Spramani’ Elaun’s ‘s World Travel Adventures
Getting to Ubud, Bali
On October 29th, I boarded a plane from LAX to Hong Kong for my painting trip, then from Hong Kong to Denpasar, Indonesia, arriving at 1:00 a.m. after a total of 24 hours of travel. I then took a taxi on a two-way lane to Ubud in the middle of a warm, humid night, which, by the way, was my first time seeing cars drive on the opposite side.
It honestly took my whole trip to get used to this change. Upon arriving in Ubud, we checked into a luxurious museum hotel the ARMA Museum with the front desk located outside, which was a unique experience. Unfortunately, I never travel light as I have to carry a full art studio in tow. I felt sorry for the individuals who had to haul all four heavy suitcases across the grounds with beautiful landscape stairs, more stairs, and even more stairs (did I mention one of my suitcase’s wheel broke).
Later, I discovered that the hotel’s ground gardens are designed as outdoor art with stairs, statues, water features, and plants, creating a harmonious balance between man and environment. It felt like a paradise at night. The next morning, as I gazed out of my window, I was mesmerized by the beauty of Bali, despite the hot and humid weather.
Bali Art Camp Mission
My mission for this trip had three objectives: first, to study art in another culture; second, to host the art camp with over 400 attendees from around the world; and third, to have some vacation days for myself. All three missions were accomplished successfully.
A cool bonus was discovering how friendly and wonderful the Balinese people are. I was truly immersed in art during my stay; the hotel had artful garden landscapes and a museum, adding to the artistic ambiance.
Batik Painting in Bali
Batik Art Class
The first few days were spent waiting for the hotel to construct my outdoor studio for my art camp. While exploring the streets of Ubud, I stumbled upon a Batik museum and class. I was thrilled to find a traditional Batik class taught by a local artist. This class turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip.
Witnessing and participating in different painting methods and using various tools is one of my passions when traveling. I constantly seek to bring back new techniques to teach my young and adult art students. I find inspiration in learning diverse painting approaches. For the past two years, I have been teaching Turkish marbling, a skill I acquired from my trip to Istanbul, and now I plan to do the same with the newly learned Batik skills from Bali.
While teaching on this trip, I had the opportunity to share my newly acquired skills by teaching Batik to my young students. at the summit.
Food in Bali
I’m not shy when it comes to trying new local foods. During the trip, we mainly indulged in Balinese cuisine. We savored plenty of Warung-style street food from family stalls and restaurants in Ubud and Kuta, exploring a new place at least twice a day. The variety was delightful. Warung-style food typically consists of Nasi Campur, mixed rice with protein, local spices, and topped with a fried egg, or Mee Goreng, which is noodles instead of rice. I enjoyed Balinese chicken satay, dragon fruit, papaya, and coconut on a daily basis. I even relished some Bebek Goreng, fried duck; I already miss this flavorful food!
Art Camp Key Lessons
Over the course of the five days at the education summit in Bali, I hosted art camps, adult workshops, and an open studio for approximately 50 kids passing through daily. That’s a lot of painting, my friend! The success of the event was mainly due to one key factor: understanding the importance of teaching children fundamental painting lessons that empower them to work independently.
Providing painting guides, key demonstrations, and ensuring the availability of the right materials in your classroom, home, or studio is crucial. I vividly remember a day when I slipped out for some shopping and dining, only to return to find 30 kids immersed in their artwork, working independently and enjoying themselves. This experience reinforced the significance of fundamental lessons in teaching. It’s a cornerstone of my success as an art teacher. Plus how to quickly manage chaos when it happens.
Teaching In Bali
Teaching art in Bali was, without a doubt, the most beautiful art journey I embarked on this year. While there were some teaching mishaps that occurred (which I’ll address shortly), I first want to share more about the enchanting aspects of Bali that captured my heart. One of the daily rituals I truly cherished was witnessing Changa Sari offerings scattered throughout the island. Changa Sari represents prayers for peace, balance, and gratitude to the various gods of Balinese Hinduism.
The allure of these offerings grew on me once I grasped their significance to Balinese culture. I developed a deep admiration for their spiritual meanings. These offerings are omnipresent in the streets, adorning statues, positioned in front of stores, and neatly arranged along sidewalks. Each day, I observed women meticulously crafting and distributing them throughout the community. Additionally, Palmaira flowers flourish abundantly in Bali. I found myself constantly treading upon yellow Palmaira petals that gracefully descended from trees, creating a truly mesmerizing sight.
Bali Tourist
Another breathtaking aspect was the stunning sunsets over the Southeast Asia sea near the equator. Bali sits approximately 8 degrees south of the equator, boasting a tropical and humid climate. The beaches were idyllic, yet I found myself constantly approached by locals attempting to sell various items while I tried to unwind on the sand. This scenario reminded me of tourist spots in Mexico.
I was taken aback by the number of Australian tourists I encountered. It felt like Bali holds a similar allure for them as Hawaii does for North Americans—a paradise getaway with irresistible charm.
Balinese Art
Balinese art truly encompasses a feast for the eyes, spanning from paintings to carvings, textiles, and stoneworks. It was a delight for my artistic senses. I had the privilege of witnessing the creation of carvings and stonework in local shops across the island. Additionally, my stay at a museum resort allowed me to spontaneously take my students on two occasions to marvel at Balinese art collections. Bali indeed is an artist’s paradise. The trip was a joy, and I look forward to returning in the near future.
