by Jane Dill

We decided to go to Corfu when we were in lockdown in 2020. My husband Roger and I watched the entire PBS series, The Durrells in Corfu. We vowed that if we got through Covid alive and could travel again, that's the first place we'd go.

When we got there we instantly felt at home in Corfu. The architecture, the sea, the history, the friendly people all seemed so familiar.

The trip sparked my imagination for a new group of textural paintings. Everywhere we went on the island, we soak in the ancient history through stone walls, ruins, forts, a monastery and endless pathways of the Old Town of Corfu. I photographed everything for reference, memory and inspiration.

We couldn't stop exploring. Every corner I turned, there was another image or old wall that I wanted to absorb and then create into a body of work.

On a trip to a monastery, I found an ancient manuscript, and being a calligrapher, photographed it through the glass. The ancient Greek cursive lettering now appears in most of these paintings as an unreadable design element.

We became enamored with slow travel, staying in one place for weeks as opposed to island hopping. It enabled us to embrace the community in a much more intimate way.

We came upon the small village of Krini, on the west side of Corfu. (We were actually on our way to a castle ruin, but it was blocked off because they were filming a Netflix movie.) We just pulled the car over and walked around the mostly abandoned buildings. It is such a treasure of history.

No stranger to Texture Painting (I teach a class in this), my art emerged through the use of plaster, photos and lettering printed on thin Kozo paper. A custom palette was used throughout the series of turquoise, browns, off white and brown/red oxide.

Immersed in the color and texture of Abstract Realism, I think my Greek works are truly "Reflections on Corfu."

www.janedill.com

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Jane Dill is an internationally known professional calligrapher who has spent over 35 years working as a freelance lettering artist specializing in commercial hand lettering for headlines, product identity, book covers, wine labels, film, and corporate logos. Her work has recently been published in Letter Arts Review and has also been published in Print Magazine and several books on calligraphy. Over the years, Jane has shown her calligraphic artwork throughout California and in New York, Chicago, Italy, Belgium, Santa Fe and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Since moving to San Miguel de Allende in 2012, Jane has been taking her lettering to a new and exciting level, using calligraphy and lettering as design elements in her mixed media works. She also teaches monthly classes at the Galeria San Francisco in Texture Painting, Mixed Media & Photography, and Abstract Painting in Layers. As a member of the Galeria, Jane has expanded her own artwork through experimentation with texture, collage and asemic (non-readable) script.

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