CEBUANO ART, CRAFTS ON DISPLAY

FOR THE WORLD TO SEE

Elegance and sophistication should not be matters of luxury but more of a way of life—paths one chooses to take. These traits are best imbibed in the presentation of one’s home especially with crafts handled and designed personally by Cebuanos. Having come from a place that speaks of these traits as second nature, a Cebuana decided to tell the rest of the world about what they have been looking for all along: the place where beauty, elegance and design are just simple creations of authentic Cebuano talent.

Elaine Cooper, an interior specialist who has devoted 10 years of her life to the discipline of the art of interior designing, opened her own gallery: Elaine Cooper Interiors and Gallery. It displays top-of-the-line Cebuano artistry and craftsmanship, having collaborated with eight furniture exporters of Cebu.

The 47-year-old interior specialist has greatly departed from her high school self where she showed passion for the arts by making prom dresses for her classmates and getting paid for them. Her parents supported her as she studied fashion design at Slim’s School Fashion in Manila. She opened a boutique which she named Harvest and a flower shop she called Centerpiece. She evolved from designing clothes to doing interior designing under Cooper and Albert, and in 2008 she created Elaine Cooper Interiors.

Having molded her brand extensively as a lifestyle enthusiast, she worked closely with a clientele who looked for outstanding pieces of furniture that couldn’t be found in Cebu. She often had to go to Manila or leave the country to find pieces that would suit her clients’ specific needs and tastes. After some prodding, she found manufacturers in Cebu that created pieces where both the quality and the sophistication in the design are comparable to those that she had to find outside the country. It was then when she aimed to create a platform for Cebuano ingenuity and design to be noticed in a global scale, thus, opening her very own furniture gallery.

As the owner is an experienced interior designer herself, clients are ably assisted as she personally handles her trade and consults with clients about what type of design is appropriate for a specific piece, or what item would suit a client’s tastes best by allowing modifications and specific piece-by-piece work for any kind of furniture that would best represent the client’s taste.

The interior specialist displays artworks of Fred Galan in her gallery as she is a fan of the brilliance of the Cebuano artist. She also displays artworks of her daughters together with a few pieces she has created herself in the walls of her gallery.

In the next five years, Elaine hopes to begin her own furniture line through the help of her daughter, who is graduating soon with a degree in Interior Design from the University of San Carlos.