As for the essence of this blog—discussing the highs and lows of teaching art—it’s essential to address the reality that, despite the curated perfection often seen on Instagram, teaching disasters can occur. I, too, faced art mistakes and disasters during my time in Bali, which is a challenging topic. Prior to my trip, I did some research and discovered there was going to be a significant tourist attraction.
Before my trip, I conducted some research and learned about a major tourist attraction in Ubud—a monkey natural habitat housing 1000 rescued monkeys. Excited by this, I planned a clay art lesson for my students to sculpt a monkey as a souvenir to take home, intending to showcase Balinese sculpture during the process.
I traveled with white air-dry clay, a material that typically takes 24 hours to harden. My plan was to allocate two days for the activity: making the sculptures on the first day, allowing them to dry, and then painting them on the second day. I had previously taught similar projects without any issues arising.
Art Camp Mistakes & Disasters
On the day of the clay workshop, I began by demonstrating basic clay forming techniques to my students before distributing the clay for them to start sculpting their monkeys. Within about five minutes, I started hearing comments like “my clay is drying out.” It quickly became evident that everyone’s clay was rapidly drying out and becoming unworkable. Hands shot up for assistance, and I struggled to comprehend what was happening. It dawned on me that the high humidity outside was causing the clay to dry out instantly.
As I rushed to help everyone amidst the escalating panic, the intense heat and humidity added to the challenge. The unfamiliar level of humidity left me sweating and feeling extremely uncomfortable—a situation I wasn’t accustomed to.
After about 20 minutes of attempting to salvage the situation with my assistant, I made the decision to swiftly gather all the clay pieces to protect them from further drying out. This was a moment of panic for me as I realized that was all the clay I had brought, and there were no nearby art supply stores in Ubud. We hurriedly collected over 30 separate monkey parts, all looking alike, and hastily placed them into 5 mini plastic bins, frantically labeling and trying to keep track of whose parts belonged to whom. Regrettably, I informed the students that we would need to switch projects and complete the monkeys the following day while I contemplated how to rectify the dried-out parts that still required attachment.
Art Camp Lesson Fails
It was a glaring oversight on my part to conduct the activity outdoors in such high humidity. Transitioning from a mistake to a disaster, after the students had left for the day, I decided to open all the bins and spray water inside to rehydrate the parts—a technique that had proven successful in the past.
However, the following day, as I distributed the now rehydrated parts to eager faces, I soon heard cries of “gooey” and “gross.” The water had transformed the parts into a sticky, gooey mess akin to sticky baking flour batter or raw, sticky monkey bread! I had inadvertently ruined everyone’s sculpted pieces; the humidity had catalyzed an unintended chemistry experiment. Amidst the commotion, with some students in tears, only 4 sets of monkey parts emerged unscathed from the ordeal, allowing those lucky few to proceed with their creations. The remaining 26 students found themselves attempting to scrape off the gooey clay, resulting in a chaotic scene with everyone rushing towards the bathroom to clean up.
Art Teacher Lesson Learned
I am sharing my art disaster to illustrate how to navigate challenging teaching times, especially when children become upset due to teaching mishaps. Have you ever heard of the storybook called “Beautiful Oops” by Barney Saltzberg? I highly recommend reading this story to students during the first week of class so you can always gently remind them of the “beautiful oops” concept.
Art-making is essentially trial and error, with around 90% of the process involving mistakes. Artists are rarely completely satisfied with their work. As both an artist and art teacher, I can confidently say that this is what art is all about—experimentation. Art-making cultivates resilience, which is why I often emphasize in my books and training that the process is crucial, not just the final product or outcome. I believe that teaching in hot weather, amidst noisy children outdoors, and coupled with travel, overwhelmed me, causing me to momentarily forget this fundamental rule.
How to bounce back from Art Disaster?
To bounce back from the art disaster, I called for a timeout and gathered the students around me. Then I apologized and took responsibility for my actions, admitting to inadvertently ruining everyone’s clay parts by spraying water. I reassured them that they were not failures and explained that I was unprepared for the weather conditions. I emphasized that art-making involves trial and error, and mistakes are common even for experienced artists. To demonstrate this, I sculpted a monkey step-by-step, voicing my thoughts and struggles throughout the process.
During the demonstration, I made statements like:
- “I think I’ll try it this way.”
- “I’m not satisfied with how it’s turning out.”
- “I might experiment with a different idea instead of my original one.”
I changed my approach several times to show there are multiple ways to approach a task. Despite uncertainties, I managed to create something resembling a monkey. This demonstration helped calm everyone down, sparked creativity, and inspired them to return to their clay. The students began sharing workable clay and crafting additional items like bananas and trees.
Art Camp Management
Reflecting on what went wrong, I realize that providing students with perfect images of monkeys to emulate set unrealistic expectations for flawless sculptures. Instead, I should have encouraged them to explore the clay and brainstorm different monkey forms inspired by our forest tour. Sculpting takes time, practice, and patience, so I should have focused on learning the basics rather than striving for perfection.
Art lessons should revolve around exploring isolated skills, with the creation of a monkey sculpture viewed as a bonus outcome. When teaching art to children, the focus should be on the process, promoting brainstorming, fostering innovation, nurturing individuality, and addressing any challenges that arise in the studio. Avoiding implanting a perfect image in children’s minds is crucial; instead, concentrate on developing fundamental building skills while encouraging reflection on the experience.
Sharing my Mistakes & Disasters in Bali aims to offer valuable insights, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Don’t miss out on joining my Live Online training this month! Take advantage of the discount before it expires in a few days.
Spramani Elaun, Traveling Art Teacher
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