If you want to have some fun and see some really neat stuff for sale go
to the shops in Tegallalang north of Ubud. The Balinese people have an
artistic knack for making the most unusual pieces. The painters in
particular come up with some outlandish stuff that really catches your
eye. The prices are quite reasonable.
This is an area where a lot of crafts are produced for export.Many
expats have tapped into this business and it is not very difficult to
get started if you have an interest in this sort of thing. Big
giraffes, elephants, cats, birds and the like are carved from wood and
painted with bright colors. Really beautiful.
Try to get stuff that has been kiln dried or you will possibly have
problems with the wood splitting. If you are really into it get a
moisture analyzer which you can pick up fairly cheap. It is just a
sensor with 2 prongs that you jam into the wood at the base and the
electrical resistance is measured giving you the moisture content. Most
of the wood stuff up there is low end from a wood known as belalu, a
soft easy to carve local wood. It is susceptible to cracking if you
have it in the direct sunlight when you get it back home.
If it is a high end piece it is probably suar which is like mahagony.
Really expensive pieces are made of teak and ebony but you will not
find that here. The dealers will build a crate around the high end
pieces for protection. All the containers get bounced around a bit on
the way to Surabayah, the big shipping port in Java where most of the
stuff from bali leaves from.
If you buy a painting they will remove it from the frame and roll it up
with paper. Make sure they don't roll it too tight or the paint can
crack. I also would recommend carrying it on the airplane as moisture
content in a container can be kind of high and it might pick up a
little bit of mold sitting in there for a few months.
Wood carved giraffes was all the rage for a few years but I think that
fad is slowing down. They are always comming up with something new.
A shop that does outstanding work with wood carves birds is Ridiani on
the right hand side of the road about half the way to Kintimani, near
the Yogi Biru cafe. You can bring them pictures of any bird and they
can reproduce it beautifully. They are kind of quiet but do excellent
work and pack the product well. The only thing I could recommend is
that they put the sticker Made in Indonesia on the foot because some of
the paint can be damaged by the sticker.
Keep in mind that there are other dealers in Denpasar and other places for clothing or jewelery or whatever interests you.
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