Husband-and-wife duo O’Brien and Nicola ‘Nikki’ Forbes run Nikki’s Trinkets, a handcrafted souvenir studio-cum-store at Ports of Call in Grace Bay, Providenciales, featured this week in the Weekly News series Brushstrokes & Beyond. This year marks eight years since both their wedding and the business launch.
Nikki handmakes every piece — jewellery, mugs, coasters and curios — from beach-found sand, sea fans, shells, driftwood and even construction debris, while O’Brien handles graphics and merchandise. The couple, old school friends from Freeport who reconnected after moving to their parents’ TCI homeland, started with a stall at the Bight Fish Fry, ran the business from their dining table during Covid, and bought artist Alex Skye’s Grace Bay studio three years ago when she returned to the Czech Republic. Visitors can also make their own souvenir, enjoy a local drink, hear rake ‘n’ scrape and learn about TCI culture. "Every piece of art is unique, just like us," Nikki says.
Beyond the store, the pair hosts ‘paint and play’ sessions in schools and art-based team-building and stress-relief sessions for companies, and they perform live painting at banquets, weddings and award shows. They see TCI’s creative scene as thriving, using island-specific materials to tell each island’s distinct cultural story.