The Pottery in Our Villas Comes From a Family in Lombok: A Visit to Kelana Art

The Kelana Art shop on Jalan Andong in Ubud holds two worlds on its walls. One side displays unpainted clay pieces, still the colour of dried earth, just arrived from Lombok by cargo. The other side shows finished work in blues, greens, yellows, and terracotta. The concrete floor stays cool underfoot. Paint thinner hangs in the air. A brush moves across clay with a soft, rhythmic sound. Bu Atul sits at a low table, hands steady on a vessel, applying glaze with practiced precision.
She works without hurry. The shop is quiet in the afternoon heat. Outside, Ubud moves at its usual pace. Inside, time slows to the speed of a brushstroke. The pieces on the shelves have already travelled once, from Lombok villages to this room in Bali. They will travel again, to homes in France, to villas in Seminyak, to customers who found the shop through Instagram. Each piece carries the mark of two pairs of hands.

“Eh, saya Ibu Atul ya. Asli Lombok.”

My name is Ibu Atul. I’m originally from Lombok.
Bu Atul is from Lombok, but the shop she runs is in Bali. The family business has been operating since 2016. It exists in two parts, separated by the Lombok Strait, connected by cargo trucks and ferry crossings.

“Ini usaha orang tua.”

This is my parents’ business.
The business splits across two generations and two islands. Her father makes the pottery in Lombok. He works in his own space there, forming each piece from clay sourced from different villages. He does not paint or glaze. The pieces leave Lombok unfinished, raw, waiting. Bu Atul receives them in Bali. She does the glazing, the painting, the colour-matching to customers’ specifications. She runs the shop where the pieces are sold. Father and daughter, two halves of the same object, twelve hours of cargo between them.

“Yang di Lombok itu kita nggak ada ini dari Lombok, cuman pembuatan aja dari Lombok… pengecatannya di sini, pembuatannya dari Lombok.”

In Lombok, there’s no shop. Just the making. The painting happens here, the forming happens in Lombok.
Banyumulek, in West Lombok, is the village most associated with Lombok pottery. The clay there is considered particularly good. Bu Atul mentioned that the family sources from multiple villages: Banyumulek, Lombok Tengah, Lombok Timur. Each clay has slightly different qualities. Her father chooses the clay for each piece based on what the piece is being made for. The clay travels by truck across Lombok and by ferry to Bali, around twelve hours of transit in a normal week. Then the second half of the work begins in Ubud.

“Kalau orang order misalkan ada order custom gitu ya, kita buatnya dari Lombok itu satu bulan saja… pengecatannya, pewarnaannya itu paling satu minggu kalau banyak. Kalau cuma sedikit, misalkan yang kecil-kecil, 10 biji yang kecil-kecil paling tiga hari udah selesai.”

For a custom order, the making in Lombok takes about a month. The painting here takes a week if it’s a big order. For small batches, ten small pieces, three days.

Each piece is hand-finished. Customers specify colours, and Bu Atul’s team matches them with glaze. This is the differentiator. Most pottery shops in Bali sell pieces that arrive already coloured from Lombok in whatever colour the maker chose. Kelana Art separates the two stages deliberately. The form comes from Lombok. The colour is chosen by the customer in Bali. That single decision, splitting the work between two locations and two pairs of hands, is what gives the shop its identity.

“Terus banyak ke Prancis, yang paling banyak ke Prancis. Terus ke luar negeri di mana juga kurang tahu kita, yang kadang kan yang ke sini itu bule-nya, tapi yang ngambil barangnya itu kan kargo.”

A lot goes to France. The most goes to France. Other places I don’t really know, the foreigner comes here but cargo takes the goods.
Kelana Art reaches international customers through WhatsApp and Instagram, where the handle is @kelana_art. International buyers find the shop online, message Bu Atul directly, choose pieces or commission them, then arrange cargo separately. The model is small, direct, family-run. Her father in Lombok rarely meets the people who will eventually own his work. The pieces travel further than he does.

“Yang spesial sih, yang menurut saya karena di sini kan ada langsung mereka order warna. Misalkan mereka pengin warna apa itu kita bisa usahakan seperti apa yang mereka mau.”

What’s special, I think, is that here you can order the colour. Whatever colour you want, we’ll work to make it.
The smallest pieces start at IDR 40,000, around USD 2.50 in 2026. Bu Atul was clear that prices have risen. Clay costs more. Freight from Lombok costs more. Labour costs more. She does not try to compete with the lower-end pottery shops because the work is different. Customers come for quality, for the custom-colour service, and increasingly for the story of how the pieces are made. Most days, those customers find her through Instagram.
Kelana Art has three branches in Bali. One on Jalan Pesanggaran in Denpasar. One on Jalan Mas in the Ubud area. The main shop on Jalan Andong in Tegalalang, Ubud, where Bu Atul works most days. Instagram: @kelana_art.
The pottery in both Villa Rosita and The Urban Retreat is from Kelana Art. We chose it as a customer, not in any arrangement with Bu Atul or her family. She did not know we were writing this piece until we returned to interview her for it. The pieces on our shelves were made by her father in Lombok and finished by her in Ubud, like every piece they sell.
Two islands. Two pairs of hands. One object. Once you know the shape of how a piece of Kelana Art pottery gets onto a shelf in Bali, the small object becomes a longer story. That story is what we wanted on our shelves.

“Meskipun di sini mahal, tapi orang tetap ke sini karena memang melihat kualitas, kualitas bersih, kualitas untuk bisa order warna apa yang mereka mau.”

Even though we’re expensive, people still come because of the quality, because of the clean finish, because they can order any colour they want.
Kelana Art: Jalan Pesanggaran, Denpasar; Jalan Mas, Ubud area; Jalan Andong, Tegalalang, Ubud. Instagram: @kelana_art.