Indigo Batik and More Fichot!

June 2, Tuesday

By this morning we were ready to get back into the van and visit our last textile center in the village of Pejeng, run by Pak Tjok Agung Pemayun, known as Pak Tjok.  This center is a more contemporary (in terms of design, not technique) indigo batik studio. 

Before settling in at the hotel for the afternoon I had to return to town quickly to pop into the JF Fichot shop again to check to see if any new deliveries had arrived.  Because it’s almost impossible to get his work in the US, those of us who’d become quite fond of the work simply had to know.  Then I dashed back to the hotel in time for my 1 pm 90 min relaxation massage.  Met Scott at the spa-side pool for a light lunch (how wonderful is this) since we knew we’d have a large farewell dinner this evening.

Our dinner as at the same restaurant we’d been to on the first night – the one with two-for-one mojitos.  Had a bit of excitement because ½ way through our meal all the lights in Ubud went out.  But candles arrived and dinner was even more attractive than before.  C&C had an adventure during dinner.  Choy arrived in a batik shirt from Threads of Life and they decided they had to have one for each of them (I asked them to pick up one for Scott too).  In the middle of their transaction at the very small shop, the electricity went out, as did the credit card machines. 

We’re going to really miss Ubud.  Prolonged our evening with drinks at the hotel bar.  We simply had to enjoy the croaks of the frogs just a little while longer.  This has been an enchanted trip and I truly hate to see it end.

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.