Immediately he called SMAN 4 Denpasar to check if he could get their impressive student paintings up on that lifeless wall to enliven the USP office.
He flew to Bali and single-handedly picked out 10 outstanding student artworks that would be exclusively hung on the USP office, and soon got his eclectic selection.
The paintings do not only embellish the office well; they are equally daunting to the eye as they all bear the mysterious signature “Windu”. It only dawned on him after the paintings were hung that what was supposedly a collection of various students’ paintings had turned out to be a one-man-show. By pure kismet he happened to choose only Windu’s paintings to be hung on the wall.
There is no wonder why Windu Segara’s paintings are chosen. Looking at his paintings alone would leave you speechless. Such remarkable achievement in producing a wide range of painting styles so rich with colors and infinite creativity is rare to be seen. He leaves the adults dumbfounded; amazed to the fact that the creator of those fine artwork is a schoolboy.
A humble, friendly schoolboy he may be, but when it comes to painting, he turns fierce. His sharp eyes fix on the canvas; he breathes life into his paintings with his merciless strokes of colors.
Windu working on a large-sized painting 'The Barong'
Born in 1989 in Bali and raised in a supportive environment, there is little wonder how Windu already has 29 painting awards under his belt. “My grandpa is a Balinese music composer, my dad is an aspiring artist, my uncle is a recording studio owner, and many people around me play Gamelan.”
“Before he knew anything about drawing, I often brought him to see drawing competitions. He’s excited,” Said the father who then sent young Windu to Museum Sidik Jari Denpasar to learn techniques of realist painting for 7 years.
His versatility in different genres such as figure painting, young-artists movement and modern art is honed through art centers, museums, and practice sessions with renowned artists in Ubud, the cultural center in Bali.
The father and son make a winning duo. Their burning passion for art and their unquenchable thirst for winning have made them rise up to any competition challenges.
From a simple beginning of winning the sixth place in a children-category drawing competition when Windu was 10, to a resounding success at Bali TV for Windu’s exceptional technique in the ‘Bali Dancer’—the father and son is an inseparable unison.
Windu's 'Bali Dancer' won the 1st Place in Bali TV art competition in 2006. He won judges' approval for his one-of-a-kind technique in creating detailed textures on canvas
While Windu is the artist, his father plays the role as a personal coach and a mentor. “Together with my dad, we underwent continuous late night trainings for two weeks before any competition. My dad coached me, gave me ideas to best interpret themes, and gave me inspiration whenever I met dead-ends.”
The two have formed a perfect unison ever since. They complement each other well like a pair of hands. During competitions, his father, being his best right-hand man, prepared all the painting tools needed, such as getting the brushes, water colors and acrylics ready while his son focused on creating a masterpiece. Perhaps it is this inexplicable father-and-son bond that helped Windu win so many competitions.
While reminiscing those glorious memories with a smile, there are times Windu had restless nights thinking of the unknown future. Like any other final year students, he had a head-versus-heart battle to choose a career.
“A part of me desires to study art overseas, but at the same time I want to be a doctor so that I have an additional skill to live with should I not make it in the art world,” he said, with a solemn expression.
It was a hard decision to make. Art has been more than just a pastime favorite to Windu. It is art he grew up with, and it is art that nurtures his life perceptions. Getting detached would be quite a painful inhibition. “I’ve stopped painting since 2007. I miss painting so much, but I have to focus on my UN.”
Windu has made a choice—he’s going to pursue a degree in medicine and have his own painting exhibitions during his semester breaks.
It’s rare to see how one could tame the self and make a bold choice; But Windu did it. What he did is just as how Robert Frost put it: Two roads diverged in a wood, he took the one less traveled by, and that (God bless) will make all the difference.
L-R: Dad, Grandpa, Windu, Mom, and Grandma
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