Born in 1967, in District Ganjad, Maharashtra, Balu Ladakya Duamada started to paint at a very early age. One of the first students of Jivya Some Mashe, Balu had the opportunity to learn the art of Warli from the master himself. His paintings most often represent life in his village and include themes like fertility, festivals and rituals, featuring the amazing rural and agrarian landscape of his milieu. Drawn and painted as intricate networks of lines, triangles, circles and other forms, the artworks by the unlettered simpleton Balu also feature village deities, local symbols and beliefs. He paints on walls using natural pigments, twings and cow dung with homemade traditional reed brushes. He also makes paintings on paper and canvas using poster colours which are easier to make and transport. Balu has participated in many exhibitions all over India, such as the Rural Artefacts Exhibition at Western India Gramotsav, Aadivasi Hastkala Exhibition in Pune, at the Crafts Museum in Delhi, besides shows at Bhopal, Nagpur, Chennai and Mumbai.The artist continues to work from his village, where he lives with his extended family.