Pole Dancer

My mother used to drop me off at school very early on her way to work. Being the strange child I was, I actually loved that whole hour of quiet and solitude on the empty campus (with a few staff members present).

Then one day, I noticed I wasn’t the first student on campus anymore. I saw a girl dancing in the courtyard, so I came closer to take a look who it was. It was a schoolmate, Sheila. As time went by, it became an unspoken competition between us – who would be the first to arrive on campus? I got up earlier and earlier each day, determined to beat her.

But no matter how early I arrived to school, there she was -- Her long legs wrapped around the pole, dancing, and silently mocking me.

Damnnnn youuuuu, Sheila!! (shaking my fist).

Gym Uniforms

 

When I was in school, the girls in my class designed a gym uniform for us to wear. The design was simple: to have our individual names printed on our t-shirts (oh, how original). But, since we were given the liberty to do this, we were so excited! Our own personalized gym tshirts! Wooohooo! What a novelty!

We submitted a list of the girls’ names on a piece of paper to the local tshirt maker. When the finished tshirts came back… instead of seeing each personalized names on each tshirt, we saw the entire list of names printed in a single row. Eh??

We had to wear those tshirts for the entire year.

Peep Show

One evening my mother came home from work saying that we must be living in a “questionable neighborhood” because she saw a “questionable business” close by to our home. (Back story: we had just moved to Los Angeles, California). My brother asked her, “What questionable business are you referring to?”
Mom: There is a business down the street named Pep Boys!
Brother: What’s wrong with Pep Boys?
Mom: That’s where, you know, men look at scantily clad women through keyholes!
Brother: Huh?
My brother finally figured out that my mother innocently thought PEP BOYS was a PEEP SHOW business.

Charlotte's Dream

 

My husband and I welcomed a healthy, beautiful baby girl two months ago. This image kept popping in my head and I wanted to draw this.
My daughter is wearing a dress, a cashmere sweater, and standing next to a John Deere tractor. A rather strange imagery, one would say. My interpretation is as follows:
It is my dreams that she can enjoy the finer things in life, symbolized by the cashmere sweater/pretty dress. But she is also not afraid to roll up her sleeves and handle a manly equipment (the tractor). The tractor symbolizes the realities of life – the hard work, dedication, and perseverance required to make it far. The vast farmland symbolizes my desire to raise my children in a big, safe open space where they can run and explore. Most people would associate the thunderstorm with scary, negative feelings. For me, it is quite the opposite. I find thunderstorms to be soothing, relaxing, and the perfect time to curl up inside a house with a good book. I want our daughter to know that she can retreat into the safety of her home and her family whenever she needs to.

Ahead of her time...

 

This was one of my mother's favorite stories about her mother (my grandmother): As a schoolgirl attending a predominantly Chinese school in Indonesia back in the 1950's, it was common to see her classmates' immigrant Chinese mothers wearing their traditional (dull) grey/blue outfits. My grandmother, on the other hand, was raised under colonial Dutch rule in Indonesia. She would pick my mother up at school wearing lipstick, full make up, and a beautiful dress that showed a hint of cleavage. My mother recalls being embarrassed and wishing her mother would dress like her peers' mothers. I think it's actually awesome that my grandmother stood out so beautifully. Cleavage? Whoo hoo! Way to go, grandma!

Paper Cut Artwork - Sofia & Eva

Another paper art work! I combined the client's two little girls into one design. The photo on the left is the concept sketch, the middle photo is a close-up for details, and the right photo is the finished product. If you are interested in having one made for your child, please private message me.

Farrah Fawcett Afro

 

Salon story continued since the last post... At this same salon, I swear the owner must have hired untrained people off the street to work on her customers. My mother came in asking for a Farrah Fawcett hairstyle (she even brought in a photo of the actress) -- and they ended up giving her an Afro. What. The. Hell? I don't know how that place gets any business at all.

Gossip gossip gossipy ladies!

 

When I was a child, my mother went to this beauty salon to get her hair done. I noticed that place was so FULL of ladies who gossiped the entire time. Good heavens, what shameless busybodies! They gossiped on who was dating who, why Miss-so-and-so was still single, and so on. As much as I hated that place, I thought it was still fun to draw the memory of those ladies chatting up a storm.

Beauty and the Beast

As a child, my mother would tell me stories by drawing them – in the same manner I draw/tell stories on this forum. The time she told the story of “Beauty and the Beast,” she did not draw on that day (I think it was because she could not find a piece of paper around the house). Without any visual aid, I thought she said, “Beauty and the BEACH,” so I went on a totally different tangent. In my imagination, the ‘beast’ was a handsome, tall man made out of ocean waves and sea foam. When he was in a good mood, the water was warm and full of light. But when his mood darkened, the water would churn, fill with sea monsters, and the winds would howl.

(Now, I think this could have made a new, interesting story...).

Paper Art

While working on this project for a client last week, I decided to photo-document the steps to show my work process. (1) My original concept of the boy in a ship, surrounded by waves/clouds. (2) I establish the background environment first, making sure every layer is in their place before gluing anything down. (3) In my original sketch, I noticed the boy's head was too close to the banner where his name will be. Uh oh. Not good. So I changed his position/pose in my second sketch. (4) Checking again, to make sure nothing is out of place before I add the boy's name. (5) The finished product. Voila...
If you are interested in having something like this done for your child, please private message me.

Victoria's Secret

Some quick watercolor sketches I did of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Their costumes are so outlandish, impractical, yet so fun to draw. Years ago I met Adriana Lima (second chick from the left) and she was even more gorgeous in person – not to mention extremely friendly and nice, too. Everything about her looked perfect, and I, as a mere mortal standing next to her, was shaking my head at how beautiful she looked.
I swear, she must not be human.

Women's Championship Tournament - Polo

The latest promo I did for the Women's Championship Tournament! (I want to jokingly say: Wanna watch the biggest, baddest women battle for championship? Come to this event! MEOOWWRRRR!).

California Polo Club

I was commissioned by the California Polo Club to design this promotional poster. Women now represent the fastest growing sector of this sport. Viva ladies! smile emoticon www.californiapoloclub.com

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