Manila Up Magazine – Connect! » CONNIE QUIRINO PAINTER

CONNIE QUIRINO PAINTER

Wednesday January 1, 2020

How does one stand out from a lineup of seven siblings? Or pave their own path out of an illustrious lineage filled with politicians and artists? What if your older sister is a former pageant titleholder, current pageant director, and your grandfather served as the 6th President of the Philippines for five and a half years? Well if you are Connie Quirino, you do so not in painting by numbers – but by coloring outside the lines.

Connie Quirino is the granddaughter of Philippine President Elpidio Quirino. She is one of seven children to Tomas Quirino and Nena Rastrollo – and is arguably the most artistically-blessed of the bunch. This is not said lightly given her Ate Cory Quirino is an accomplished author and television host. With a penchant for drawing ever since the age of seven, it was under the apprenticeship of famous impressionist artist Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (named a “National Artist” following the 2009 National Artist of the Philippines controversy) that her craft was honed and her own personal style began to emerge.

In her youth, the Apo Pidiong would draw portraits of prominent Ilocanos in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, as a means of earning while attending high school. Later in life, even while putting her artist career on hold in order to raise her four sons, her passion for painting never waned. After all, when one has inherited what can be attributed to a genetic talent, one does not simply give up on their dreams.

Eventually Connie was able to realize her artistic dreams after joining art workshops both in the Philippines and abroad, ultimately finding a home at L’Arc en Ciel Atelier and Gallery, owned by curator Elaine Herbosa. Here she found success within several group shows, and as such joined the ranks of senior artists.

Still, Connie wanted to expand the scope of her exposure after attending a workshop in Aix-en-Provence, France under the tutelage of Jill Steenhuis Ruffato – who mastered Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Cezannes’ impressionist style. This led her to advancing her artistic studies at the Art Students League in Manhattan, New York; a prestigious academy where some of America’s finest visual artists and professors would impart their knowledge and experience onto budding artists. She was privy to the likes of masters Harvey Dinnerstein, Marybeth Mckenzie, Robin Smith, Dan Gheno, Karen O’ Niel, Sharon Sprung, Gregg Kreutz, and Garin Baker to name a few – all of whom aided in honing her skills in portraiture.

Emerging as one of the country’s most promising portrait artists, Connie Quirino is now known for her sensitive strokes of realism laced with whimsical overtones, displaying her amazing talent on canvas. She is undoubtedly destined to make waves in the local Philippine art scene and beyond, as she prepares for her one-woman show coming in late 2020.