Paulway Chew

Farewell 2023

12/30/2023

This year has been a great year for me! There wasn’t too much happening on the work side, but on the “destress” side, had lots of fun traveling domestically and internationally.

Being from Malaysia, I’ve always enjoyed having a very “Chinese-Style” Chinese New Year celebration experience. But after moving to San Francisco, this did not happen very often as people here don’t celebrate like we do in Malaysia. But that changed this year as I celebrated a very “Chinese-Style” Chinese New Year in Taiwan with my mother and elder sister. We woke up at 4:00am to go to a Buddhist temple to pray, which is a tradition in my family that we do every year for CNY. Being in Taiwan, I was able to see the beautiful plum flowers blooming on the first day of Chinese New Year. It was such an eye candy experience that I will not forget.

At the end of April, I travelled to London for a short ten day trip. I was able to enjoy a few afternoon tea experiences, with one of them being in a beautiful big
Mansion. Having a “Great Royal Afternoon Tea” in a big mansion is kind of a “once in a lifetime” thing for me, it was a lavish experience! Felt like I’m a Lady in Downton Abbey… Lady Paulway!
“Afternoon Tea on a Bus” was a pretty unique experience as well. Coincidentally the theme was for the Coronation of King Charles III. The ride was a little bumpy, so having tea and eating finger sandwiches and delights was a bit of a unique challenge. But the overall experience was quite fun and special.
Why do I like afternoon tea so much? I guess it’s about the atmosphere and experience, also the delicious British scones and... Tea? Well, I'm a tea person.
And Finally, during this trip, I realized that there is a difference between “Afternoon Tea” and “High Tea”. I’m sure most of you have enjoyed “Afternoon Tea”, so make sure you guys don’t say the wrong thing to the hostess in London. It was a pretty fun journey in the UK!

I have loved movie soundtracks ever since I was in primary school. That's how I was introduced to John William’s music. And this year, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend a live concert with the Maestro, John Williams, who is now 91 years old, in person conducting a full orchestra to his movie scores. I salute him that he is still healthy and to be able to conduct a 2 and a half hours concert, which also included three Encore songs! Very impressive! Listening to “Imperial March” conducted by the Maestro live on stage… bucket list checked!

Overall, it was a pretty satisfying year for me, and I’m looking forward to having another fun and healthy year next year!

Happy 2024!!

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2022

12/31/2022

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The year 2022 has passed by so fast and it's already at the end of the year. It just whizzed by like a daze and I didn't even have time to digest it. It seems like the "Covid thing" has now been normalized and we will be living with this everyday going forward. I'm truly grateful for still being alive and healthy, and to be able to meet up with my family and friends after the dreadful pandemic.

TBH, I didn't feel anything different when i went back to Malaysia in the past years, but this time, I felt guilty in a way and felt bad because I missed a few years of seeing my mom. This time I see her, she have white hair, and also have difficulty walking for a long time. I just hoped that I could have spent more time with her. But at least she is still healthy enough so i'm grateful for that. And since the pandemic is almost over as most of the country are starting to open up, I can visit her more often now.

So what's so special about 2022??
I finally watched the live performance of Yuja Wang, the pianist with "Lightning Hand", and new century music prodigy Jacob Collier. They really lived up to their reputation. For me, they are not ordinary people, they are not human! And Music is their superpower. Was an honor to watch these two perform! I also cut off my hair that I had been forced to keep for almost three years, and I suddenly felt free, and that the real me was finally back!

I contracted Covid in 2022. I was really scared at the time because I didn't know how serious it will be and how my body would react. Fortunately, I got through it after a few days. I don't know if it was the vaccine that saved me, or if it was just a common flu, as ppl would say. All I know is that after I got it, it was very troublesome. Because there is not medicine to treat Covid, and you have to isolate yourself, and ask others to help. So... it's better not to have it.

Since I have not been able to go home to almost three years due to the pandemic, this trip to Malaysia has become the most precious and special event for me this year. I was able to visit my mom, see my eldest sister who came from Taiwan, and met up with a bunch of old friends. And soon, about two weeks later, I will fly to Taiwan to meet with my mom and sister again for a reunion to celebrate the Lunar New Year. I hope that in the new year, everything will be... Good and Happy!!

Happy New Year!

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Summary 2021

12/31/2021

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2021 Summary
It's the last day of 2021. And I am in Los Angeles spending time with my love ones.

