One of the biggest joys of my professional life is seeing first-time authors launch their books. It’s even more fun when they are friends whom I’ve known for a long time!

That’s certainly the case with today’s guest. I’m excited to share this conversation with Kelly Brinkmann, author of Art for the Soul: Growing Your Faith Through Creativity, which was published earlier this year.

Kelly is a faith-based working artist and writer. She studied studio art in painting and earned her B.A., equipping her to use creative thinking and problem-solving in various nonprofit and corporate leadership positions.

She serves as a writer, public speaker, and creative instructor in her community at her studio, Art & Souls Creative Studio, in Washington, Missouri. She also serves, learns, teaches, and mentors alongside women in her home church while starting her first term on the local school board in 2022.

You can learn more about Kelly on her writing and speaking website, KellyBrinkmann.com, and see her in her studio at ArtAndSouls.com. These sites offer her Scripture study tools, downloads of hand-drawn bookmarks, and a portfolio of handmade artwork as tangible tools and reminders of God’s never-ending grace and love.

Kelly and I first met when I was a professor at St. Louis Christian College, and I had the honor of handing over to her a course I taught called “Introduction to the Arts.” I knew students would be in good hands, and it has been a real honor to see Kelly write and publish her book since that time.

In this conversation, Kelly shares her process for writing Art for the Soul, as well as the items she baked into the book to make it more fun and reader-friendly. Kelly also shares a lot of fascinating details about her branding and book marketing.

You’ll want to take a lot of notes because Kelly has done an incredible job in putting together a first-class book, as well as her creative thinking and engaging marketing.