Born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elaine Grant Coffee earned a degree in fine art from the School of Visual Arts in New York, also having taken courses in biochemistry, medical illustration and marketing. This combination of study and intellectual curiosity is manifest in all of Coffee’s work today.
After graduation, Coffee worked in the art department of an advertising agency in New York City, where she channeled her talents into marketing campaigns. She later moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where she created illustrations for the American Women’s Club magazine, and also sharpened her epicurean tastes for art and cuisine.
An assignment as Art Director for Scottsdale Magazine eventually brought Coffee to Arizona, where she worked for more than a decade as a writer, and eventually became Food Editor. As such, she frequented museums and galleries, interviewed top chefs and sampled food and drink at some of the world’s most renowned restaurants.
These experiences afforded Coffee ample opportunity to observe interesting lifestyles – people engaged in conversations, enjoying haute cuisine, or captivated by an old-world masterpiece. Coffee’s desire to capture their individual gesture
