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I. Ketut Soki

Bali artist Pak Soki and his family in front of family temple

The "Village of Young Artists" & Arie Smit

The Balinese Artist known locally simply as Pak Soki, which means Mr. Soki in Indonesian, he was born on the beautiful tropical island of Bali in 1946.  His small village is known as 'The Village of Young Artists" because of the number of artists that have been trained there by several very famous and world renown artists in the 1930's and 40's.  Artists such as the famous Dutch artist Arie Smit.

"THERE is still too much artistic endeavor in Bali, though the scene is not as lively as it once was. The last great burst of creativity came in the early sixties, again at the instigation of a foreigner. In 1960 a Dutch painter named Arie Smit, who had been living in Bali for four years, was strolling through the countryside near Campuan, and came upon some boys who were drawing in the sand. He was struck by their talent, and invited them to his studio. There he gave them paints and brushes and instructed them in technique but made no suggestions as to color or content, and kept his own richly coloristic, Matisse-influenced paintings out of sight. The results, which became known as the Young Artists movement, were vigorous genre scenes, often broadly humorous, rendered in bright, flat colors with strong contours."  from: Ubud, the heart of Bali by Jamie James (www.baliguide.com/ubud_hob/)

I. Ketut Soki was one of those young boys 'drawing in the sand'!   He was 12 years old and always had been drawing.  As a student of Arie Smit, he began drawing sketches and then adding color.  Still today, he spends a week or so just doing the pencil drawing before adding the oil colors.  The last stage of adding the incredible oil colors can take up to a month and a half to finish for a large canvas.

His incredibly detailed paintings include details of everyday life on this beautiful island.  From the cycle of rice planting thru harvesting; the many Balinese ceremonies like birth, tooth filing, to cremation ceremonies, all are included in his paintings.  The colors include lush greens, blues and golds.  The sky is shown sometimes at sun rise, sometimes in a rich blue with beautiful fluffy clouds.

So look over the paintings shown here.  He can even custom paint a subject of your choice.  Been to Bali and marveled at the ceremonies?  Pick a painting that shows this so you'll always remember your visit to Bali, "The Island Of The Gods" and the beautiful Bali Art!