This is my first blog, so I guess if there's anyone out there, I'll be forgiven. I'm Maurice Gold, originally from Edinburgh, in Scotland. I'm 56 years old, just recently married (!), and living in Bali, Indonesia. In summer 2005, my then girlfriend and I had a wonderful holiday in Bali. Later that year, she was still so impressed, (and so fed up with life in England), that she talked me into thinking seriously about having a life together out there. In late 2005, I threw in my IT job of 16 years, in a print firm in London, got married and made plans to move out.
It wasn't done quite like that really, because the "thinking seriously" bit required considering that living on air wasn't a good idea. I needed to find some sort of money-making venture. And that was how Bali Art Sales was born.
Thursday 25 September 2008
Saturday 13 September 2008
The Road to Bali part 2
continued
In the last blog, I was discussing the many arts and crafts found in Bali. In case you get bored, you could skip this, but you would be missing the whole point of the serial blog: The conception, gestation, birth and toddlerhood of Bali Art Sales, so if you haven't nodded off, please bear with me.
I had figured that along with probably all the expats on Bali, and others, that I could sell Balinese arts and crafts online. I would need a website, and a means of selling the items, together with transportation (containers, couriers and the good old Post Office).
Balinese crafts also involve ceramics: pottery ranging from the small to huge Ali Baba urns easily hiding a thief.
Bali is world famous for its jewellery: its Silversmiths and Goldsmiths are extremely talented. The silver used is almost invariably 92.5% Sterling Silver. I recently visited one place, watching as the silver and copper were mixed in a crucible and heated till the metals both melted then were poured into a ceramic open mould to form a bar about 5mm square. These are ten rolled to form sheets, then cut, then extruded to form wire. Some is chopped and reheated to form tiny 1mm balls for decoration. Balinese cultured pearls, Australian Opal, Natural semi-transparent shells, and all manner of gemstones are used. This comes together with some incredibly talented designers. In the village of Celuk, you will find Silver and Goldsmiths at every turn. Some even have courses in jewellery manufacture. There is some amazing filigree work, some of horse-drawn carriages or sailing ships made from fine silver wire polished to a lustre. I don't have a picture here yet.
Furniture is made in large amounts from teak, mahogany, bamboo and rattan and a new material: polyrattan for all year outdoor use. There are some items at the top.
Well, that about wraps it up for this blog.
http://www.baliartsales.com
(to be continued)
The Road to Bali
This is my first and second combined blog, so I hope if there's anyone out there, I'll be forgiven. I'm Maurice Gold, originally from Edinburgh, in Scotland. I'm 56 years old, just recently married (!), and living in Bali, Indonesia. In summer 2005, my then girlfriend and I had a wonderful holiday in Bali. Later that year, she was still so impressed, (and so fed up with life in England), that she talked me into thinking seriously about having a life together out there. In late 2005, I threw in my IT job of 16 years, in a print firm in London, got married and made plans to move out.
It wasn't done quite like that really, because the "thinking seriously" bit required considering that living on air wasn't a good idea. I needed to find some sort of money-making venture. And that was how Bali Art Sales was born.
Bali, for those who don't already know is an island in the South Pacific, one of around 15,000 islands that make up what is now Indonesia. (Indonesia is home to over 200 million people and is considered by some to be the world's 3rd largest democracy.
Indonesia as a whole, is mainly Muslim, in general more moderate and peaceful than their counterparts elsewhere).
Bali is a small island, stretching approximately 140 Km from east to west, and 80Km from north to south.
The people there are naturally creative; many artists and artisans, and indeed whole villages earn their living from the manufacture and sale of arts and crafts.
These items range through; painting (religious themes from Hindu and Buddhist mythology, abstract, representational, realistic, etc etc).
A fascinating variation of this is egg-painting: this is incredibly detailed painting on (emptied) egg-shells of all types, large and small, depicting just about anything imaginable. As you can imagine the eggs are incredibly fragile, so great care must be exercised by the artist, and the buyer. Luckily, there is an alternative egg-material: wood). Thin-shelled hollow perfect eggs are made in wood and then painted. This makes for a much less nail-biting experience for transportation:
sculpture: in stone, wood, metal, combinations , subject matter again religious and spiritual.
(to be continued)
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