Canadian born Joanna Witt and Balinese Ketut Darmawan are the husband and wife team designing and producing one of a kind pieces of silver jewellery, and teaching students at Studio Perak.

Although they hail from different corners of the world, they share a passion for creating silver designs inspired by tropical living in cultural Ubud, the spiritual energy of Bali, and the natural shapes of unique semi precious stones. Both were trained through apprenticeship with Balinese silversmiths, using age old techniques with simple equipment that has changed little throughout the years. Ketut and Joanna incorporate traditional techniques of Balinese silversmithing into their organically inspired and simplist designs.

Joanna's dream to combine her love of silver smithing with a profession of teaching resulted in the opening of Studio Perak in 2001. Since that time, hundreds of students have got a taste of Balinese style silver making in the popular courses held there. Many students have come to try out a half day class, and stayed to study until the days turned into weeks! Some have made the classes their sole purpose for travel to Ubud, and come back each year for more study.

In their spare time in Studio Perak, the beginnings of the Bohemia, Nature, Urban Chic, and Jewelry for the Spirit collections were born. Soon after came the opening of their small but cute shop, Studio Perak Toko, as a space to show and sell these collections. Studio Perak now has three store fronts, all in central Ubud. Their nature inspired, original pieces are now being enjoyed by jewelry lovers all around the world.

Studio Perak's main philosophy, whether in design and production of their unique silver jewelry pieces, or in the teaching of their students, is simplicity. We strive to make beautiful, wearable and comfortable jewelry using the most basic hand tools. Our methodology of silver smithing differs little from that of Balinese silversmiths 100 or more years ago. By keeping things simple, we strive to preserve a little piece of Balinese culture through our work. By learning with this methodology in our classes, our students are able to continue exploring silver making well after their experience with us, by purchasing only a few hand tools.