Dancing to Matlock theme song

While in college, I loved coming home on the weekends to visit my grandma. Not only she made me pancakes and shared her life stories with me, but she also would patiently watch me -- my clumsy self -- practice ballet in the family living room. At one point, she hummed a little ditty. She even waved her hands in the air, as if conducting an imaginary orchestra. I was thrilled! I danced along to her tune and when she was done, I asked her if that was from Swan Lake.
“No. It’s (the theme song from) Matlock,” she responded, her eyes twinkling.
Oh, grandma.

Coppelia

 Coppélia has always been one of my favorite ballet operas. It tells the story of a mysterious citizen named Dr. Coppelius and his strange, beautiful daughter, Coppélia, who sits at the balcony all day long, reading a book, and never greeting the onlookers. Swanhilda is a village maiden who gets jealous of Coppélia when she catches her lover, Franz, blowing kisses to the girl on the balcony. Deciding to confront Coppélia herself, Swanhilda breaks into Dr. Coppelius’ cottage when the old man is out. Swanhilda is stunned to find Coppélia as a lifeless, lifelike doll behind the curtains. She learns that Dr. Coppelius is a diabolical inventor who dreams of bringing Coppélia to life. Trapped inside the house when Dr. Coppelius returns for the evening, Swanhilda trades places with the doll and pretends to be Coppélia come to life. Fooled into thinking his magic worked, Dr. Coppelius dances and celebrates along with her.
Franz breaks into the house on the same evening, wanting to meet Coppélia. Dr. Coppelius decides to drug Franz and suck the life out of him, to make his beloved Coppélia alive eternally. Swanhilda saves Franz’ life and they make for a daring escape. At the end, Swanhilda forgives Franz for his folly, and they both marry. The entire town celebrates by dancing – and TRALALA -- it's a rather typical ballet ending.

Quebec forest

As a sixth grader in Montreal, Quebec, my classmates and I hiked through the woods. We came upon a grassy knoll where we had to swing on a rope from one dock to another. Lisa – with her big glasses, red pigtails, and a squeaky voice – was the last one to swing on the rope. She said:
“I am scared.”
We all egged her on. She tried, and boy did she try. While in mid-air, she let go of the rope way too early and landed under the dock. Thank goodness she was not seriously hurt. I am not one to laugh at her mishap, but there was something so endearingly cute about her – I wanted to draw this memory.

Brazil - Rio de Janeiro

One of my favorite cities to visit is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  In the heart of the Ipanema section is a street filled with shops and cafes.  I love to sketch people as they browse the stores, nibble on "sanduiches" and sip"cafezinhos."  It is one of the rare countries where I felt truly at home!

There is a Brazilian saying: "Eu sou americana, mas meu coração é brasileiro" -- which translates to "I am American but my heart is Brazilian."

Angel's Kiss

Our baby son has a cute little freckle behind his right ear. Our friend Laurie told me, "Oh, that is an Angel's Kiss!" I close my eyes and imagine this scenario taking place before our son was born:

MAX: (to his angels) Okay, you guys. It's my time to be born - I better get ready!

ANGEL: Wait, wait, I want to give you a kiss.

MAX: Okay, but please hurry up, will you? I have a mother waiting for me on earth.

ANGEL: (kisses him) Enjoy your journey, Max. We'll be guiding you the whole time.

If I allow my imagination to take me even further, I wonder who his angel(s) are. Is it someone my son shared a past lifetime with? Did they have fun playing together in another "dimension" -- before he was born? I just love to ponder the possibilities!

Barn Robins

A baby robin had fallen out of its nest at the polo club. It was a poor, helpless little thing - still featherless and blind. We quickly scooped it up before it became the barn cats' dinner(!). My husband got a ladder and I gently placed it back in the nest - and I saw there were two other siblings, also featherless and blind. A few weeks later, my husband hears some chirping -- we both look up and see three little feathered faces looking at us. I almost wept with joy. (Yup, call me overly sensitive but I can't help it!).

ABILITY Magazine Article

A while back I was featured in ABILITY magazine.  This magazine highlights the abilities of people with disabilities.  I am humbled and proud that they chose to feature a story on me!  To read the full story, please go here:

http://www.amyduarte.com/ability_01.html

Czardas - Hungarian Dance

I took ballet for many years since childhood (Whether I succeeded in mastering ballet or not, is another whole story...). A part of our curriculum was to study dances from different parts of the world.  I have always loved watching the Hungarian Czardas.  From their colorful costumes, the well-choreographed dance steps, and their catchy music -- the Czardas is always fun to watch.

