Nyoman Suarmini

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My name is Nyoman Suarmini. I was born in 1979 in a small village called Tejakula, Buleleng, Bali. Tejakula was away from the city crowds, and mostly the people worked as farmers, including my parents. My parents owned land with mango trees and also rambutan fruit trees. When the mangos were ripe, I used to wake up in the morning to help my parents harvest the fruit and then sell them to the nearest traditional market.

“I spent my childhood playing with my older siblings. I am the youngest of 3 children. We usually played in a field and searched for fruit. There are many more than mango and rambutan trees, but what I loved was grapes. I was never away from my village until I finished my senior high school, then I moved to Ubud. I worked in a ceramic shop when I was around 20 years old. There was one person who taught me to make ceramics, and told me that ceramics will never go out of style.

“Now I own a shop which sells ceramics; there are teapots, oil burners, and even incense holders. I love making and selling ceramics because I can also contribute to my society and community. I can provide incense holders to pray, since I am Balinese and we pray using incense. I can also provide bowls as the place for holy water that will be used for traditional ceremonies. And the clay is safe for the environment. My motifs are mostly leaves and jepun flowers (frangipani), since I am Balinese and I am proud of who I am.

“I am married and have two children, one daughter and one son. Being a mother is a different experience for me. I enjoy it very much; my children have become my inspiration to work more and to do better in life. Now, my target is to be a good artisan for NOVICA, to provide good stock and hopefully satisfy the customers with my products. I hope I can be as good as my brother, who has been a NOVICA artisan for a long time. And I hope NOVICA can help me promote my works and also to improve my designs and quality.