After a year of attempting to find a conventional publisher for my Flower Mandalas book (and, in the meantime, finding one for a coloring book based on that book, with mixed results), I've decided to "go rogue" and create my own imprint, Transformations Press.
A revised version of the Flower Mandalas book, retitled Paths to Wholeness: Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas is now available either from the printer (BookBaby) or from Amazon. It will also be available at other online retailers shortly, and eBook versions are in the works. I like the way both books turned out, and I hope my readers do, too.
Any sharing on email lists or social media that my friends and supporters can do is helpful in making this project visible during the Christmas season. Here are some links:
Just a quick note to let you know that the Pink Peony Flower Mandala used in Chapter 28, "Joy," of Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas is currently being displayed on 500 posters hung throughout Frankfurt, Germany, and on thousands of copies of the Old Opera House 2016/2017 season program.
I stumbled into coloring. Shortly after I completed a Kickstarter campaign for Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas: A Mediation, a friend suggested that I convert the images to illustrations and create a coloring book -- not for children, but for adults. Until then, I had never even heard of coloring books for adults. Now, months later, I see that it's a whole world, and with 52 Flower Mandalas: An Adult Coloring Book for Inspiration and Stress Relief, I've entered it. (Just in time for holiday shopping. Please tell your friends!)
One of the colorists who advised me on coloring books during the creation of 52 Flower Mandalashelped unravel the mystery for me. She wrote:
"Why color at all? Because it's PLAY. Because creativity renews the whole person and sparks other ideas not related to the coloring -- your mind has time to go into an almost meditative state. Because it's fun. Most kids love to color and hate giving it up. Go back to your inner kid and have fun. You might want to make a flower as realistic as possible, or you might choose a total fantasy version -- say in 60's tie dye colors. You might pay attention to the mandala form of each design -- how it can be used for meditation and focus. Or use coloring as a kind of therapy, because personal expression is therapeutic, helps stop rumination, relaxes. But mostly, coloring is about play and the love of color."
Image by colorist Sarah Blue
And then there's also this: "Maybe one has to be a bit of a rebel to color as an adult -- to take on that child-oriented activity again. Something magic happens when you color a design to your satisfaction. Here's something no one else in the world could do. I am an individual. I have a distinct view of the world and I express it here."
Image by colorist C.G. Lynee
Since this project began, I've started using coloring with some of my anxious clients. One told me she began in an angry mood and saw, in the design, what looked to her like a bull. She worked out her anger coloring the "bulls" and then saw another pattern that reminded her of a heart. Coloring those hearts, her own heart opened.
Just a note to let you know that something new is in the pipeline. It's the culmination of a collaboration with illustrator and book designer Emily Sper (http://www.blueirisdesign.com).
More details, and an invitation to participate in the process, coming soon.
I'm happy to announce that Fifty-Two Flower Mandalas is now represented by Stephany Evans, president of Fine Print Literary Management in New York. Thanks again for helping to kickstart this project!
