Nohely Sepúlveda...¡Qué Cojines!

isabellariv
Feb 28, 2019
4 min read

Updated: May 27, 2021

February came and went by FAST, but we still got the latest tea ☕️ on her hand-made decorative art that's making internationally news.

Nohely Sepúlveda, founder and artist of ¡Qué Cojines!

The literal translation (for our non-Spanish readers) of the Puerto Rican original ¡Qué Cojines! brand means: WHAT PILLOWS!

P.S. It sounds better in Spanish.

Born and raised in the west coast of Puerto Rico, Nohely Sepúlveda quickly found her calling during her undergrad years through her passion for art and painting. The now twenty-three year old "Mayagüezana" graduate student is sharing her story and struggles from day one and how she turned a chaotic situation into a thriving opportunity to help out her own people on the island post hurricane María in 2017.

This young artist and entrepreneur loved working with acrylic painting on canvas' from a younger age. Her passion for art was a force, as she described, that she could not have reckoned with. It was simply her path in life, and she knew for a fact that she would be happy to thrive in this career path against all odds. She loves to embody great art genius' like Mondrain and Picasso, art movements such as Impressionism and Abstract that primarily envisioned and influences her art now.

What inspired your current art decor?

"During art classes, my professors tried to limit me into bland assignments and that set me off. It made me realize I could do more and think outside the "box". So I pushed myself by creating something new and fresh. This is my new norm, always aspiring for uniqueness within my art.

Nohely continues to tell her story and moves on to how 2017 Hurricane María changed her and her business forever. The hurricane came and she found herself dog-sitting her sister's pet all alone in an apartment in San Juan far from family. She used the following chaotic days to paint and try to find tranquility within the havoc that reigned the island. After a few weeks, ¡Qué Cojines! like many businesses in Puerto Rico were in total angst. She started in 2015 with the help of her long-time friend Domingo Ríos, and now she was facing one of the worst economic downfalls, unstable, and haywire times that could end ¡Qué Cojines!. What happened next is part of her inspiring journey that gave her a stepping stone she did not expect.

Because of her"pure hearted soul" as many describe her, Nohely turned the tables and chose to do good in devastating times. She surprisingly had a few orders (post María) around the Metro Area that she was working on. Currently, it had not been more than a month since the hurricane hit Puerto Rico but she decided she wanted to do something to help her own community. Thinking that even with her art, maybe she could make an impact. So, before delivering these last orders she had pending, she thought of an idea to generously donate 10% of all ¡Qué Cojines! orders to the Ricky Martín Foundation.

(The Ricky Martín Foundation was helping Puerto Rico with critical first necessities and supplies to reestablish normalcy after the worst natural catastrophe that has ever passed through the island.)

With one instagram post and one good deed, Nohely rapidly had clients from all over Puerto Rico ordering to support the cause. Two days later ENDI, "Lo Se Todo", and other news outlets contacted and invited her on interviews to spread the word on her donation and her art. Thanks to this incredible exposure, she had people from Arizona, Nueva York, Florida, Texas, Virginia and even Spain clients ordering ¡Qué Cojines! pillows. Her small share into helping others came a long way for her business and her name as a young emerging artist. She states that she just wanted to help out, she had no idea how big (and how much good) it was going to impact overall but it was definitely much appreciated.

So how does she do it?

It takes Nohely a day in a half and sometimes even more to finish from scratch her hand-painted pillow art. Starting her day at 7:00am, she prepares coffee and starts organizing her clients detailed orders. She considers herself a perfectionist and always pursues to find the right fabric for the best quality. After cutting the fabric, the process continues with sketching and drawing the design to further begin painting the fabric and later varnishes for almost an entire day to properly seal the paint. At first, she spent approximately 45 min just sewing her first orders. Nohely Sepúlveda tells Auténtix that she learned to sew herself, a skill that definitely payed off later on. So now, stuffing and sewing together all four sides of the pillow are the final steps into her custom made, hand-painted decor masterpiece.

Some advice from Nohely:

Every and any artist, no matter how old, how difficult times may be or how many people are waiting for you to fail, defy it all. She found herself proving her parents (and many others) wrong when she started to quickly rise with her business in hand-painted pillow decor. One of her main influence with her art is also to show the community that art IS an important element on a daily basis in life. It is imperative to prosper more exposure to the appreciation it deserves whether it is in decorative art, performance or fine art.

What's Next ?

She would love to live in Spain one day and have her art recognized at a larger scale. Nohely's last thoughts goes to all her clients and supporters from the very first day. She's grateful for trusting in her, her product/artwork, and for continuing spreading the word on her business that has spiked in the recent years. She gives out a very special thanks to Nómada Boutique for giving her the first local big boom in selling ¡Qué Cojines! commercially. Excited to evolve and expand the brand and her art, she is interested in making some innovative and new developments with ¡Qué Cojines¡ by experimenting with vynil and bringing more creative designs intro her art decor, and not just painting.