Looking back this year, the pandemic is not over yet, but thankfully, I am still able to keep my job. And I finally have the guts and confidence to accept art commission! Quite frankly, I used to hesitate at accepting these opportunities due to my lack of confidence... before I would worry that I won’t be able to create an artwork per the client’s requests. I had some doubts about my skills, and I was worried I can’t draw it well. But after one customer’s request, I decided to take my first step and give it a shot… and I think I am ready now. Life lesson; if you never take your first step, you will not go anywhere.

I'm also grateful that I had the chance to work with producers from Malaysia and Taiwan. Many of my friends have encouraged me to continue my music career on stage, but after contemplating for a long time, I think I prefer to work behind the stage since I'm an introvert. I have terrible social skills and also not fond of fame... working behind the stage is more comfortable and enjoyable for me. Performing on stage was fun, but I felt very boring repeating the same show over and over every day. And after my performance of my own Tribute to Disney show, I felt that was a great way to end my on stage career. As for my current vocal jobs, I am basically doing something that I used to do back in the days. I was a vocalist for backing vocals, tv/radio jingles and recording vocal demos for singers. So feel free to give me a ring/text if you need a vocalist! 😂

Time went by fast this year, and with the vaccines being widely available, it felt like life was starting to get back to normal. We were able to do normal things like going out for a dinner or a movie. But just when everything seems too good to be true, we get the Delta variant, and now the Omnicron… it seems like it’s not going away, and made it a little impossible to travel back to my home country, Malaysia, to visit my family back home. And even worst, there was a bad flood in Malaysia, it’s devastated to see many people lost their homes, some their lives. It just seems like there’s too many negative more than positive… Year 2022, I hope you can bring us some good luck, a hope of light, some magic to turn this world back up on its feet! Here’s to a New Year!!

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Riddance 2020

12/31/2020

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Wow, what a year! I have mixed feelings for 2020. Indeed, 2020 was a year of fear as people are losing their lives to covid-19. We are losing trust in people, irresponsible and selfish people to be exact. We have fear when going out for anything, avoiding people, washing our hands regularly and using hand sanitizer, keeping our distance, especially around people without masks. We can’t go out to enjoy movies at the cinemas. We can’t dine out as usual. We can’t travel. So many activities that we wanted to do but can’t... And since I can't travel back to my home country, what I fear most is when thinking about my mother in Malaysia as she is a “high-risk” individual... I hope she stays in good health!

Well, enough of the bad stuff, now on to the good. It wasn't actually a 100% bad year for me. It's actually kind of a special year. Thinking about the positives; Being home most of the time during this pandemic, I was able to build a strong relationship with my loved ones. I learned to cook new dishes, learned how to do backing vocals arrangements. Celebrated all “Special days” at home and it wasn’t bad at all. And last but not least, I was able to set up a new professional recording station at home for my job. Never had I thought that I will still get a chance to do BV (backing vocals) for music albums after all these years... and I can now proudly say that I am a professional BV arranger! This is a huge bonus for me in 2020!

Finally, this bad year has come to an end, and I wish we will have a better and good year ahead! With vaccines coming out, there is hope!

A new year comes with new hope! Happy New Year to all!! =)

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Bye 2019

12/31/2019

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So 2019 has come and gone... its the end of the year blues again, the end of the year always makes me very emotional. Yes, I'm a very emotional person.

This year is a very conflicted year for me. I discovered that one of my artwork from my Luminous series, Cinderella, was stolen by Disney. I love Disney, but i'm not sure if i still have the same respect I have for Disney. This was an art piece that I created back in 2015 as a gift for my niece, and I was shocked when I learned that my artwork has been stolen by the one and only "Disney". They provided/ licensed my artwork to a third party online store for their use in their products. How is this possible? Disney took my artwork without my knowledge or consent! Should I be angry cuz they used my artwork as their own? Or should I be happy cuz Disney selected my artwork as their intellectual property? Does this mean my artwork meets their standards for consumer products? It's a situation full of confusion... What happened to Disney? I just hope everything is a misunderstood...

Now let's talk about something fun. I'm always fond of 2D animations, I even dreamed of working as an animation when i was a kid... but that was just a childhood dream anyway. Now with new technologies and tons of new apps available for artists, I'm glad that I can now learned and create animated art. It's basically my traditional 2D artwork, but with a few added animated effects and music, It's not a full animation, But it gives mt a little bit of satisfaction to see my art comes to life!

During the Christmas holiday, I visited the Tim Burton's exhibition at the Neo Museum in Las Vegas. He is one of my favorite directors known for Nightmare Before Christmas, Frankenweenie, Corpse Bride and many more. It was a very unique experience as it was a rainy day and this was an outdoor Museum... it's like a gloomy romance, just like Tim Burton himself.

