A home oasis in Sta. Rosa

MANILA, Philippines – Lovers of antiques, home accents, and paintings have a new reason to rejoice and to go south with the opening of 318 Art Connection at Paseo de Sta. Rosa in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Indeed, big surprises come in small packages as the compact art gallery boasts a wide assortment of paintings, curio items, and lifestyle products to make every nook of your home come alive. Artists whose works are on display are Manuel Baldemor, Hermes Alegre, Jeff Dizon, Pat Reyes, Emet Valente, Freddie Sayman, Celso Pepito, Loreto Racuya, Manuel Baldemor, Jun Alfon, Mat Relox, and Jake Catah, among others. Their works are mostly of the native and contemporary genre, masterfully executed on non-traditional canvases such as antique wooden cabinets and washbasins, boat paddles, and cart wheels.

Also on offer are excavated chinaware dating back to the galleon trade, Spanish-era sugarcane crushers, Ilocos burnay jars and antique implements given a new lease on life as decorative items to lend homes an old-world charm.

For modern interiors, there are custom-made scented candles, pottery work by Ugu Bigyan, glass vases with decorative wire filigree, antique-inspired lamps, hardwood furniture, and bric-a-bracs.

“Whimsy is the ‘in’ thing in many of the houses I have decorated where I integrate art into the living space to bring a more casual touch,” says interior designer and gallery owner Bing Reyes.

The gallery is named after 318 Interior Gallery Building in Las Piñas, which blazed the trail in art, lifestyle and interior design in southern Metro Manila in the mid-1990s, which Reyes also owns.

For more information, visit www.bingjreyes.multiply.com.