Lying halfway up the infamous Tegallalang road, winding it’s ways from Ubud up to the UNESCO world heritage site Rice Fields, sits the always eclectic showroom for the self named Bali Picasso.  The assorted Giraffes, Sharks, Fish and many other formed sculptures sit proudly by the roadside turning many a tourists head as they whizz past on their rented scooters.

If you are lucky enough to catch Bali Picasso on a day that he is open, which in true Artist style are few and far between, you will get a glimpse into his world of ideas, which he self proclaims are crazy!  

If you have visited one of our stores you will be familiar with our Crazy Giraffes.  These masterpieces are hand carved and intricately painted with an ever evolving design of lines, swirls and even a gecko or two (which by the way represent good luck in a Balinese home).  Bali Picasso talks passionately about his ideas and inspiration and likens his art to a style combing two of the greats, Picasso and Salvador Dali.  Picasso of course being famous for his diverse ability to interpret many concepts and of Salvador Dali for his surrealism and his exploration of subconscious imagery.  When you look at the detail on the Giraffes you can see these influences taking form.

I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to his home, which is located further towards the coast and like most Balinese homes it is compound style centred around a large courtyard and pavilions which have many areas for inter generational living.  Balinese family homes are inter generational and families live in harmony together from Grandparent’s through to grand children or often even great grand children.  For Bali Picasso he lives with his wife, daughter, 2 grand daughters, who are also budding artists and the latest addition of a darling baby boy who is lovingly carried around day and night - Balinese babies cannot touch the ground for the first 3 months of life.  After 3 months being deemed special cargo they are given a traditional ceremony and are then free to roam or roll around at the lower levels.  

As you would expect his home is dotted with sculptures, finished, unfinished and works still in progress.  We are led further into the compound to his studio and I can see straight away that this is where the magic happens.  There are paint bottles in a rainbow of colours and paint brushes all over the place, interspersed by baskets and piles of wooden sculptures waiting to be painted and varying baskets and piles of the finished pieces.  It’s very rewarding to see such skill and beauty emerge and all of his finished pieces are truly works of art.

We sit and chat for a while and it’s clear to see from his responses how much art means to him.  We talk some more about his inspirations, his love for art and how his dreams often guide his creations. He tells me that if my customers are happy with his creations, then he is happy.  I tell him that they are very much so and I am rewarded with a huge smile.

After our chat it’s not long before we head back to the pavilion and have some deliciously smooth Balinese coffee.  As we sit and drink my children manage to talk him into an impromptu art lesson.  As they embrace the task, especially having carte blanche to use all of the paint bottles and brushes how they please, you can see the passion from Bali Picasso as he encourages them to make a mess as he guides them to finish their mini masterpieces.

Once everyone has settled down and decided how much they will sell their masterpieces for, we realise the sun is setting and it’s time to bundle everyone back into the car so we can head home, jump in the pool to wash away the paint so that we can all get to bed and dream about what more creations we might make.

It’s been over a decade we have been working with Bali Picasso and he hasn’t run out of new ideas yet.  There are some new items ready to grace our stores over the coming months and I’ve popped a sneak peak at a couple of the items you can expect to see in store below.