The island of Bali, Indonesia has many charms to attract us to visit, and maybe even stay; more and more western expats are making their homes here. One part of the beauty is the handmade carvings that are abundant on the island.
Our traveling “nieces” Cindy and Toulla took us to Wayan’s woodworking shop on the waterfront in Padangbai, where the senior artist showed us some of his beautiful handiwork. All of this work is done solely by hand, with a mallet and a set of handmade blades, sandpaper, and saws.
Later, near Ubud we toured a woodworking center. There they explained the 4 major types of wood that are used. Cheaper, lightweight wood articles are soft and often will split into pieces as the years go by. It’s best to buy from reputable artists.
We went to Five Art near Ubud for a day of art lessons. Matt worked on his Om carving for 6 hours, and we gained an appreciation for the hard work that goes into these pieces.
While he created his carving I learned to do batik on cloth. In the end we both were exhausted, and delighted with our creations.
