Ubud – Come and meet our Lily pond

Lily Pond at Sapu Lidi Resort Ubud. Water colour and ink

We are spending most of our time in Ubud.  I visited quickly on my last holiday and decided to spend most of my time here on this holiday and I am so very happy that I have.  There is so much to do and see here, with slightly fewer tourist.  Ubud is more in the centre of Bali, it is seen as the cultural heart and they are so generous in sharing their culture and history.

The drawing is the view from our room.  It literally sits right on the edge of this lake/pond and I look over it from my bed and sit on the edge (another day bed) and draw.  It just doesn’t get better than this.

Water lily pond Sapu Lidi Resort Ubud

We have been watching all the wild life in and around the pond and I have tried to add them into the picture.  The stars are the water lilies, they open at night after dusk and will close again at midday.  The buds grow at incredible speed they will poke their heads up out of the water in the morning and grow at least two feet during the day and just start to open by the evening.  They will flower for a few days then slowly sink back under.

There is also the swallows that fly over the pond skimming off the bugs from the surface.  So many do this that you can hear the clack of their wings.  They tag team with the bats who take over at dusk (though they didn’t get into the picture)  There is also a water hen that stalks the lily pads at dusk and dawn and makes quite a racket.  There are some very large fish and one huge golden carp that you just see a flash of his gold back as he jumps for food.  There are also a couple of two metre water monitor lizards that cruise across the pond on a regular basis going from the bank to under the pavilion.  They will drag themselves out over the lily pads if they get in their path.  I dangled my toes in the water on the first day but not after seeing these creatures.

Water Hen on the pond near our patio. (you can see the edge of the day bed) Ubud Bali

There are also great big fat, black, shiny bumble bees with one red stripe that hover over the lily flowers drinking their nectar and amazingly bright dragonflies some red others blue.  It has been such a joy to just sit here and observe all these creatures in this gorgeous location.

Hope you liked it too.

Karen

Seminyak

Sardine restaurant at night. Acrylic paint, white pen and water-colour

All technical difficulties resolved and a new power supply for the laptop, I can now get down to the serious business of showing your what I have put in my journal so far.

Ivory Resort walk way to our room

We spent the first three days in Seminyak, a very busy part of Bali, on the coast where some of the better shopping and dining is located.  So of course we shopped and dined.  I have to say as a foodie, the dining in Bali has been fabulous.  We have not had a bad meal from high-end dining to small little cafes.

Seminyak page in journal Watercolour and ink

Our hotel was really gorgeous with lots of water features and a great day bed.  I love a good day bed and tend to spend my time on them while drawing.

Lynette and I on the day bed Ivory Resort Seminyak

We were recommended Sardine restaurant by a friend who comes to Bali all the time.  An amazing place built of bamboo and set in its own rice field. Very beautiful and it is lit like a stage a night. I wanted to capture the feel of this and so went with the black background on which I drew in white, then coloured over in water colour.  I was surprised how well it worked and am happy that I have caught the feel of looking out over these ‘decorator’ rice fields while sipping my cocktail.  (its tough on holiday)

Sardine Page Journal Water colour and ink

There were these great little geckos that would come out shyly from the roof tops to scamper across the wall above the day bed.  I found out that they were called Chichaks because that is the call they make.  Once I knew what the sound was I realised that you could hear them calling to each other in the evening.

Chichak gouache and ink

You can see I had problems with the fountain pen, the Lamy safari travelled perfectly even with ink in it, but my Noodlers flex pen had a splurt when I tried to use it on this page.  The joys of travelling with art supplies.  As long as everything is in zip lock bags I am cool with the occasional spillage.

Karen