Patra learned silversmithing from his father, who learned it from his father, and so on.   He grew up in Celuk, the area in Bali specializing in silversmithing, and you can see in his designs the great inherritance of silversmithing skills and techniques that have been honed and passed down through generations.  Patra’s designs are not predictable, but range from simple work with shells in which he just gently enhances the beauty in nature’s material, to elaborate and challenging work in silver involving techniques of granulation, oxidization, filigree, and hammering, among many others.