At a young age, Araceli managed to find escape and solace through art, and soon found it to be a necessity once her parents separated and she became the sudden breadwinner.

Seeing her advanced skills in drawing, Cely's father enrolled her at the Santa Rosa College in Intramuros, where she was the only child among adults in class.

Her prodigious skills caught the attention of then-Dean and National Artist Fernando Amorsolo, who admitted her at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts.

While she started with portraits, a vast majority of her works used still life by infusing inanimate objects with the subject of realism.

Her favorite objects were ones usually found in her own garden - flowers, dry leaves, rakes, brooms, wire hangers, and cardboard boxes - which usually depicted Filipino life in poverty.

Cheloy also experimented with paper clay sculpture, culminating in a 2016 exhibit called "Ang Mundo ni Inay".

Calado is a traditional Filipino open thread pattern woven from pineapple fiber, usually used for making the barong tagalog.