Corfu. Greece

Today we are going to visit Corfu in Greece.  It's all part of Yvonne's (of Meggy's Way) Art Journal Journey theme of Out and About.

I got a little carried away with the paint and a texture tool.  Not sure what got into me, but in the end, I sort of liked the effect.  I thought the color of the background went well with the blues of Corfu's sky and surrounding sparkling blue Ionian Sea.  For those who don't know where Corfu is, it is an island in the northwestern part of Greece and is part of the Ionian Greek Islands.  

Corfu's Old Town, which I don't have a photo of, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Over the years, the Venetians, the French, and the British have all ruled Corfu, thus leaving their mark and multi-cultural heritage.  Corfu, unlike the rest of Greece never fell to the Ottoman Empire. 

I only had two images of Corfu, one of which was slightly larger than postage stamp size.  That's when I decided to frame it in a slide mount.  I purposely showed the side that was marked "toward the screen."  In the frame are the statues of several of the nine muses in the courtyard on the Achilleion terrace.  The Achilleion is a palace that was built by and once the home of Elisabeth, Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary after the death of her only son, Rudolph. Elisabeth truly fell in love with the island, and she dedicated this palace to Achilles.  

As an aside, I learned a lot about Elizabeth: her mood swings, to the way she was expected to have a child every year, only to have it taken from her to be raised by others, to her stress related and psychosomatic illnesses that eventually led her to Corfu, to her desire to stay slim by dieting and exercising throughout her lifetime, and to her death at 60 by stabbing while on a trip to Geneva, Switzerland. 

The Doric style St. George's Church built by the British is in full view on the left in the focal image.

I had a few baubles I've been playing with, and created this blue embellishment.

The focal image was too wide for my used file folder, so I cut part of it off.  When I did, I had to cut it down a bit so it would fit on the page and still leave room for the name of the island.

Up until the early 20th century, tourism was not considered important in this tiny island, so for the most part, it wasn't exploited.  Corfu was mainly visited by European royals, but today it is visited by middle class families, who are primarily from the UK, Scandinavia, and Germany.

Materials include one of my used file folders with a painted background, two photos (one cut in two pieces), a slide mount, and a handmade bead.

Thanks for joining me again as I go out and about on this imaginary journey to Corfu, a tiny Greek Island.  Now let's head to Art Journal Journey to find other artists who are out and about.