Looking forward to another fun year filled with Disney magic! Just hope they don't steal my artwork again!

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Fabulous 2018

12/31/2018

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2018 has come to an end, and it was a pretty great year for me. But I wanted to start off by saying that it was a sad year for the Marvel fans as the comic legend, Stan Lee, have passed away. RIP Stan Lee, without you, there will be no Marvel of today. You and your cameos will be missed! Excelsior!!

Now to the fun stuff, one of my art creation, the Zodiac series, based on characters from Disney, Marvel and Star Wars, has been featured in the Taiwanese website "EBCBUZZ". I was so happy that my designs has gain interest from over seas. Being an introvert and having social anxiety, I seldom promote my artwork publicly. So for someone to discover my artwork and shared it has gave me great pleasure. And I hope my most favorite series, the “Luminous Series”, will get some attention some day as well.

I finally got a chance to visit Europe. I am a big Mozart fan, and Vienna has always been on my places to-go list, because Vienna is the city of Musicians. I am so glad that I was able to visit Mozart's home in Vienna and Salzburg. Another place on my list is Greece. I've always been fascinated by Greek mythology since I was a kid, and really enjoyed watching movies with stories about the Greek Pantheon, and I'm also dying to see the beautiful blue Aegean sea! So this is really a dream come true to me. Oh and of course, Disneyland de Paris! can't miss that one! One more Disneyland (Shanghai) and I will have gone to all Disneyland around the world! Yay!!

Last but not least, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the Pixar Animation Studios and attended the special screening of ”Incredibles 2” at their studio theater, even before the world premiere. It was such a treat. I also had the opportunity to tour the Walt Disney Animation Studios and attended a special screening of ”Ralph Breaks the Internet”! During the tour, I was escorted through the hallways of the studio, which was filled with artworks by many Disney artists. It was very inspirational and I never thought that I would be so lucky to have the chance to visit the studio since they were usually not open to the public before, but who knew right? Guess that's the Disney Magic!

Looking forward to another wonderful year! Happy New Year! Cheers!

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New Year. New Hope

1/1/2018

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The year of 2017 treated me quite okay. Apart from going through some minor health hiccups, my career has picked up and is going smoothly. My artwork was selected and featured in an online magazine, Film & TV Mag. This help built my confidence and elevated me to continue to create and draw new artwork. During the year I also learned a new form of digital painting, by way of using an iPad and a digital pen. Previously it was a tedious process as I had to use a mouse and click, click, click, and click.

In addition, I created a new princess ballet series. I love ballet, but unfortunately, I am not dancing material. Each time I see the ballerina’s slender arm and figure, and wearing a tutu, I will imagine of Disney princesses dressing up with tutu dress, then elegantly posing and dancing. Thus, my Princess Ballet Series was created.

I also visited New York and watched two great musicals, “Miss Saigon” and “Anastasia”. This is my second time watching Miss Saigon, and I have to say I prefer this new re-staged Kim, who was played by Eva Noblezada. As for Anastasia, I really liked Christy Altomare’s performance. Of the many musicals that I have watched, and for the first time, I experience natural and with no exaggeration acting. The performance from these two actresses are superb, they made me feel their pain, their anger, their joy, through their natural acting and powerful voice, which made me very emotional through-out the show.

In 2018; I wish for family, my love ones, and myself a healthy year; Travel to new places and experience new things; Create new and good artworks; I wish dreams can come true!

Happy New Year!

2017年對我來說是個👌年份，除了經歷一些健康小風波之外，在事業上可算是進入了穩定期。作品第一次被電影雜誌選中刊登，覺得自信被提升到另一個層次，畫起新作品也覺得得心應手。後來還學了digital painting，不用像以前用老鼠慢慢click,click, click...

除此之外，還創作了新的公主芭蕾舞系列,本身很喜歡芭蕾舞,可是卻不是跳舞的料子,每次看到芭蕾舞伶那修長的手腳與身段,穿著輕飄飄的tutu,都會想像迪士尼公主穿起芭蕾舞裙子編編起舞，因此芭蕾舞系列就此誕生。

還到了紐約看了兩部很棒的音樂劇- Anastasia 與 Miss Saigon，雖然是第二次看西貢小姐，可是比較喜歡這次restaged的Kim，至於Anastasia，超喜歡Christy Altomare 的演繹，這兩位女演員是我看那麼多部音樂劇，第一次令我感受到有「演技」的演員，沒有浮誇的演技，只有自然，真情流露的演技與聲音，竟然感動到我哭了⋯⋯

2018年，期望身邊所有人包括自己也健康，可以創作更多好作品，可以與另一半去旅行看新事物，希望可以夢想成真！

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Bye - Bye 2016

12/31/2016

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Time really do flies… is it already the last day of 2016? Every year today, I get very emotional and feeling a little blue. Looking back to 2016, there wasn’t much changes… not too much negative, and after a few years of hard work, my art business is in a more stable form. Although there are much more improvements to be made, but a little improvement each year is also very encouraging. Especially when I get positive feedbacks from customers, I have this feeling that is indescribable.

