About Our Suppliers
From their house to your house
Mr. Fadjar was trained as an architect in Java. When he moved to Bali with his family, he began a small business doing woodwork. Now he has a good-sized business making furniture from reclaimed teak and from teak root. He also "retails" higher end carved stone pieces. |
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| Mr. Tarka was only a boy when his father taught him how to carve palimanan stone. Now he runs his own business that he started in 2002. He has ten carvers working for him, and he does all the design work himself. |  |
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| Mrs. Desak Putu Rai has been weaving baskets since she was a little girl. Like most of our suppliers, she learned the techniques from family. Now she uses a combination of traditional motifs and designs of her own for her baskets. She has had her own business for many years and has about 10 women working for her. |  |
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| Mr. Wayan Bajera has been carving since he was a small boy. His grandfather taught him to carve animals, and that is still his favorite thing to do. His sister *Ni Wayan Sukerti runs the sales section of his large(for Bali) business. They use up to 50 carvers depending on orders. |  |
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| I Nyoman Seniputra (Seni) began to learn Balinese batik painting in 1982 from the painter I Ketut Sariastra. Since then he has had multiple exhibitions in Indonesia and Japan. Now he has his own workshop and teaches as well. We have works of his and some of his students. |  |
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| Renny, AKA Ms. Fussy has worked for us almost from the beginning. She grew up in Sumatra but now lives in Bali. She went to college studying hospitality. Ray met her on one of his first trips to Bali and was struck with her helpfulness, so we were happy to offer her a job when she came looking. Renny is our "legs and eyes" on the scene. She makes sure that we get what we have ordered and that it is in good condition. She puts in a lot of miles on her motor scooter for us. She loves to explore and find potential sources for us- and she loves chocolate. |  |
* Balinese names have an interesting history. They are determined by caste and by birth order. The Brahmana or priestly caste names for males start with Ida Bagus and females Ida Ayu. Next are Cokorda, Dewa or Ngakan for males and Cokorda Istri, Dewa Ayu or Desak for females. Next is Anak Agung or Gusti Ngurah for males or Anak Agung Istri or Gusti Ayu for females. These castes however comprise only about 3% of the population. Children of the rest of the population are named by birth order. The first born male or female is always Wayan, Putu or Gede; next Made or Nengah; third is Nyoman or Komang, and the fourth is Ketut. The fifth born goes back to Wayan, Putu or Gede and the cycle repeats. The prefix of I designates a male and Ni, a female.