Welcome to the North!

It's been so long since I updated this that I've almost forgotten how to use blogger.

As a change from my normal summer which usually involves doing odd jobs with Dad, sleeping too much and drawing as often as I can, I have moved to Derry/Londonderry for the next three months. In a desperate bid to do something useful in terms of my course (and to actually have something besides artisan craft cheese making on my CV), I was lucky enough to get a place working in the Void Gallery in Derry. The Void Gallery Website. Considering we have a grad show to create next year, having some practical experience of working in a gallery setting can only be a great opportunity.

The Void Gallery

The Void is hosting two of the four short-listed artists for this year’s Turner Prize.The Turner Prize in Derry. It will be the first time that this prize, one of the biggest in the world of contemporary art, has stepped outside of England, so naturally Derry is pretty much the place to be this year. Seeing as it's the Capital of Culture 2013. Check out what's happening here!, we should be in for a great summer. I'm really looking forward to seeing Andrei Molodkin's work this week in the actually.

Picture credit: http://www.derryvoid.com/images/home/andrei-molodkin.jpg

Because I went with Erasmus, I also get a grant of €1320 which translates into approx £1140. This leaves me with about £95 pounds a week.My rent alone is £65 per week. So that leaves roughly £30 pounds a week to go crazy on! I'm not getting paid any more than that....so just bear this in mind if you consider doing Erasmus during the summer months. Unless you have additional funding or intend to get another job alongside, the grant really is not a lot to get by on. I am going to try to live off this though, because I do want to have some time to start working on my thesis for next year. The University of Ulster is really close. That is very useful indeed. So basically, the menu for the next little while is pasta and a choice of either Bolognese or curry sauce.

My stockpile of pasta...And hot chocolate.

So we left home at 8.30 am, and after about five hours driving found where I was living for the summer.
Of course it happened that after hours in the car, my little sister rang to say that I had in fact left all my food at home. And my bed sheets...and a lot of my clothes.
However in a beautiful turn of events,  who ever lived here before us completely stocked the freezer...and then left. As you do.

I hereby claim all the food in that freezer as my own.

So at the end of the first day, I have a nice little room. The sun is shining. I have a good cup of tea. I am mourning the loss of my biscuits, and there is enough food to get me to the end of the week. Oh, and the internet here is the fastest I've ever had. It's spectacular.