During 2016, I see my family members and friends struggle with health issues, and many celebrities have left us… I feel that while I still can, I should do more meaningful things, cherish what I have and with whom I’m with. Live life to the fullest and leave with no regrets!

Looking forward into the New Year, I hope I can become a better person and always do the right thing and stay happy, and I wish that everyone stay healthy and happy too.

Happy New Year!! Cheers!

怎麼過得那麼快，又到2016年的最後一天了？每一年的今天都不禁感到有些憂鬱，回頭看看2016年，似乎沒什麼大變化，藝術事業終於步入穩定期，雖然還有很大的進步空間，不過每年進步一點，也是件值得鼓勵的事。尤其當顧客特地email我告訴我他們有多喜歡我的設計時，那種開心是難以形容的。

在2016年看到家人，朋友出現健康問題，也有太多名人陸陸續續地離開，不禁覺得自己真的要儘量在有生之年多做些有意義的事，做好隨時離開的準備。

在新的一年裡也沒什麼特別的新年願望，就只希望自己能儘量做對的事，做好自己，事業順利，以及希望家人，朋友身體健康，開開心心就很夠了。最後祝各位新年快樂，新的一年一切會更好。乾杯！

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My 2015

12/31/2015

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2015 came and went, seeing the last sheet of paper on my peel-off calendar, I’m feeling a little blue. The feeling inside of me is the same every last day of the year, and is taken over by “Sadness”, because another year is gone. I always need some time to adjust to my emotions for the new year. Yes, I watched too much "Inside Out"… XD

So to summarize the positive and negative events of 2015, I can tell you that it was a roller coaster ride.

Starting off the year, I was so delighted to have met my idol, the Disney Legend, Master Animator, and creator of Ariel, Glen Keane! To hear him giving a speech in person was very encouraging and also very emotional for me. I grew up with Ariel and it was this character that inspired me to draw and sing. The first song I learned to sing was Part of Your World. This character meant so much to me, and it was created and drawn by Glen Keane. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to meet Glen Keane and it was such an inspirational moment. Already having met the writers, directors and producers of the Little Mermaid, Ron Clements and John Musker, at the Walt Disney Studios last year, and also Alan Menken and Jodi Benson before that, I felt that I’m a lucky girl to have been able to meet the whole team of my favorite childhood animation. I guess this is the Disney Magic (Dream, Wish & Believe).

In March, I was excited to be invited to the Walt Disney Company’s 2015 Annual Meeting. It was a unique and fun experience and not as boring as I thought it would be. Mickey Mouse was there to greet us along with Olaf, Storm Troopers and more! After the meeting, we were all treated to an early screening of Cinderella. It was a wonderful experience.

I loved animation and that’s how I started to draw. But unfortunately, I did not have the chance to study animation when I was young and settled for graphic design in college. I stopped drawing for a while and was working in the music industry. I felt that during this time, my art skill has deteriorated, and I’m always hesitant to present my artwork to great Disney artist because I felt that my art skills are not up to the quality of their standards. But thanks to my hubby, he gave a set of my Allure Series artwork to a Disney Artist, Mike Peraza, and received positive comments. This gave me confidence to help me continue to do what I like to do. I am now continuing to draw and also working on my new style of artwork. I don’t quite have a name for this style yet, but as some of you may have seen, it’s basically artwork with black background with high contrast colors and lighting effects.

I attended the 2015 D23 Expo in August and was overwhelmed by Star Wars fans. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Star Wars, so this felt like a Star Wars convention more than a Disney convention. But other than the Star Wars makeover, there were many other events to keep me occupied. I saw many actors and actresses but was very excited to see another one of my favorite actor, Johnny Depp. He sure was mad as a hatter, but it was fun. One disappointing thing about this event was that the
merchandise was very hard to come by. There was a D23 exclusive Pixar shirt that I really really wanted to get, but was not able to because of the many scalpers purchasing all of them and putting it on eBay for 3x the amount of the original price. I was down for a few days. But overall, it was still a fun expo and this year was definitely a new experience for me.

