THE hands of a young artist known as “Chinny,” and her undying passion for the arts continue to inspire others with the strokes and colors she paints. They mean miles and miles of personal history and her journey as an artist continuously creating.
Frances Xavier “Chinny” Retiro had her earlier years spent with a brush in one hand and various colors of tubes of paint in the other. Pencils, pens, and paper interested her most as a child. Everything turned into a canvas with the curious and brave imagination of Chinny.
Her passion for the arts dwells deep in her core, as her interests and abilities support this fervor she has for the field.
Chinny is a graduating junior high school student as a Visual Arts major at the Iloilo National High School-School for the Arts. The older she got, more avenues became available for her to have as a canvas. When she has spare time, this 17-year-old artist enjoys drawing not only on her physical sketchbooks but also in digital mediums available on her phone, tablet, or laptop.
But there’s more to Chinny. She also has a knack for music and singing. When she was in grade school, she mastered playing the violin, too.
It would surprise you, but her interests go on further. She has a heart for other forms of crafts as well. Knitting and fishing were also her favorite activities when she was younger.
At the age of two, this Ilongga painter started sketching and drawing with pencils and crayons.
Who inspires Chinny to paint?
“It was pretty much a child’s game for me and my two sisters because our father, who is an artist, freely allowed us to use his art materials,” she said, adding that her father has a big influence on her love for the visual arts.
With her forever in-house mentor, her dad, Atty. Raul Retiro. In the background is a painting of her late paternal grandmother. 
Shirt painting with siblings.
Chinny started sketching and drawing with pencils and crayons when she was two years old. At four, she tries painting. She was eight when she began using mediums like oil, watercolor, and acrylic in her works.
When she was eight, Chinny was drawing more often in preschool, although she had preferred playing (with her friends) than painting then.
As time passed, Chinny started using other mediums like oil, watercolor, and acrylic in painting people, especially portraits or full body figures.
“To be honest, though, I don’t exactly know who or what inspires me each time I draw or paint. It has always been like that since the beginning. An inner urge just prods or pushes me to keep on drawing. However, these days as I discover and review the works of many amazing artists on the internet, I get more inspired,” she shared.
From a mother’s perspective
According to her mother, she attended school at Assumption Iloilo and Iloilo Montessori (International) School but went to Gamot Cogon Waldorf School for her primary and grade school.
The latter – a school whose curriculum was mainly experiential learning – was where Chinny’s creativity was honed.
“But really it must be in her genes,” her mother shared.
If all her sketches, paintings, and digital works are combined, it will count to about over 50.
Chinny’s favorite artwork
Out of all the vast and numerous works she had, Chinny’s favorite is the digital piece she created of Jeon Jung-kook, better known as Jungkook, a South Korean singer/vocalist and songwriter of the South Korean boy band, BTS.
A tribute to frontliners
During her recent recital, she painted a unique collaboration of physicians’ painting.
According to her, the said art production is the concluding part of her thesis proposal, “The Emergence of Art Therapy Among Ilonggo Physicians.”
“The physicians shown in my latest artwork are colleagues of my mom. They are visual artists themselves and are members of the group, After Clinic Rx. I wanted to showcase their innate talents and their beautiful creations,” Chinny said.
It is also her way of paying tribute to these frontliners, who risked their lives during this health pandemic. Her work mainly depicts the bustling life of physicians.
“Despite the busy schedules doctors have, art still has a room in their lives. A solid proof that science and art can truly merge,” she added.
Future plans
As a budding artist, Chinny wanted to explore mediums she never tried, like animation. As she slowly creeps out of her comfort zone, she desires to venture into environmental arts with subjects like building with a cool perspective and storytelling art in a single illustration.
A wonderful painting of Moraine Lake in Alberta, Canada. 
A styro relief work – Queen Nef.
To her fellow aspiring artists, Chinny says: “Create what your heart dictates. Draw and paint what you want, no matter the subject or style. Practice more. Have lots of patience. Be dedicated, devoted, and passionate in your work.”
This young artist ventures the world, garnering more and more experiences by the day. To paint is to tell a story. She will create more stories, and as the world grows, the more she can paint on it and paint about it. Thus, is the story of the young artist Chinny in her constant and fearless exploration and discoveries, etching her canvases with strokes to mark these memories./PN
