The Republic of Indonesia is comprised of 270,000,000 people, 17,508 islands, 700 languages, 34 provinces, and an incredibly diverse selection of flora and fauna. In all of this, we were incredibly lucky to have met Pepen on our first-ever trip to the beautiful Indonesian island of Bali 22 years ago. A good friend put us in contact with him, and many moons, thousands of garments, and uncountable smiles later, we still see him every year and consider him a good family friend and business associate. His Batik textiles are unrivaled in their artistic beauty, and his aura is comforting, welcoming, and genuine...
All Mexicali Blues batik items are handmade in Bali, Indonesia, by artisans who have learned this ancient traditional art as it has been passed down through the generations. Each hand-batiked piece of fabric is created by blocking out selected areas of the cloth by brushing or stamping hot wax over it, and then dyeing the […]
Meet Nyoman, the talented woman behind many of our hand painted batik designs! Join the Mexicali Blues owners, Pete and Kim, as Nyoman takes us on a tour of her workplace and shows us how her gorgeous one of a kind textiles are crafted. In this video she walks us through the process of creating a hand painted sarong - a popular item we’ve carried for many years.
Thinking back, Kim muses, “I remember when we discovered Nyoman, we were on a motorbike headed to a market outside of town and I spied some great hand painted chakra flags and wall hangings. I made Pete turn around!
Carly, Nyoman, and Kim in 2018.
“Upon entering Nyoman’s shop we were greeted with a huge smile and welcomed as if we had been working with her for years. We started with a small order, which was no problem for her because she knew that her quality and attention to detail would keep us coming back with more and more orders. Nyoman’s beautiful smile and personality radiates happiness, kindness, and a feeling of being in the ‘now’.”
With so many talented artists in Bali and everywhere our team travels to, we have one simple rule when it comes to who we choose to work with. If they’re smiling and in good spirits, then we know it’s the right match. We instantly could tell that Nyoman and her family would be the makers we wanted to collaborate with when we met her about ten years ago in the market we almost zoomed right past.
And thank goodness we did turn around that day! With over 30 years of experience in batiking, Nyoman has helped us design one of a kind pieces and she even helps us pick out colors–which can be so difficult when they’re all SO gorgeous! She has a certain way of making you feel that you are the only one that matters, even though you know she has many other buyers she is creating for.
The hand painting of all her textiles is all done at her family compound in Ubud. Families in Bali usually live communally with extended family all living close by. You can see in the video that their home is beautiful and filled with joy. Their deity is established in the center of the courtyard and watches over all of them and offers protection and good fortune.