This year was the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland and also the Diamond Celebration. I had high hopes for my visit this year, and with high hopes came with disappointing moments. Started the day with a bad experience at the parking garage. There was some accident earlier in the day and we were directed to make a detour to a different nearby parking garage which was a little further away and with all the commotions, we finally arrived at the gate almost an hour later. Then at the entrance where we were stuck for a long time. There was a malfunction of the ticketing machine and instead of directing us to the next line, the cast member just sat there waiting for the manager to come help without letting the rest of the line know about what’s happening and how long it would take. So we ask if we can just go to the next line and she said that we will have to go to the end of the line, which doesn’t make sense as we were already in line for a long time. So we waited and waited and finally another cast member came and we were let through. So with that out of the way, the rest of the day was great and fun… until… the fireworks. We were already excited to be in Disneyland and was waiting for the finale before we head home, the Diamond Celebration fireworks! But to our great disappointment, the fireworks had some technical difficulty and was cancelled. But we were told that it was cancelled due to high winds! High winds!!! We looked around, none of the leaves were even moving… it was a calm day all day long. But I guess Disney didn’t want people to know that they had technical difficulties. Oh well… it was just disappointing and it wasn’t the happiest place on earth for me this time.
Even though it wasn’t the best experience, but the force of the Disney Magic will bring me back to Disneyland again in the near future.

Looking forward to the new year of 2016 and wish everyone a Happy New Year! Cheers!

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December 2014

12/31/2014

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I actually do not like writing blogs because I am not the type of person who knows how to express myself. Most of the time I would start a blog and then just stop. I just couldn't think of what to write and just erase the whole thing. So I have decided that I will just write a blog once a year.

Looking back into 2014, for Malaysians, it hasn't been a good year. Three Malaysian related flight incidents have been a nightmare for us... Even though Malaysian Airlines MH370 have been missing for quite some time, I still have hope and wishes everyone in flight MH370 returns home soon. Unless evidence is found, I still believe they are alive. Being a Malaysian myself, I am sadden by these events and I want to give my condolences to the family and friends of passengers in flight MH17 and QZ8501.

During 2014, there are a few unforgettable moments that I have experienced. My pet dog, Pongo, had to undergo surgery while I was away in Malaysia which kept me awake for two nights. This kind of feeling made me realized that this little dog that I adopted 2 years ago is now part of my family. He is like a son to me and I love him very much!

The first time I had one of my art piece available for auction, I worried that it was not good enough and that I may have to bring it home because no one will like it. To my surprise, there were a couple of people on a bidding war to win my art piece. I was glad and felt very honored that my art work was appreciated. I believe that there are still people that will appreciate ones work not because of who they are but because of the quality of their work. If you think about it, most people before they are well known, are just hard working individuals trying to proof the quality of their work. Because of my artwork being noticed, I was asked to help design the artwork for ceramic tile coasters for the Jolly Holiday Christmas Party by the Golden Gate Disneyana Club. At the party, seeing everyone receiving the tiles and telling me how much they liked it really made me feel appreciated and full of satisfaction, even though I was not a well known or famous artist. Just like 2 years ago when I was asked to perform at the Walt Disney Family Museum, this made me realize that hard work will pay off.

This year is also the year that I finally had the oppurtunity to watch the Maestro Danny Elfman in concert. Being able to watch and listen to Danny Elfman singing live as Jack Skellington from Nightmare before Christmas and see never before seen original artwork by Tim Burton was one of the most meaningful and memorable Halloween ever!

25 years ago, my dad bought me a VHS version of Disney's "The Little Mermaid", and i fell in love with this movie. Unfortunately, I didnt get a chance to watch it at the big screen. Being born and raised in Malaysia and after 25 years later, I would never thought that I will get to watch this movie again at the big screens inside the Walt Disney Studios with the creators of The Little Mermaid, John Musker and Ron Clements. It was such an emotional experience because this movie shaped me into who I am today, a vocalist and an artist.

To wrap up 2014, all the negative and positive is now an after thought, so to move into 2015, I am making a wish upon a star that I can meet the mermaid master and Disney Legend, Glen Keane, who is also my most favorite artist.

Happy New Year, I wish my dream will come true! ºoº

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2023

Farewell 2023

2022

Summary 2021

Riddance 2020

Bye 2019

Fabulous 2018

New Year. New Hope

Bye - Bye 2016

My 2015

December 2014

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