Sangat pagi-pagi

These Balinese roosters get going very early in the morning (sehari pagi-pagi). They crow all day long along with cooing doves, croaking toads, chirping cicaks (small geckos) and tokeks (large geckos) and the constant sound of motorbikes going up and down the street. Just another peaceful day in paradise...

Flocks of chickens wander freely and everywhere before they become makan (food). I see them roaming in grassy lots along the beach, in-town and on the highways, pecking away at the ground and often times Hindu prayer offerings. They usually scurry off when I to sneak up on them with my camera. So I did these quick watercolor sketches from blurry photos. I decided to try to paint without a pen or pencil line. It was fun to just move paint around.

Selamat datang

We eat out a lot. Food is fairly inexpensive here and quite delicious, as long as I can manage the amount of chillis and sambal in the dishes. We had to step over this sleeping Bali dog to get into a restaurant the other night. 

Christmas in Bali

Our only holiday decoration was this bouquet of flowers I clipped from our tropical garden and stuck in a water glass. Quite beautiful sitting on the low coffee table with late afternoon light streaming in. 

It is the rainy season—musim hujan, now in Bali, so the days are mostly overcast and very hot and steamy. Hujan sehari-hari, it rains almost everyday. We awakened on Christmas morning to dry air, clear blue skies and a gentle breeze. What a wonderfult gift. A six mile walk on the beach and then grilled fish at the water's edge watching the sunset. A perfect holiday!

Sunday lunch at Detlev's

We ventured to Canggu for a late afternoon and most delicious Balinese meal with Detlev and 25 of his friends, two German Sheppards and a few Bali dogs. An very interesting crowd of Americans, Germans, Indonesians, Italians and Japanese. I was able to get a comfortable seat where I could sketch, enjoy a glass of wine, meet new people and engage in interesting conversations. It doesn't get much better than that.

Detlev's villa in Canggu

Looking at the pool and pavilion from the open-air great room. Just beyond are rice fields and the beach.

Art is everywhere

At the far end of the beach path, there is a grouping of small warungs (food stalls). They are thatched roof, open-air, bamboo buildings with tables on the sand. In amongst the signs, boats, shrines, motorbikes and other stuff, looms this wonderful, sculptural pathlight. It is quite large and I marvel at its artfulness and unlikely location, daily.

Life drawing in Bali

A few sketches from Saturday afternoon life drawing. It was so humid that tiny droplets of sweat were dripping onto my sketch paper. I was always told that horses sweat, men perspire and woman glow. Well, in that second floor studio, yesterday, I was really glowing.

Jakarta, Indonesia

We spent a day and a half in Jakarta. It was hot, humid, smoggy and crowded. I could hardly wait to get back home to Bali. I was not at all inspired to sketch, but did manage a few quick sketches during my day.

Rush hour from the window of our hotel room on the 38th floor.

This was a very quick sketch as I was taking a cab back to the hotel. This guy was selling goldfish in plastic bags hanging on this apparatus on the back of his bike. I thought I had seem it all... 

Gray rainy morning view from our hotel room.

EDM challenge #81: a streetlight

We had dinner at a beach cafe last night—fresh fish grilled over coconut husks. When we looked up at this streetlight there was a swarm of small flying insects like I've never seen in my life. Of course each light along the way had its own swarm. And I thought Maine had bugs.

The luncheon

Our feral bobtail cat stops by every other day for a snack. The menu doesn't change much—sardines or Friskies. However, yesterday he spent all Sunday with us, napping on the roof of one of the small buildings, then some time watching me watch him. In the afternoon he had a quick snack, another cat nap and by evening he was gone again to cat around in the hood.

EDM challenge: draw a bar of soap

I bought some oatmeal soap a while back to keep in a dish by the sink. About a week ago we saw a few teeth marks in the bar. Thinking whoever was snacking on that soap couldn't possibly feel very good, but everyday the bar gets smaller and smaller. It's obviously a real treat for some rodent who has a feast every night in the bathroom while we are asleep. Life is just different here!

The cosmopolitan side of Bali

I jumped on the scooter and spent the morning in town. Sketched quickly and discreetly at the Cafe Batu-Jimbar while enjoying a Bali Kopi. You have to be pretty sneaky to do this...

Kelapa

The Balinese use every part of the coconut tree. The husks are used for coir mats and ropes, the inner layer is used for buttons and a lot fish gets grilled over the husks. The leaves are woven into hats, baskets, offerings, temple decorations and ketupot which are woven shapes used to cook rice. The meat and milk are used in many Balinese foods and cosmetics. They even use the roots as a medicine.

These coconuts look more like giant green olives...

Made (Ma-day) #2 child

I have seen Made many times on my beach walks. I was surprised when he came and sat for us in life drawing on Saturday. He spoke no English and seemed a little nervous—who wouldn't be with seven Bule staring at you. He sat very still and let us draw his wonderful face.

