Expat artists in Bali today

Looking at Kerry Pendergrast's soft pastel landscapes you would imagine that she had been drawing and painting all her life, but her rich colourful artwork is the result of many years of disciplined practise that didn't begin until she was 30 years old.

Originally from Perth, Australia, Kerry first came to Bali 1992 and met Javanese artist, Pranoto, who became her husband. She is probably best known for her enchanting soft pastels on sandpaper, depicting landscapes that stretch from farming areas southwest of Sydney, to Freemantle near Perth, and on to Borobodur in Java. She has painted the gorgeous wild flowers of Western Australia and the beautiful rice fields, temples, mountains, lakes and beaches of Bali. She prefers to create her pictures while she's actually at the place because, "I get so immersed in the scene, I notice things while I'm sitting there, such as little tricks in the light that I wouldn't if see if I merely took a photograph or did a quick sketch." Kerry Pendergrast has had dozens of solo and group exhibitions in both Bali and Australia, and her artwork is permanently exhibited at Pranoto's Art Gallery. -

Linda Buller has been painting all her life; her work reflects her travels and her exploration of diverse cultures and countries, absorbing the different philosophies of each society and its quest for spirituality. Her contemporary abstracts range from figurative forms and idealised animals, including fish, roosters and dogs, to images that are grounded in scenery. At other times, her paintings give visual form to something inherently non-visual, such as an emotion or a sensation. Her mediums include sand, plaster, concrete, bitumen, paper, pencil, oils, acrylics, pastels, wood shavings, "Anything that I can find; anything that speaks to me". She says, "People can't understand the concepts of abstraction until they have experienced life in every way; if you haven't had much experience of life then the art-piece won't touch your soul. Paintings are music, they talk to your soul; if something resonates then it is because your soul is seeing or hearing the painting. When your hair stands on end and when you get goose pimples… well, that's your soul! I'm so lucky because my soul goes into my paintings; I can paint my soul into my work." She currently has an exhibition entitled ‘Running with Walls' at Koi Restaurant Gallery, Kemang, Jakarta - lindabuller

Neal Adams moved to Ubud from London about five years ago. He loves to paint nature, and his atmospheric realism style is imbued with emotion, expression and ethereal qualities. His combines acrylic with gold and silver leaf – as a medium of depth and a conductor of light – to create effects that are sometimes very dramatic and sometimes very soft. After one application of leaf, he works over the top with acrylic and then adds more leaf as needed to create the illusion of radiance, shining, for example, through the foliage of a tree so that it becomes part of the light within the painting. The metallic leaf is applied in very thin layers between multiple layers of lacquer, and Neal works over it again and again until it builds up into exactly the surface and texture that he needs to produce the effect that he wants. He reveals, "I would possibly have never discovered this technique while living in England but, motivated by the light in Bali, it just developed on its own as a very natural process."

A high percentage of Neal's work is now exported and sold in the United States. He has work at Tony Raka Gallery, and shows his paintings regularly at Oracle, Ubud. E-mail: nealbali03@yahoo.co.uk


Dutch born Nico Vrielink lives in Sanur. With a focus on traditional artwork, his styles have embraced numerous movements from neoclassical to representational figurative imagery, from realism to linear poster and pop art. His themes, meanwhile, have ranged from political satire to symbolism. Much of his work has been influenced by his travels; spectacular skylines and gold leaf backgrounds, the mysterious ambience, exotic architecture and distinctive motifs of places such as Istanbul, Borobodur, and of course Bali.

Nico has always painted portraits and his wife, Jeane, is his greatest source of inspiration. While the themes and styles have varied considerably, his wife's beautiful face has appeared time and again in over 5000 paintings, numerous art books and an ongoing series of annual calendars. In fact, the artist has endowed his model with such a familiar countenance that she been recognised – on the street – from Singapore to New York City! He claims that the perfect likeness has been "achieved through years of practice"; sometimes his wife's features are exaggerated, while at other times her image is executed with photographic accuracy. He exhibits at galleries all over the world, including those in Bali. Nicovrielink