Bonus:  I found an old, black and white photo of my mother in her younger days when she was a ballet student - and she was performing the Czardas as well!

Here is my illustration to honor the beauty of the Hungarian culture/dance.

Merry Go Around

I was inspired by It's a Small World to draw this Merry Go Around.  I love drawing our international friends and their native pets!

Second Drama Queen...

Here is the second set of the Drama Queen series... the Queen of Diamonds.

Drama Queens! Presenting the first queen of the series...

A fun twist to the traditionally stoic (and somewhat boring) queen in the classic deck of cards. I wondered what it'd be like if I added a bit of drama into it... making them "Drama Queens" instead of just queens. Please stay tuned for the next queen (there are four of them, after all) in the series!

Eating alone in public? No problem!

Several people have shared with me that they never want to be seen eating alone in restaurants. I actually don’t mind eating alone in restaurants. Don’t get me wrong – I love company and always welcome company. But on some days when I am by myself – I am perfectly fine (and happy) with that, too!
I see it as a wonderful opportunity to bring my sketchbook or dive into a novel I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. Now, excuse me while I enjoy this cold glass of lemonade…

Taco Stand

One of our favorite things to do after playing chukkers is to head over to this taco stand. We'd go in our dirty polo clothes, all sweaty and thirsty and hungry. This place is such a gem - so charming and cozy! We'd enjoy a nice shaded spot under a canopy of palm fronds, chowing down yummy birria tacos.

Latin Kitchen

I married into a warm, beautiful and proud Latin family.  What I learned over the years is Latina women love to collaborate in their kitchen making meals for their family.  One member would be chopping green chiles, another would be making tamales, and one would be at the stove stirring the a hearty, delicious stew called Pozole.  The atmosphere tend to be festive, happy, and filled with lively conversations.

This drawing is a tribute to all my Latina sisters/friends everywhere. (The kitchen and its colors are inspired by my own sister-in-law's kitchen).

Banana Seller

My grandparents knew this banana seller in their hometown of Bandung, Indonesia.  The banana seller was an aged man, his back stooped from years of hard labor, and his hands blackened from the manual work.  My grandfather, out of compassion, gave the seller a pair of gently worn pajamas.  The seller was so grateful for the present - apparently he had never received anything so nice in his life.  He proceeded to wear the pajamas to work the following day (!!).

Bless his heart!

Samba Dancers

I traveled to Rio de Janeiro and fell in love with the city/country --  to the point where I made future return trips whenever I could.  The Brazilians are some of the planet's friendliest and warmest people. 

I wanted to capture the energy of the the samba dancers in this drawing.  With tons of sequins, feathers, and a wholelotta pizzazz!

Four Seasons

Four Seasons - I was thinking about how the tree changes colors with the seasons and toyed with the idea, "what if I added a human character to these trees? What would they look like?". Hence, here is my humble experiment.

Zebra

My husband and his buddies went to play polo at a friend's field. This friend had a collection of wild animals at his ranch. They had *ahem* too much to drink and thought it would be a fun idea to play polo on zebras. They learned something the hard way: Zebras are mean!  The zebras tried to kill the humans - through biting, charging, kicking, and stamping with their angry hooves. Max and his friends either ran away on their two legs or crawled on all fours under the wire fence just in a nick of time to avoid being trampled on.

Balinese Dancers

Balinese "Legong" dancers are lovely and entertaining to look at.  Sylph-like Legong dancers begin rigorous training at about the age of five. It probably originated in the 19th century as royal entertainment.

The Nanny in the Marketplace

Growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia, we had a nanny/maid living with our family.  Her name was Yati (pronounced Yah-Teeh).  She was beautiful.  I would accompany her to the marketplace, and I noticed all the men turning their heads her way.  Wolf whistles and cat calls would ensue.  Another interesting thing I noticed... Merchants were more willing to give her a better price on things.  All she had to do was bat her eyelashes and act coy. Yeesh!

New Beginnings

Hi everyone!  Welcome to my blog.  I plan to post my artwork, thoughts, and some photos as I go along.  It is my hopes that my blog/site will grow as time goes by.

This is my first time blogging - so please bear with me as I am figuring out how to do this... 

A little bit about myself:  I am a visual effects artist with over 14 years of experience and 33 feature films under my belt. Some of the movies I have worked on are:  Fantastic Four, The Amazing Spiderman, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Disney's Bolt.  I was born hearing-impaired in Indonesia -- I read lips and wear a hearing aid.  I use my circumstances as a motivation to work really hard to achieve my dreams and be grateful for the blessings in my life.  Also - it teaches me humility, grace, and how to laugh at myself in certain situations!