The Balinese believe that a persons name is very important and can affect a child's life. Their naming system involves factors such as caste, clan, birth order, sex of the child and parents choice. Here is the short version.

First child—Gede, Wayan or Putu

Second child—Made, Kadek or Nengah

Third child—Nyoman or Komang

Fourth child—Ketut

And then they start all over again. So number #5 child in the family may also be named Wayan. We have met many people with all these names. One Balinese said since modern families are getting smaller, Bali may one day be a country of just Wayan's and Made's. That cracked me up!

I'm not sure if Made in the above drawing is #2, #6 or #10...

Seni anjing—Dog art

An expat artist I met asked if I had seen any Bali dogs dressed up or painted. Thinking back, I actually had seen a dog wearing a t-shirt, but painted? I couldn't believe it! So upon leaving a restaurant in Seminyak on Saturday night, this white Bali dog trots past us with neon pink spray paint streaks and patches all over him. I scurried after him with my camera leaving Jerry to explain my obsession with dogs to our new friends. I am still pondering this phenomena.

Where's the rest of your tail?

I found this paper at Hardy's called Kertas Pembungkus Makanan which means wrapping paper for food. I have noticed many people on the beach eating rice dishes off sheets of this brown kraft type paper. One side has a coating to keep the Bumbu and Sambal sauces from leaking through. I am using the non-coated side to sketch with pens and colored pencils. I then collaged this beach cat  sketch into my small moleskine. 

So far, there is no sign of any cat in Bali with a normal length tail...

Salsa dancing contest

This was not easy and thank god for my new kacamata (eyeglasses). Now this was multitasking—sketching in very low light, trying to capture the movement, chatting with friends and drinking wine. Now, it's all about salsa—more salsa sketching and soon salsa dancing lessons. 

Enjoying the show

The salsa dancing contest was in a bar at a big hotel on the beach in Sanur. It was very low light so the woman at the table next to us had no idea that I was sketching her. Besides, she was mesmerized.

Mamis and Melody

This is Mamis and her daughter Melody. Mamis is an amazing seamstress. She and her husband have a shop across the street from our villa and next door to the Kalimantan restaurant. It is called "Mamis Shop Made to Order". It is a small building with a large open window with two sewing machines where Mamis and a young woman work as people come and go along Jalan Pantai Sinhu. After a long day the opening is closed with a piece of plywood. She doesn't speak any English, but with my little Indonesian and acting abilities, she has made me some beautifully fitting clothes. Melody is the darling of the neighborhood.

Selamat ulang tuhun

This is my best friend Jerry. It is his seafood business that has taken us from Portland, Maine to the island of Bali. It is his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Jer.

Hari Natal from Bali

Living in a mainly Hindu and Muslim country means Christmas (Hari Natal) is not celebrated. However, many Balinese merchants do their part to help us expats get in the spirit and hopefully spend more money. There are some crazy looking pohon Natal (Christmas trees) around town. This one happens to be at the Kalimantan restaurant, across the street, where I enjoy a Bali Kopi, everyday. It is fake or plastique, leans to the right, has lots of foil garland, a few red ornaments, some cotton that is suppose to resemble snow and an exposed tree stand. My favorite part is the lowest strand of lights that hangs almost to the ground. Saya cinta pohon kecil ini.

Waiting

A contour drawing of a young girl waiting for a ride home. I added the watercolor when I got home.

Most people in Bali drive motorbikes. After two months of thinking they were all crazy, we bought one. I spent many hours studying every model of bike and scooter on the road. We thought we might like a vintage Vespa, but they sound like a lawnmower in need of a tune-up. We ended up with a Piaggio Fly—sooooooooo cool!

Gossiping

I covered up a terrible watercolor sketch with some gouache and did a quick brush pen sketch of this paddle of ducks down the street. 

My new cat

This wild cat spends evenings in our garden hunting for food. I have also spotted him with a mouse running past the tables in the open-air restaurant across the street. This is his hood. On Thanksgiving he sat on the front step so we tossed him some grouper. He ran when we approached with the fish, but as soon as we walked away he  managed to get up the courage and down on that grouper. He got quite a bit of fish and probably ended up lying on his back with a big full tummy sleeping off his Thanksgiving dinner. He is wild and will never be sleeping at the foot of our bed, but he is a good mouser and I continue to toss him food when we are home. Last night, when I walked out of the kitchen, he was crouched in this Frangipani tree giving me a tiny pitiful meow. Luck was with him as I found a can of sardines. After his snack he took off and watched from his perch on the roof. 

Mesmerized

I ran across this cute little guy intently watching some ants.

Can I have some?

Sweet skinny Bali cat looking anxiously at us while we swatted flies and tried to eat lunch at a small warung in Tulamben. The flies won and so did this kitty with the uneaten sate tidbits.