Speciality Coffee Bar

Speciality Coffee Bar

(Acrylic and collage on board, 12x7 in)

A small painting begun as a distraction at the turn of the year. It shows one of the derelict doorways I found as I wandered the streets of Chania on one of my many visits there. I enjoyed bringing the textures of the wall and door to life.

After today’s changes, I think I’m done with it now.

Me in a Bar

 

Bewitched, Bothered & Bemildred. A pre-prandial Aperol Spritz, with some solid funk, in a bar round the corner.

Two Months in Crete : Sketch - On Kissamou Avenue

On Kissamou Avenue.
(Marker and watercolour in 195x195 mm sketchbook)

Moving away from the historical Old Town, I wandered into the more commercial and, I have to say, rather run down part of the new town. Kissamou Avenue is a very busy main road running out of town and just crossing it needs very careful timing but it led me to some lovely dilapidated properties.

When I started this drawing, there was a motorbike parked in front of the building. By the time I got to the bottom part of the drawing, the rider had driven off and a car had arrived and parked. Such are the difficulties of urban sketching.

Two Months in Crete : Sketch - Down Balantinou

Down Balantinou

(Markers in 195x195 sketchbook)

Balantinou was one of the streets we used most often to walk into the Old Town. It was just round the corner from the apartment and skirted the Schiavo Bastion, built by the Venetians as part of the city fortifications.

On the left of this drawing is a ramp leading up to the top of the Bastion. For about a week after we arrived the ramp was closed off because of a landslide, but the demand from people wanting to get a view of the town from the top soon led to a dismantling of the fence; whether officially or not, who can say?

The landslide had fallen onto the road, which meant it was closed to traffic, so I was able to stand in the middle of the road to draw. In doing so, I was much safer than if I'd stood on the pavement, because that was being used by all the local motorcyclists in the absence of a road.

The taverna canopies belong to the Banana Garden and the blue dome in the background is on the top of the Roman Catholic Church.