Eva Maria G. De Luigi is both ballerina and painter.

Since she was 8, living in Caracas, De Luigi has been dancing ballet. She reached nationally elite status before receiving an invitation to spend a summer in an Orlando Ballet training program. Much of her family had already moved here, so less than two years ago she accepted the offer.

The training was a success. To culminate her stay with the Orlando Ballet, she starred as Cinderella. Also during that time, she discovered another career, painting.

“After practice, I started painting in my house. My first paintings are from my ballet pictures in my house,” describes De Luigi, 25, who had studied graphic design in Venezuela.

Quickly and uniquely, she found a niche in her new craft.

“Most of the art is related to ballet because that is my first passion,” she says. “Not many paintings by others are related to the ballet. It’s uniting both talents because most artists wouldn't understand the motion of ballet.”

Now, at night and on days off from Royal Celebration Ballet Company, near Kissimmee, she works in her gallery at The Mercado. The festive marketplace, located on International Drive, is known as a haven for tourists, so people around the world have viewed and purchased her art.

De Luigi enjoys the dual existence.

“If I can do both at the same time, which is what I’m doing now, that would be very nice,” she concludes.