Cora Zilli and Elisa Cavalleri have started a new artistic business, handpainting murals on walls in homes and restaurants.
Both Italian with dark hair and big smiles, the two women share a passion for art and interior decoration. Now, they also share a new design business called Eli & Coco Decor.
“We paint designs on the walls of homes. It makes it look very different from their neighbours,” says Elisa Cavalleri, 25.
She’s referring to the hand-painted murals, borders and custom motifs she and her business partner Cora Zilli, 34, offer clients.
A native of Brescia, Italy, Cavalleri moved here in March and met Zilli through a mutual friend.
Natasha Canniff, an interior designer at Elite Home Decorating, says this type of work is a great way to infuse artwork and colour into a space.
“It’s a matter of finding someone who can do it properly though,” she says, adding that artists would have to be mindful of the materials they use and the surface they are working on.
“You don’t see that type of design often,” says Canniff.
“And indoor murals can only be beautiful if they are done right,” she says.
Zilli, who moved to Ottawa from Venice, Italy, three years ago, says this takes a completely different mindset, technique and style.
“It’s art, but it’s not art like people are used to,” she says.
Oversized, colourful art is trendy now, says Luc Crawford, an interior designer at Designs by 2.
“But hand painting on the wall is different and not as popular,” he says.
The problem with murals, he says, is that if you plan to sell your home or business, you lose your painting.
But so far it doesn’t seem like Cavalleri and Zilli have run into that problem.
In Ottawa, they have decorated Divino Wine Studio on Preston Street. They have also worked on a children’s bedroom in south Ottawa.
At Divino they added golden vineyard-like vines up and along the wall, while in the children’s room they created a forest complete with trees, grass, sky and a sleeping wolf.
They were inspired to start Eli & Coco Decor by their Italian heritage and encouraged by their passion for art after they noticed that the interior of houses and restaurants in Ottawa often lack murals, says Zilli.
Working in Ottawa has opened up doors for the artists, whose talents also range from photography to glass painting.
“Our work is unique and makes people feel good," says Cavalleri.
"A lot of the houses have the same layout and furniture so they do not have to have the same walls.”
Cavalleri and Zilli do not have an office or studio, but they will showcase their designs in March at the Home & Garden Show at Lansdowne Park.