much of the castle yet.




We got to see the printmaking studio, figure sculpture, bookmaking, and jewelry. In the jewelry studio we met another American, her name was Angela and she was from Indianapolis.
She has been studying in Germany for about two and a half years, and she will be at the Burg for another two and a half years. It was really nice to meet her, and know that there is a fellow American close by.
After the tour, we all went up to the top of the Burg (which in German translates to “fort”) to see the ruins. Heidi


explained to me that the large fort was built in the 12th century and the smaller one about three hundred years later. On top of the fort is where the castle was built, but was burned down hundreds of years ago and never rebuilt. You can still see the foundation and the layout of the different sections of the castle, not to mention that the view is spectacular. I love how there is so much history in such a small section of the city, and I am lucky enough to spend almost every day in that place!










One final note...
Some very nice students from the burg had a cookout on friday night and invited us to come. It was a great time, and I drank out of a vase (which I really thought was a cup/it seriously looked like a cup). haha. but after we left the cookout we went to a few parties with Hannes, one of the students. We had a very fun time with Hannes and his friends (possibly too much fun). All in all Audry and I are happy we are making some friends here in Halle.

BERLIN woop woop.

On Wednesday morning Audry and I went down to “The Burg” to meet up with Andrea and Martin (a student and professor from the keramik department). Martin drove us to Berlin because the students were having an exhibition at the History museum there. The drive took about two hours and we got to see a lot of the German countryside or “landscape” as they seemed to call it. We got to the city and the interesting mix of new and old architecture immediately impressed me. We came into the city on the west side and traveled straight through to the Brandenburg Gate, which was the entrance from east to west when the Berlin wall was still standing. It was very interesting to see, and they told us that only the highest government officials were allowed to pass through this gate. We went straight to the Zeughaus, which was where the exhibition was being held. After much waiting and watching the doors finally opened and we were allowed to bring the art, or “kunst” inside to set up. Audry and I weren’t much help, but finally Andrea took us by subway or “ubon” to meet Bella, our host for the next few days. Bella is Johannes’ girlfriend and she lives in Pankow, an area in Berlin. Her apartment was very nice and comfortable. She was a fantastic hostess. Bella wasn’t expecting us so soon, and she already had plans to go to a party the night we got there. Luckily she was able to take us with her to the party and after we got settled in we set out to find the Kunst School in Pankow for the party. Audry and I felt a bit out of place because we couldn’t speak much German and didn’t quite know what the heck was going on. It was all good though and a little later we were on our way back to Bella’s and headed to bed.
The next day Audry and I were lucky enough to do some sight seeing on our own and got to take lots of pictures! That night was the opening of the exhibition at the museum as well. We walked in and immediately a woman came up to me and said that I looked American in my North Face fleece. She was actually a former ceramic graduate student from OU, Heidi. She and her husband were glad to talk to us about everything! Heidi is doing a residency in Berlin for 2 months with Thomas Hirshler and Kaja Witt who Bella is actually doing an apprenticeship with right now. Audry and I were lucky enough to go see their studio and gallery in Pankow and it was absolutely amazing!!!! After seeing it I really want to study German and come back and do a residency there!!!




On Friday Audry and I set out for a little more shopping and sightseeing. Much to our surprise, all of the stores were closed because it was Good Friday! I was sooo upset. I really wanted to spend some Euro. We found a little café and sat down to have a snack. I just want to say that it was the fanciest diet coke and carrot cake I have ever had. As we moseyed our way down the street we came across an English speaking tour. We snuck to the back of the tour to listen in a little bit and the tour guide welcomed us to join because it was a FREE TOUR!!! YAY! We got to see a lot of the amazing things we had already seen, but this time we had them explained to us! In English! Bonus: I fell in love with the tour guide…his name was Chris. Unfortunately, Chris liked to talk a lot and we were running late to meet up with Andrea so we had to duck out as soon as the tour was over. We just hung out with Andrea and Bella for the rest of the day/night. We got some delicious Indian food and headed back to Pankow. For the rest of the night we just hung out and watched an American movie in German, interesting. Saturday was our last day in Berlin and Audry and I were again left to do some sightseeing on our own. We got to go into a beautiful church and much to our surprise, we could climb a million stairs to the top and go outside to look out and see the whole city.