Fichot Fichot Fichot

May 30, Saturday

Began the day with a completely free (at last) morning.  Scott opted for a day at the hotel doing a sweaty nature walk around the property and then going to the pool (as he puts it, “to dry off”).  I met the usual gang of intrepid shoppers at 12:30 for an appointment we’d made to go to the studio and home of a French jeweler based in Bali named Jean-Francois Fichot.  First we met up with Fifi, his delightful assistant, at the gallery and then she led us to Fichot’s home.  There wasn’t enough room in the van for everyone so Barbara J joined Fifi aboard her scooter.  We headed not very far up the street and stopped at a gate.  Fifi unlocked it and led us down mossy steps to another gate, then down more steps to a bridge that spanned a huge gorge filled with trees and hanging vines.  We crossed the bridge, climbed stone stairs through a bromeliad forest and eventually arrived at a lovely Balinese-style home made up of several pavilions.  One of the pavilions was Fichot’s private showroom. 

Fichot has a very distinct and beautiful style of jewelry making.  He collects bone, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones from around the world, and mounts them into gold and silver settings that unmistakably Asian inspired. 

We were delighted to have the opportunity not only to visit the studio but also to meet Fichot in person.  He greeted us at the gallery and answered questions about his work.  After our complete jewelry orgy we toured Fichot’s home made up of several Balinese open air pavilions filled with objects and exotic tropical wood furniture collected over the past 30 years. 

We returned to the hotel in time to clean up (some of us changed rooms and moved to villas) and meet at the bar for a talk by Jean Howe and William Ingram from Treads of Life.  Jean returned last night from Timor L’Est and had several textiles to show us that she’d brought back.  She spoke about the challenges related to providing incentives to local people to continue their weaving traditions. 

Dinner was a delicious Indonesian meal at Lotus Café in town.  We sat on cushions on the floor with tables arranged around a huge lily pond.  At the end of the pond was a faux temple-front and during our meal we watched dancers perform traditional Balinese dances.  This is a perfect environment for such things because we could enjoy our food, talk, and watch dances in the background.  By the way, it is amazing how Balinese female dancers and curve their fingers back.  In Java we were told by the guide at the palace in Surakarta that people play a game on a wooded board that has many cups in which you place beans.  Young girls, we were told, often press their fingers into these cups to make them curve backward.