Although he was born in Germany, Ambiya Bowo is 100% a proud Indonesian. Ambi started his introduction to Art early when he was a little kid. His grandfather and grandmother, both art lovers and his father, who is an architect, had always encouraged him (and his two younger sisters) to sketch anything he sees. Growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia, in a family who collects artwork such as paintings, ceramics and fabrics, it was very easy for Ambi to fall in love to the art world. When he was about 8 years old, his father introduced him to the late Affandi, one of Indonesia’s pioneer painters, who created paintings that are very expressive and fill with passion, texture and movement. From that moment on Ambi realized that there is a beautiful way to express his feelings.

Ambi received his formal training from the Academy of Art in San Francisco, where he gains knowledge from other Bay Area artists and instructors such Carolyn Meyer, Craig Nelson, Kevin Moore, Dean Larson, Zhaoming Wu, Baoping Chen, to name a few.

In between the place where his family live, in Indonesia, and the city of San Francisco, which he calls his second home, Ambi have come to learn to appreciate nature and God’s creations in which he cannot touch, but rather see and feel as his inspirations.

Ambi’s work is based from an expression of emotions and moods, which trigger from the light and harmony or colors that he sees during his walk through the city or in between the hills or the valley. Though he works mostly from photographs, Ambi also enjoys painting outdoor.

He turns to Affandi, Sudjojono, Adrian LeMayeur, Srihadi Soedarsono, Van Gough, Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet, Degas, John Singer Sargent, Jackson Pollock, Wayne Thiebaud, Richard Diebenkorn, and Sorolla artworks as the list of his regular stars.  Ambi is also inspired by the impressionist’s era along with the abstract expressionists.

Today, he continues his journey in exploring to express, entertain and to communicate from his colors and brush strokes in his paintings, to convey the feeling and mood of what he sees excitingly in between the lights and shadows.

From an interview conducted by American Art Collector Magazine - May, 2008

What is the style / medium of your paintings

I paint with oil paint on canvas, and as far for style, I’ve always been somewhat expressive and my paintings are very active, and I really want to exaggerate my colors. My tools are variety of brushes and mainly I use palette knives. I really enjoy having thick paint and I usually would like to have the majority of my painting done in one session; to make sure I keep the freshness look of the painting.

Are you providing a range of different sizes, or are you focusing on a particular size or format that your collectors prefer?

I do paint in different sizes of canvas, ranging from 16x20 to 48x60 inch. There’s something about painting on a bigger canvas that excites me, I think it’s the energy and the movement of my body that keeps me going. When I paint on a larger canvas, I would have to move my arms and body, moving away and back from the canvas more often. It’s kind of like a little exercise. I do try to choose my canvas carefully, because sometimes to me some scene or objects just have to be painted in a certain format of canvas to achieve what it is I want to bring up in my vision.

What inspired you to paint this style of work?

Since I was little I always seem to be aware of my surroundings, so I’m always looking for something that is true and exciting to me. I love being outdoors listening to the birds and enjoying the sunrise and sunset. There’s this little valley just off San Francisco that I love to go to just to get lost and take some peaceful walk in nature. I admire nature for its serene quality but also for it’s many colors. There are a couple of things that I’ve been paying close attention to (especially for the cityscape paintings) that is of light and shadow. They sound so simple but actually could quite be challenging to paint. Living in the Bay Area with so many valleys to walk through and in the city of San Francisco where we have so many hills and variety shapes of buildings, these playful elements of light, shadow and colors could be very dramatic and sparks different kind of emotions and mood, especially in the morning and late afternoon. I look for a space or a moment in time, some things that I can catch only with a blink of an eye. I also look at the balance between manmade objects and God’s creation, for example, the bridge and the sky, or the city with the sky as background. Giving attention to all these elements is important to me not just as a painter but also as a human being, to recognize that things I cannot touch or change could be so beautiful and sometimes not so wonderful for me. For example, when I see a dark shadow in a building, it doesn’t mean that I can’t paint that shadow’s color beautifully, or a cloudy day (rainy day or a grey day) doesn’t mean that from it I can’t paint a beautiful moody painting.

What do you want art collectors to look for in your art?

For sure I want art collectors to be entertained with my colors, texture, and shapes but also acknowledge the excitement behind all of these paintings and I also want them to take time in enjoying the paintings as they represent a moment in time in my life.

What do your collectors tell you they particularly like about your artwork?

Energetic, craftsmanship, colorful and expressive.

How would you describe your audience?

Those who appreciate nature and life.

Would you help me describe your paintings to new collectors? What phrase best reflects how you want to be described?

Active, alive and appreciating the quality of a beautiful and exciting moment in time.

If there’s one thing you would like collectors to know about you, the artist, what would that be?

That I’m very passionate about my work.

What would you say has been the major turning point in your professional career?

When I was welcomed into Wendt Gallery.

The challenge for me is to transfer and communicate with all the colors that I see, emotions that were triggered between my senses to the viewer and hopefully I can entertain them with my paintings and that the viewers could somewhat connect with the painting, my vision and even more from their own perspective point of view. When I am able to combine all of these balancing acts together and to continue transferring my energy and vision into a blank canvas and then to the viewers, this is when I am in peace and joy