Seven port views plus a lighthouse
Posted: May 7, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: boats, Chania, Crete, Greece, harbour, plein air painting, watercolour 43 CommentsSometime after my first week of touring in Crete, I gave up on posting remotely. I am just never satisfied with images that are photographed from my iPhone. I much prefer to scan paintings on my trusty Epson Perfection V600 scanner, clean the images up in Photoshop (bring the whites back to white, make sure the colour matches the original, etc.) and then post them. So here I am, one week after returning home, finally over the jet lag and back at my desk scanning paintings and sketches.
In all, I painted 8 views around the Old Venetian Port of Chania, Crete (mostly 16″ x 12″). I originally thought it was seven but then realized that my final painting of the lighthouse is really the entrance to the historic port so I added that to the count. There would have been a ninth view if it hadn’t rained on my last day. Forgive me if you have already seen a few of these but the colour is not accurate in the previous images so here they are again.
I could paint this port for a year or more and never get tired of it. If you look it up on Google maps you’ll see that it has several bays. The one on the western side is lined with shops and restaurants and it has a wide strolling promenade. The eastern side is where you’ll find the docks and the boats — little fishing boats, great white yachts and catamarans, speedboats that you can charter to take you to beaches inaccessible by car, and strangely, a mini red submarine that allows you to have an underwater view if you choose. You’ll also find the remaining Neoria there. These are the old Venetian shipyards with the peaked facades that you can see in the third painting below.
On the outer edges of the port there’s also a long, narrow seawall that takes you to the lighthouse. I painted in a shaded spot along that wall for several of these paintings. In all of these, I tried to convey a sense of architectural history (bits of the remaining Byzantine and Roman walls, the clay-roofed colourful Venetian buildings, the only remaining Ottoman mosque that forms the corner of the Western section of the port) as well as a sense of what the port is like at different times of day. I was there during the period around Easter when it’s quite crowded so I included lots of people, but I imagine that a place as beautiful as this is crowded well into the autumn.
It was wonderful to live a bit like a local for a few weeks in Chania — to set off in the morning with my palette and easel in my backpack, not knowing where in the port I would stop to paint. I don’t think I’ve ever had the luxury of so much painting time in any other place.
In the next post: the sketches from our frequent road trips to different villages in western Crete.
It looks magic! Better than Kerkyra / Corfu ! I can only imagine how nice it was for you to be there without any commitments!
It really was magic!!Kerkyra was beautiful to but I didn’t get to see much of it, the way you did!
Okay… now I’m terribly envious.. of your travels and your art talents. Just exquisite work, Shari. You are an artist’s artist! You inspire me to keep working at improvement! Thanks for sharing.
Tim, that is very kind. Thank YOU for having a look!
Wow, Shari!! These are all fantastic!! So clean and clear and evocative of the light there. I am beyond impressed!! You are so talented!! Love your work and your generosity in sharing.
Peggy
Peggy, thank you!! It was a really amazing trip and I’m so glad I have these so I can remember Chania.
Looks like this was a lovely trip and the images are sharp!
It was indeed a lovely trip!
I love these paintings.
Jim, many thanks.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Paula, thank you!!
I totally get not wanting to post iPhone photos remotely! The scans are so crisp and juicy! I‘m so glad you got to enjoy this much paining time in one place. Your sketches are gorgeous – and they bring me back to my own trip from last year 🤭😇
Monika, thanks for having a look. Now I am ready for the French Alps. I even got to paint snowcapped mountains in Crete! See you soon.
Shari, these are all better than looking at some photos in a travel magazine-there is so much more life and warmth to them! I love “traveling” vicariously through you!
Denise, I’m glad I brought you along with me. I will bring my sketchbooks to Topsfield so you can see the real sketches.
These are all so very beautiful!!!
Linda, thanks for having a look.
I love these paintings and especially the way you painted the mass of people and the background of the booths. I am struggling with this in a sketchbook right now that I am doing of a local carnival. Thanks for sharing.
Jeanne, this was a bit of a carnival too. I love painting crowds. Maybe I should look for a carnival in my area.
Love all these paintings, so much detail but loose!
Adele, thank you!
Beautiful! So colorful, makes me want to visit and to keep taking your classes!
Thank you for sharing these.
Diana, thank you so much!!
All are so beautiful. You style is just gorgeous and immediately says Shari! It must have been such a wonderful vacation especially to be able to stay as long as you did. You had time to relax and to sketch as you pleased.
Laura, it certainly was a wonderful trip. And with all trips like this, it is only after you return that you realize how much you saw and experienced. I hope to return soon.
Shari….I can only imagine the joy you experienced painting these images of life at the port… The lighthouse may be my favorite, you’ve captured the remoteness and maybe the aloneness that a lighthouse must have.
thanks….travel safely
Jere, thanks for having a look. I’m happy to hear your thoughts about the lighthouse painting. It’s kind of an interesting experience to walk along that wall toward that structure, which does sit rather remotely from the chaotic tourist scene in Chania. The wall to get there is not that wide, and sometimes people have to pass each other on a very narrow section. It’s not treacherous but it was not constructed for crowds. I think I mentioned that it was one of my favourite places to sit because I could hide in a shady corner near the bastion and no one could look over my shoulder.
These painting seem to be a beautiful reflection of how you were feeling painting them in an inspiring location. They are so beautifully painted, detailed, crisp, clean and so colorful. It is also lovely to hear you had the time for yourself to paint when and what you wanted to for however long it took. I agree with one of the above commenters , “you are an artist’s artist” and an inspiration to all who strive at watercolors. Thank you for sharing you vacation paintings . They are stunning!
Patricia, thanks for taking the time both to look at the paintings and also to write. It was a really special trip and it’s wonderful to be able to share these on the blog.
I love how you paint anything water!
Gay, thanks so much! Of course you know that I am happiest near the water — lakes, rivers, the sea. I love to paint it all.
These paintings are great! They bring me right there. I was there about 20 years ago so this is a walk down memory lane. Thanks for sharing!
De, I’m glad I brought you back there!!
As always, eye candy of the quotidian!
Naomi, thank you!!
I love all the people! So many but so varied in poses and colors. Bravo and thanks for sharing. Welcome home.
Thanks Jeanne. Drawing all the people was so much fun. They are just a series of spots and dots but that is my favourite part of each of these.
I think it has all been said above. So amazingShari. I lived In Greece many years ago and you brought me right back. I can almost smell it, that special Greek smell. Sea souvlakia ouzo and the flowers, especially in April. Thank you for sharing your trip
Irene, it’s nice to hear that you know Greece well. Yes, there is a wonderful scent of spring, especially since the wildflowers were all in bloom in April. And the buzzing of bees in those fields was so loud! And of course there was the honey!! All of it amazing.
Shari, these look FANTASTIC!!! I love all of them, lol!
Yvonne, it’s really great to hear from you. Thank you!! I hope all is well and that you continue to create those huge and beautiful sketches!!
All I can say is WOW!! I love all of these paintings. I feel as if I were there. You are a master at water for sure!