Colouring for grownups

On Christmas Day, 2001, one of the presents Brian gave me was a book of mandalas for colouring. He wasn't sure whether or not I'd like it; he thought he was really taking a chance buying me this gift. I, however, squealed with delight, as I had always loved colouring as a child, and as my oldest friends will recall, I prolifically coloured those posters you can get at craft stores and decorated my room with them in junior high. In college, I found a really cool Unicorn colouring book that me and my bff/sisterfriend Michelle took turns doing.

I started colouring in the mandala book on 12/31/01 and did one page a week till the book was done. I use coloured pencils, markers, glitter glue, water colours, oil pastels, acrylic paint, glittery gel pens, rhinestones...whatever the piece calls for. I always say that I don't colour the designs, they colour themselves. I try to do one per week, that way it stretches out the experience and I don't blow through all of the books too quickly. I also take them with me on vacation and note the date and place where the picture was done.

Since then, I have acquired nearly all of the mandala colouring books available through Mandala Connections in Montana. These include: Tibetan, Native American, Peace, Power, Everyone's Mandalas Volumes 1-3. I am currently working on Keltish Mandalas, and I have one of Asian designs as well. I've also coloured a snowflake book (given to me by Michelle) and one of dragons.

Here are pictures of some of the pages from the 10 different books I've worked on over the past few years. Some of them scanned kind of crooked or cut off.

(This next one's for my British friends in honour of St. George's Day).I started this one in Vancouver, BC and finished it when I got home the next day.