Malta
Business can be pleasurable when one travels the world seeking out decor and accents
not usually found in North America. A visit to Malta, GC (yes, as in George Cross - the only nation to have been awarded this medal for collective bravery) provides a blend of the historic, linguistic and artistic.
Tiny, rocky and barren though it is, the island is strategically placed - it has been ruled by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Normans, Sicilians, Arabs and English, thus it is a blend of all that has gone before. The language is a mix of Sicilian and Arabic.
The architecture is a wonderful blend of buttery-yellow medieval and baroque sandstone... with the design, as well the religious, influence of The Knight's of St. John of Jerusalem very evident today.
Following The Great Siege of 1565, The Knight's of St. John commenced a building program, that included churches, mansions, religious palaces.
This tremendous fortification took place around the whole area, which today is collectively called
'The Grand Harbour of Valetta'.
The massive stone buildings helped Malta survive the second Great Siege of 1942 and most fortunately kept this "babe in arms" safe...
Having never returned to Malta since I left at the age of two,
I only knew what Mum had told me...
so among the many revelations and discoveries on this visit was the realization that Malta has some of the highest quality fusion art and decorative glass
that I have seen, anywhere. Yes, Murano is tops, but M'dina glass is a class apart...
M'dina artisans blow fusion glass (also called "slump") in vases and bowls of varying styles and sizes, but their Monet, Lautrec, Renoir, Van Gogh, Caravagio, Cezanne, Klimte, and Picasso "masterworks" in textured colours of fusion glass, emulating those those Works of the Old Masters, is quite special.
I couldn't resist and had to buy a "Van Gogh" and ship it home. Peter Ross of Guildmaster has now hand crafted a coffee table into which we have inserted the "Van Gogh -style" fused glass piece "Cafe Terrace at Night" it is a stunning combination of craftsmanship in both wood and art glass, as you will see in the above two [pictures.
