Charlie Frenal: ‘Promoting Filipino heritage through visual arts’

To be a well-known visual artist has always been the goal of Filipino-Canadian Charlie Frenal; this is what he envisioned for himself since he was four. 

His interest in art at that young age eventually grew into a passion — a passion that led him to the discovery of a new aspiration.

Fueling interest in art

Charlie discovered and started pursuing that goal back in his hometown in the Philippines. The eldest of eight siblings, he was born in Polomolok in South Cotabato to two public servants.

The love for art runs in their family as his siblings are also fond of drawings and paintings, and they have a grandmother and aunt who were artists as well. 

Although his grandmother and aunt became a big influence to him, Charlie’s interest in art was kindled when he received a simple appreciation from the students of his mother, who was a teacher then, for his illustration of a chicken life cycle that he drew on the blackboard for the class.

Recalling what transpired that day, Charlie narrated that some of the students noticed him scribbling on his mom’s lesson plan while he accompanied her in the class. The students encouraged the four-year-old Charlie to draw on the blackboard instead, and there he started drawing shapes; an egg that developed into embryo and finally grew into chicken.

“The whole class appreciated it a lot. From then on, my parents encouraged me to make more drawings.”

His parents’ encouragement became Charlie’s fuel in unleashing his artistic potential. Because of them, Charlie was brimmed with determination to sharpen his art skills and demonstrate it to a larger audience through joining competitions. His parents had always been there to cheer for their son whenever he competed in any art competition in school and other events since grade one.

To explore his own style of drawing and painting, Charlie taught himself how to use different art media. He started with watercolours and coloured pencils, then shifted to acrylic paints which he found very comfortable to use. 

He also took time to research and learn from artists that he admired the most and one of those is renowned Filipino artist Juan Luna.

“I was really inspired by his painting ‘Spoliarium,’ his style of brush strokes and colours, and most of all, the message of his piece.”

A new goal

Charlie went on honing his artistry while taking part in several competitions outside school. At this time, he was balancing these art contests and his studies as an Architecture major at the University of Mindanao.

His passion took him to a lot of art exhibitions where he was meant to find his new aspiration:

To promote Filipino heritage through visual arts.

He started pursuing this when he joined Metrobank Foundation’s Young Painters’ Annual National Competition in Pasay City in 1997 when he was 17 years old. Charlie became a semi-finalist for his painting, “Ang Mga Taga-Ilog,” where he featured Filipino tribal women washing clothes by the river. 

Charlie continued aiming for this goal even after his college graduation in 2001 and when he began his professional career.

A fresh graduate, Charlie worked as a draftsman for two years, which is a prerequisite to taking the Board of Architecture. When he passed the board and got his professional license in 2004, he became a professor in the College of Architecture at the Notre Dame of Marbel University, South Cotabato until 2007 and then worked as an architect on different building projects.  

Meanwhile, his lists of art exhibitions and accolades get longer.

In 2009, he participated in the GSIS Painting Competition Nationwide Exhibition in Pasay City where his artwork, “Sagip,” finished as one of the Top 10 finalists. The artwork sought to provide awareness in protecting and preserving the natural environment, while it featured the Filipino “Bayanihan” spirit.

This was his last exhibition before he left the Philippines in 2012.

Journey into exploring new opportunities

Charlie migrated with his wife, Jihan, and daughter, Czarina Reign, in May 2012 to Calgary, Alberta, where their youngest, Claude Brent, was born. They decided to fly to Canada to explore other opportunities for their family.

Moving to a new environment made the Frenal family excited and happy as they were able to learn a lot of new things. But this came with loads of adjustments, including adapting to a very cold winter, settling, and applying for jobs.

Adding to these obstacles was when they experienced being discriminated against because of their racial roots.

“To be honest, it is quite challenging to belong to a visible minority, but mutual respect, understanding and tolerance are all that matters.”

The new chapter of their lives may have started off quite rough, especially without any help from their family and friends, but the Frenal family was able to deal with the struggles with the help of their newfound friends “who are willing to support in so many ways.”

Charlie and Jihan started their career in Canada as an AutoCAD draftsperson for a steel manufacturing company and an early childhood educator, respectively.

In 2016, they moved to Kelowna, British Columbia, with Charlie working now as a mechanical engineering designer at AECOM Engineering, after finishing his Engineering Design Technology program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).

Despite the overwhelming adjustments in their new home, everything about Charlie as a Filipino still shows in his day-to-day life in Canada and in his artworks.

Promoting heritage continues

Charlie had back-to-back opportunities to promote his motherland’s rich culture through his art in Canadian society. This began when he joined the Generations Under the Sun: Celebrating Filipino Heritage in Canada exhibit at the Kamloops Art Gallery. 

The expo, which was held in 2019, became more special for Charlie because his daughter exhibited her own work as well. His artwork, “Ripple,” showed a family sailing the sea in a small boat, while Czarina’s painting, “Mag-ina,” featured a mother and a daughter hugging each other.

That event was followed by more cultural exhibitions until just in April, Charlie joined in the 2021 Annual International Mail-In Art Exhibition organized by the Federation of Canadian Artists (FCA) at the Federation Gallery in Vancouver.

His artwork, “New Day” or “Bagong Umaga” won him the top spot, besting dozens of other entries from different parts of the world. Through this artwork, which was inspired by the way of life of fishermen in the Philippines, Charlie hopes that whoever sees it will be reminded that every morning always brings a new beginning and new hope.

“I have joined numerous competitions from the past, but I can say that this is the most memorable one because apart from being a winner, it was a dream come true [for me] as an artist to be recognized internationally. I am also proud of bringing the honour to the Philippines and Canada, and finally, [giving] inspiration to other people.”

Until now, Charlie keeps on carrying out his goal, which will still be his plan in the future. 

Soon, more of his works promoting Filipino culture will be unveiled, with his masterpieces being the next ones to be featured at the Filipino Canadian Art Museum later this year. His preparation for the FCA’s juried exhibitions is also underway, following his participation in the Dimasalang lll International Artists group’s Plein Air 2021, an open-air painting held at Jericho Beach in Vancouver, British Columbia.