For 5 weeks in Spring 2008, I felt called to spend time in Ubud, Bali to study various cultural arts.
There was no agenda except for the pure delight of learning and the meditation of creation.
While in Bali, I mainly studied the Indonesian language, Gamelan lessons (metallophone),
silversmithing, leatherwork and traditional shadow puppet construction.
I also tried some batik painting, traditional Batuan painting and a bit of wood carving.
I also attended many gamelan music concerts, traditional dance performances (Legong Dance),
the Kecak chant seen in the film Baraka (aka monkey chant), the Balinese Demon Parade,
Balinese Hindu Ceremonies and traditional shadow puppet theatre.
This trip was the result of a lovely vision I had in 2000, of standing on a street corner in a foreign land
and hearing the fairytale sounds of live Gamelan echoing in the afternoon sunshine.
That spring, I had the joy of experiencing this vision come to life
when I heard the local gamelan orchestra rehearsing on the corner where i was living...
