An artful therapy.
It’s a ‘thing’ these days. Colouring books for us grown ups. Some of you, my dear friends, have had to tear yourself away from the colouring books and pencil crayons just to get anything done today. And that’s a good thing.
As Crystal Salamon tells me, adult colouring books provide a bit of a break from our busy lives; an artful therapy of sorts. In fact, her hot-off-the-press colouring book called Awakening:Artful Colouring, published last month by Canadian printers Houghton-Boston, is much more than just a colouring book.
Colouring book with impact.
The knock came at the front door. And there, on Crystal’s porch, stood a couple who had been following the creation of Crystal’s colouring book online. When they heard it had been published, they had traveled over an hour, to come and meet her.
This trip was a promise that the husband had made to his terminally ill wife, that they would go and personally pick up a copy of the colouring book as it is through colouring that this woman finds peace and deals with her chronic pain. Wow. Talk about a colouring book with impact.
Doodles turn into something more.
Crystal, who has a degree in Art and Design, has always found herself immersed in creating art and sharing her passion for creating with others. The mom of two wee boys lives but a stone’s throw from me in Turner Valley, a town about 60 km southwest of Calgary, and teaches art classes.
A doodler extraordinaire, it was in the Spring of 2015 when the idea to turn some of her drawings into a colouring book for adults started to take root. She admits her family and friends thought she was a bit crazy, as the concept of colouring books for grown ups hadn’t quite gained popularity in North America yet.
Suggestions on what colouring tools to use.
Fast forward to September and the demand for her colouring books has exploded. She is averaging 1000 orders per week. I think she may need to find some elves to help with the Christmas rush!
If you are new to the concept of colouring for adults, Crystal recommends starting out with Prismacolor Scholar Pencil Crayons, her favorite for beginners for price point and quality. If you want to splurge or gift someone some colouring tools, she suggests Faber-Castell Poly Chromos pencils or ultra fine sharpies.
If you are in the Calgary area you can find her colouring books at Kensington Art Supply, Yogadotcalm, and Heritage Park.
Of course, she loves mailing out her colouring books to folks all over the globe too. The price of the colouring book is twenty dollars plus tax and shipping and you can order here.
This kind of books are successful also in Spain (I have seen some in Morocco, but I don’t think they are massively sold here). Do you know there is also a postcard version? http://mailadventures.blogspot.com/2015/10/pink-house.html
What a great idea Eva!A postcard version for the colouring book. I don’t believe there is one at the moment, but will pass along the idea to Crystal. Have a great day.
Hi Barb, I just had to spend a little more time walking around your site! Love these ‘colouring books’. I have a daughter who is a freshman in college and I recently bought one of these books for her to help her take a break from her studies, relax and de-stress for a bit. There is something very therapeutic about spending time colouring.
Have a fantastic day!
Lynn
Hi Lynn, Thank you so much for taking the time to explore my little corner of the blogosphere! I love your idea about sending one to your college age daughter. I will have to keep this in mind next year, when my daughter heads off too.