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Different Craft Workshops in Bali

W.S. Art Studio offers a wide range of artistic workshops. This is your time to learn something new that you could use as a business or for personal interests. This will definitely tickle your imaginative and creative sides.

Here are some of the workshops that are available for you:

• Silver Jewelry. Silver is the most valuable earth mineral, second only to gold. Like gold, silver is malleable and can be manipulated using heat and jeweler’s tools. You can customize your own individual piece of jewelry or create an original piece to present as a gift to a loved one. Included in this workshop is 5 grams of silver, which is normally enough to craft a pendant or ring.

• Mask carving. This is the act of manipulating wood to craft a carved face. Let our experienced teacher guide you from raw wood to a finished wood mask sculpture in just a few hours time. Traditionally, masks portray gods, demons and alternative “personalities” that express both the mask-wearer’s fears and strengths. Where will your new mask take you, into the realm of the Hindu beings that “balance” the world, good and evil, yin and yang?

• Wood carving. One of the world’s oldest known art forms, wood carving is a way of shaping wood into a variety of different shapes and forms. Using the traditional tools and techniques of the master carver, our teacher will help guide the novice carver towards their goal of creating a unique wood art piece in just a few short hours.

• Stone carving. Let our master carver introduce you to the age-old craft of carving in stone. Probably most suitable for adults, this introduction to the delicate task of working a figure from within a piece of stone will challenge anyone who has enjoyed the ever-present stone carvings that grace most Balinese temples and homes. Time constraints usually limit the subject to a simple flower-relief creation, or something similar.

• Fruit carving. An appetizing way to present your own work of art at mealtimes for friends and family. A really fun class where the student learns a variety of techniques for forming fruit and vegetables into wonderful motifs like flowers and butterflies. A great way to spend time with your children, carving one’s own edible art.

• Batik. Spend a morning or an afternoon learning the traditional wax-drawing and wax-resistant color dyeing techniques that have made Bali’s batik makers famous for their lively designs and Hindu motifs. Everyone can enjoy this immersion into batik fabric painting. One of our most popular classes!

• Traditional painting. Traditional Balinese painting involves a two-dimensional expression of repeated themes such as island landscapes, fruit and animal still-life and pastoral or spiritual-themed subjects. In this introductory course, the student will get be guided to create a small canvas depicting one of these themes. Appropriate for both experienced artists and the curious, the student will enjoy this half-day venture into the island’s artistic expressionism.

• Bamboo weaving. Bamboo is the ubiquitous grass (yes, it’s a grass) that has been used for innumerable applications in Asian history. This pliable, sturdy plant has been used by the Balinese for centuries as a handy, quick “packaging” for the daily offerings that are the heart of Balinese Hinduism. Spend a delightful morning learning some of the unique weaving techniques that the Balinese have created over the years to make their daily offerings pleasing and meaningful.

• Lontar weaving. Like bamboo, Lontar is a kind of palm tree that is common to the Indonesian islands. The leaves of this tree are used in a variety of ways for weaving and as thatch. Balinese artisans have learned how to score the lontar using sharp knives and chisels to craft words and images that come to life when a natural ink-like ash is applied to the worked lontar. Quite beautiful to see. A steady hand will get you a unique new piece of original art.

• Balinese dance. Nearly every visitor to Bali takes the opportunity to watch one or more of the many, stylized Bali dances that are performed nearly every evening on the island. Dance and music have thrived in Bali for centuries. Balinese dancers begin to learn their steps and body alignment as young children, and most professional dancers “retire” when they marry. As young men and women, these dancers form traveling dance and music troupes and vie amongst themselves for local and island-wide celebrity. Balinese dances are highly-choreographed and tradition-bound, not unlike classical Russian ballet. A dancer usually performs and practices many years before her repertoire is mature and complete.

• Bamboo carving. Ayu would like to offer the opportunity for people to experience bamboo carving at her gallery. This is a new class. Our teacher will guide students to create either bamboo animal carvings like dragonflies or butterflies; or, if you’d prefer, a wind chime or a small flute. This style of carving is new- utilizing bamboo to craft pieces of art in a ‘modern style’. The simple forms make this carving style easy to follow; but because bamboo is carved with a knife- we recommend that children younger that 12 years of age take advantage of our wood carving class as a suitable alternative.

• Offerings. For hundreds of years, Balinese families have passed down the ritual of daily offerings, called canang, from mother to daughter. Each day, the women create these small, hand-woven coconut-leaf baskets. The baskets contain the flower, fruit, rice and food offerings for the Hindu Deities that the women pray to each day. The baskets can be rather simple to construct, or can involve a delicate, creative touch- there are many forms that canang can take. The offerings are inseparable from prayer in Hindu belief, as the purpose of the offering is to sustain and patronize the Gods- who are then more likely to respond to one’s prayers.