A quieter rhythm guides the daily life of Ubud. Each morning farmer set their fighting cocks along the roadside to bask in the sun. Covarrubias says they do this so the cocks will be amused watching the passers-by: sturdy woman suspending hemispheres of pots to be sold at market, farmers bearing sheaves of rice, and nowadays passing automobiles. It's nice to join them and stroll through the plentiful shops that line the avenue opposite the old puri in the town's center. Ubud is excellent for shopping. Galleries display contemporary styles by old masters of thirty years experience and young boys who have developed a manner of their own -the "Young Artists" style. Many shops have studios at the back where you may watch painters at work.

For decades the serene beauty of this village has lured celebrities and artists from all over the world, some of whom stayed to build their homes here. Down the road at Campuhan, the junction of two rivers that flow through Ubud, are the former residences of Walter Spies and Rudolph Bonnet, artists who lives here during the thirties. With the support of Cokorda Gede Agung of Ubud, these two painters founded the Pitha Maha, a society which encouraged the young artists of the area, critized them, provided them with materials and encouragement, and patronized their work. Spies own paintings inspired the Balinese artists to abandon the rigid forms of the traditional style and adopt such European techniques perspective. (Spies died during World War II.)

Since the turn of century the art of North Bali had come under European influence. The modern style of Ubud and Batuan drew their inspiration from the scenes of everyday life about them, besides from the classic stories of Old Javanese literature. Many Balinese painters associated with Pitha Maha are internationally renowned, like the late I Gusti Nyoman Lempad, and others remain to this day among the island's most outstanding artists: A.A. Gede Sobrat, Ida Bagus Made Poleng, I Gusti Ketut Kobot and several others, each working in his own style. An outstanding woodcarver was I Tjokot from the village of Jati, 15 kilometers north of Ubud. Mas and Nyuh Kuning are other early woodcarving centers still active.