When Nichól Brinkman’s son Walter was a baby, she made a mobile to hang over his crib. She posted pictures of it on social media, and friends suggested that she make more mobiles and sell them online. But the mobiles that Brinkman created didn’t have typical baby elements hanging from them. She didn’t use stars and rainbows and unicorns.
Her mobiles were cool, made with ninjas and masked bandits and sumo wrestlers and women with beehive hairdos.
“People were really into my mobiles,” she said.
Those mobiles are what turned Brinkman into a full-time artist. She had always been creative, but it was the encouragement she received after making the mobiles that prompted her to leave her job at a museum, where she planned activities for children and adults with development disabilities.
Brinkman grew up in Illinois and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Memphis College of Art. She lived in Indiana while her husband, Joseph Holsapple, an assistant professor of art at Baylor University, was working on his Master of Fine Arts. Then for 12 years, their family lived in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where he taught at Nicholls State University. They moved to Waco during the summer of 2024.
During their time in Thibodaux, the family often visited New Orleans, which was about 60 miles away. The city inspired Brinkman’s work. She’s published two books: “The ABCs of New Orleans” and “The 123s of New Orleans.” And the vibe of New Orleans continues in her art.
“It felt like home,” she said. “It’s a very colorful place. The homes are wild colors, like yellow, pink and teal. It’s really easy to grow stuff there, so people’s gardens are out of control. All the nature and architecture and the culture, it’s just like no other.”
Brinkman said she’s inspired by the work of fiber artist Nick Cave; the author and illustrator Maurice Sendak; and Carson Ellis, who illustrates her own books as well.
Brinkman creates soft sculptures, drawings, silk screens, stickers and paintings. For most of her paintings, she uses gouache, a water-based paint “that is like acrylic, but it’s matte,” she said.
“It’s very opaque and flat, so you can put a light color on top of a dark color with just one layer. I like the finish. I think matte is really mysterious-looking. And I don’t do a lot of mixing. I just do a limited palette. So maybe I’ll do a three-color painting, but there won’t be any mixing involved. All the colors are flat and gouache is just really good for that.”
Brinkman uses her iPad to map out her paintings, and then will project them onto the canvas to paint.
“The most exciting part is the mapping it out, just doing different shapes, and figuring out a composition that snaps together,” she said.
Pink Cheeks Studio
Nichól Brinkman’s website and studio are called Pink Cheeks Studio. She came up with the name when her son Walter was a baby with chubby pink cheeks. Walter, who recently completed his freshman year at Midway High School, “is OK with the name,” Brinkman said. “He’s got a good attitude.”
Brinkman is married to Joseph Holsapple, who teaches drawing and 2D design in the art department at Baylor. In addition to Walter, they also have a daughter, Alice, who will be in middle school at Midway next year. Both kids are creative, Brinkman said. Walter is a writer, she explained, “and Alice does all sorts of things. She likes theater, she draws really well and she’s teaching herself the guitar. They’re both creatively-minded.”
