Mook in Color: Brincefield’s new website makes its debut
Published 12:10 am Saturday, October 29, 2022
Birthday artwork for Vivian Brincefield. First row, from left: Jim, Bill Sr., Ed, Joe. Second row: John, Bill Jr., Mike , Mark
Front row, from left: Ed, Vivian, Bill Sr., Joe. Back frow: Bill Jr., John, Mike, Mark, Jim
By Susan Shinn Turner
For the Salisbury Post
All of the seven Brincefield boys are talented in many different ways, but Mark?
Ah, Mark is a different breed, his brothers say.
For years, Mark has shared his fabulous watercolors with his extensive family and friends. Now, he’s about to share them with the world — the World Wide Web, that is.
With the help of his family, mookincolor.com has made its debut. Check out his body work over the past 30 years. Categories include Salisbury, Charlotte, Landscape, Farms, People, Still Life and Floral and Holidays.
The family is especially excited about Mark’s newest category of art: Colleges and Universities. He’s completed the entrance to Appalachian State University and The Old Well at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Plans are in the works to add iconic scenes from campuses including Catawba College, UNC-G and N.C. State. He’s also painting Kidd Brewer Stadium at App State.
Have a request? Let Mark know. You can purchase high-quality prints of these and other works from the website. You can also purchase the original college art pieces.
The family has led the charge on the website: Mark producing the artwork; his niece, Sallie Aceto, creating the website; and his three older brothers, Bill, 75, John, 73, and Mike, 70, being the lead investors.
“I’m just on the art end of it,” Mark notes. “I’m not so much motivated by money as I am painting a good picture.”
“Mark has always been such a talent,” says Mike, a Realtor. “I used his postcards for my advertising. His work was so unbelievable. He’s got all this artwork and he’s not one to go out and sell it. So we’ve been talking about this project for some time.”
Except for the college and university pieces, most of what you’ll see on the website has already been sold, although, as stated, you can purchase prints.
Folks who own the art loaned them to Bill — an amateur photographer — who meticulously unframed the art, photographed it in his home studio, and then reframed it and returned it to the owners. Talk about a labor of love.
Bill isn’t complaining.
“It gave me a chance to see so many things I didn’t know Mark ever painted,” he says.
All told, the brothers gathered more than 100 pieces for the website. The art goes back to 1992, and the last piece was completed in September, Mark says. He works predominately in watercolor.
When you click on each painting, a caption comes up, as well as ordering information.
“My brother Bill’s wife Lydia wrote the captions over some business lunches,” Mark says.
Sallie has a degree in graphic design and business from App State. She and her husband, Bill, live in Boone, and have two children, 5 and 3. She works on a limited freelance basis.
“My role was to find out how to get his collection online for people to buy,” she says. “We built mookincolor.com from scratch.”
A company named Artspan fulfills the orders.
“Once an order comes through, we see that, but Artspan does the printing, framing if desired, and mailing,” Sallie says.
She adds, “When you visit the home page, it’s amazing to see all of his talent right there on the screen.”
Mark’s love of music also translates to his art.
“I painted some wild pictures of these musicians so I could sling paint around and have fun,” he says. “These were my influences and heroes growing up.”
There are likenesses of jazz musicians Thelonious Monk and Dave Brubeck, and rock legends Dr. John, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
“I try to stay away from well-known musicians,” Mark says, “but I picked these because I’ve been a fan.”
The other thing you need to know about Mark: “I just did these for myself. I never intended to sell them.”
Of course, he did decide, and they sold quickly.
Mark has fans, too.
“My stepson is a music promoter in Charleston,” Mike says, “so he knows a lot of these guys. I’ve given them to him as gifts.”
“It was fun,” Mark notes of the series. “It was a different way of painting than I did before.”
Then it was time to move on.
He painted old barns around the county he knew wouldn’t be around much longer.
“There are really some good ones,” he says. “You just have to go looking for them. Some of them are gone since I painted them.”
