Being a small-time handicraft artisan requires extra creative efforts because of the limited amount of capital it can net. The ability to spot opportunities when they arise, such as utilizing materials considered as garbage by most, is an essential skill.
Take Imam Juwanto for example. He is delighted that the recent rainy season has washed up a large amount of drift wood on Bali's many shores. With his skilled hands, this otherwise benign material is turned into accessories and furniture - which are selling like hot cakes.
"About six months ago I was still working at a loss, making acrylic handicrafts," he said.
"Then one day I was relaxing on the beach when I noticed there was plenty of wood scattered on the shore."
Imam said he then experimented with assembling the wood into furniture including tables, chairs and mirrors.
The results were very attractive. The wood had a matte texture because of sea water but the cut was rough. The wood was turned into simple yet elegant, natural furniture.
"Now there are plenty of elders and scavengers scouring for wood on the beach," Imam said.
"I buy the wood from them at Rp 25,000 (US$2) per sack."
The wood can be easily found scattered along Kuta, Tuban and Ketewel beaches, which have high waves.
Imam's workshop on Jl. Teuku Umar Barat in Denpasar is full of such wood, of various colors, sizes and types.
The wood is placed under the sun to be dried before it is assembled into various kinds of furniture.
Assembly is quite simple, Imam uses nails or glue.
"Customers don't like logs put together using glue because they don't look that natural," Imam said.
"The more natural it looks, the better it sells."
Imam, who has to work hard to design more natural looks, said the number of orders he receives from tourists in Bali is on the rise.
He said he employs three people at his workshop, which can produce three items a day. Despite such high demand, Imam prefers not to recruit more workers, saying he already earns enough money.
Imam and his workers now find it difficult to take a day off, as they have to make frequent trips to the airport to deliver the goods. While claiming he is a pioneer in making handicrafts from the drift wood, Imam can not lay patent claims on his products, as he does not have specific measurements or models.
"I work based on my instincts and there are no standard models," he said.
"Now every art shop and workshop sells similar items. Copying designs is already a common thing."
In addition to the drift wood, Imam is also working on cock feathers acquired from tajen (cock-fighting) venues.
At another workshop, workers busily work on handcrafts made of eceng gondok, or water hyacinth.
"Customers are looking for products made of eceng gondok," Saidatun Wafiroh of the Amin Gallery, also on Jl. Teuku Umar Barat, said.
"The most important thing is that we should always come up with new designs."
Eceng gondok is a kind of invasive plant able to cover a body of water very quickly.
Saidatun said the demand for natural products made of waste materials is increasing. Her gallery buys between 1 and 2 tons of the plant per month from Gresik, East Java.
The main customers of such products are foreign tourists, especially those from Europe, Taiwan and the United States.