Another new project is for Bill and Bill’s son, Andy, at their offices in Charlotte.
“I’m the only one who ever left Salisbury,” says Bill, who at 75 is the oldest brother.
There’s a 15-year age difference between Bill and Jim, 60. Ed is 62 and Mark is 65. Joe, who was two years younger than Mike, died two years ago of liver cancer. Another brother, Timothy Mark, died a few days after birth on Sept 10, 1956.
Fifteen years ago, Bill retired from the company he founded, Consolidated Planning, a financial planning company with offices in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. It is now the largest financial planning company in the Southeast, Bill says, with offices in more than 20 cities.
Mark has been tasked with creating a painting that represents North Carolina, and another patriotic piece — 48 inches by 48 inches, that will be hung at the end of a long hallway.
It’s to be an American flag, but with “Mook” touches.
“However he thinks his way through those things, they always come out great,” Bill says.
Why purchase original art?
“For us, our objective in business is to be the best we can be, and do a quality job for our clients,” Bill says.
That translates into showcasing quality local art.
“It says a lot about your company when you have original art,” Bill notes. “It makes you pretty unique. It’s a way of keeping this talent in the family. It’s nice to walk through our offices and see my brother’s artwork. Now there’s a chance to spread the word and let other people know.”
John gave his grandson Bo a watercolor of the youngster blocking a punt. He’s on the jayvee team at Salisbury High School.
“We spend every Thursday night at a ballgame,” John says.
Former Sen. Elizabeth Dole recently received the original watercolor illustration of her two miniature schnauzers, Leader and Blazer, which appears in the Holiday issue of Salisbury The Magazine to accompany her profile.
The website is also advertising in the Holiday issue of Salisbury the Magazine, a public launch of sorts.
His whole family is cheering him on.
“Mark is without a doubt the most talented Brincefield — probably ever,” Bill says. “He paints, he makes cartoons, and he plays guitar, banjo and keyboards.”
“He made his own banjo,” John adds. “He’s crazy talented.”
Bill’s earliest recollection of Mark’s creativity was when his brother made comic books in high school, painting each individual frame.
That’s where Mook, his alter ego, was born.
John says he’s often mistaken for his artist brother when someone hears his last name.
“We’re all immensely proud of Mark,” he says, “for all the things he’s done, and the talent he has.”
Mike acknowledges that he’s the brother who holds the rest of the family together. Their parents died within nine months of each other, Mr. Brincefield on July 25, 2008, and Mrs. Brincefield on April 30, 2009.
Bill, John and Mike — the three oldest — get together frequently for lunch, he says. “And I’m in contact with the younger brothers on a regular basis.”
He adds, “We want to set up Mark to be successful no matter what. He’s a different breed. He’s always been different — not in a negative way. Just extraordinary as far as his ability. We want to help him as much as we can.”
“I’ve seen his art for the past 38 years,” Sallie says. “Now we want to show it to the world. Mookincolor.com is ready for people to visit and browse and find something they love. We’ll continue to add new artwork as he completes projects and commissions. We’re excited about the university projects he’s working on, and we’re excited to be working together. It’s been an added bonus in that it’s brought our family closer together.”
About the artist
From mookincolor.com:
Art has been part of Mark’s life as far back as he can remember. He recalls drawing with crayons as his grandmother showed him how to mix red and yellow to get orange.
He has always drawn cartoons, first in grade school just for fun, then for the junior high school newspaper and today publishing editorial cartoons in the local newspaper.
Mark especially enjoys mixing colors in his watercolor paintings, and using different techniques to achieve his desired results.
A musician himself, Mark enjoys painting musicians whom he admires, usually depicting them as they play their instruments.
Nature often inspires his work, whether it’s a fall landscape or his cat sleeping on a chair. He is continually meeting the challenge of coming up with new ideas, perhaps just twisting the envelope a bit to add new excitement to a favorite subject.
About Post Lifestyles
Visit us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SalPostLifestyle/ and Twitter @postlifestlyes for more content
More by Post
