Color Me Happy
Monongahela Area Library director Tiffany Fleet gives a brief introduction about adult coloring books to a room full of adults and teens at the library’s first Color Me Happy Hour in January.
Diane McGrew of Belle Vernon uses crayons and colored pencils as she works on a “cosmic” mandala.
Peg Jackson of Monongahela, right, colors as Monongahela Area Library director Tiffany Fleet, second from left, talks with Karen Burton of Monongahela, left, and Barbara Clegg of Monongahela about the variety of colored pencils.
Diane McGrew of Belle Vernon shows off the progress she made coloring a mandala during Monongahela Area Library’s Color Me Happy Hour.
Sierra Burton of Monongahela, 13, accompanied her mother, Karen Burton, and her sister, Ashley Farkas, to the Color Me Happy Hour.
Gel-tip pens are among the coloring tools that Tiffany Fleet, director of Monongahela Area Library, provides during the library’s Color Me Happy Hour.
MONONGAHELA – Adult coloring books are among the hottest trends these days, and their popularity is showing no signs of cooling off any time soon.
The proof not only is in the percentage of them on best-selling book lists, but also in the number of social coloring circles that are popping up at libraries and churches, with some enthusiasts even hosting coloring parties in their homes.
Tiffany Fleet, director of Monongahela Area Library, decided – after several requests – to begin offering a weekly Color Me Happy Hour in January. She was cautiously optimistic about the turnout. But after the first session, she was downright thrilled.
Eleven people – ranging in age from 13 to 80 – slowly trickled in, stopping briefly to read the sign on the door leading to the activity room: “This is a stress-free coloring zone.”
“Awe, I’ll be here every Tuesday,” Karen Burton, 47, of Monongahela said – even before coloring began.
Some “artists” came solo, others brought a friend or family member. By the end of the evening, all were sharing stories and coloring tips.
“It’s something different. I like leaving all the stress at the door,” said Burton, who brought her daughters, Sierra Burton, 13, and Ashley Farkas, 22.
The genre started to take off in the United States in 2013, two years after Scottish freelance illustrator Johanna Basford was approached by a small UK publishing house to produce a coloring book. The result was “Secret Garden,” a complex, hand-drawn coloring book initially marketed for older children.
But then adults started buying the book, and sales soared. “Secret Garden,” along with Basford’s “Enchanted Forest,” have been the biggest best-sellers, with a combined 13.5 million copies sold in 50 countries.
A spot-check of Amazon’s best-seller list last week included as many as six adult coloring books in its top 20 slots, such as “Creative Cats,” “Doctor Who Coloring Book” and “Adult Coloring Book: Stress Relieving Patterns.” And according to Publishers’ Weekly, coloring books occupied one-third of the 15 best-selling trade paperbacks last week, with Basford’s “Lost Ocean” leading the pack at No. 3.
Fleet said she turned to coloring books during finals week in college, calling it her “chill-out” time.
“It’s relaxing. It’s fun for me,” said Fleet, adding that it definitely helps reduce the stress of a 45-minute drive to and from her home in Fairchance each day.
There are other theories as well behind coloring’s popularity among adults. Some consider it art therapy; others compare it to yoga or meditation. Some merely like its portability compared to other crafty ventures.
Diane McGrew, 70, of Belle Vernon, is new to the “art,” opting to give it a try after reading an article in July in Parade Magazine called “50 Shades of Happy: The New Joy of Coloring.”
“I thought, ‘This is nuts,'” McGrew said.
But since she had a bit more time on her hands after getting rid of her computer when she retired, McGrew gave it try – and she has become quite smitten with it.
“I thought, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’ But it is very relaxing,” she said. “There is too much stress in everybody’s life, and this is taking off the stress.
“There are no rules. I can sit down any time I want and use any color I want.”
Besides, when she first started, it brought back some fond memories.
“I started to think how old was I when I started to color,” McGrew said. “Then I remembered how I colored with my daughter.”
Although McGrew’s primary design of choice has been mandalas – “I needed something cosmic,” she said – there are myriad alternatives, such as paisleys, botanicals, animals, cats, dogs and elephants. There also are themed books, including “Harry Potter,” “Game of Thrones” and “Sherlock,” along with inspirational and Bible-themed books.
In fact, two Lancaster County moms, Trinity Natay and Amber Rothermel, are creating a series for pregnant women and new moms. Their first coloring book, “Bringing Baby Earthside: A Birth Affirmations Coloring Book,” was published by their small company, The Art of Birth, in October 2015, and its initial run of 60 copies sold out in 24 hours. Since then, the pair have been selling up to 30 books a week to women across the globe, including Austria, Australia, New Zealand and Germany.
Rothermel told LNP in December the coloring book provides positive messages about birth that appeal to women everywhere. “It’s about saying, ‘I’m strong enough to do this. I’m capable of doing this,'” said Rothermel, a doula and mother of three boys.
Natay and Rothermel are already working on their second coloring book, “Nourishing Baby,” and they are generating ideas for a third coloring book about infant loss and Caesarean birth.
For the Color Me Happy Hour in Monongahela, Fleet provided pages from Steampunk Fashions, a coloring book from the Creative Haven Coloring Books series by graphic artist Marty Noble, which piqued her interest thanks to a steampunk book series at the library.
“It’s about teaching women how to be ladies while carrying weapons,” Fleet said.
Fleet also provided artists with an assortment of crayons, colored pencils and gel-tip pens. However, she, along with McGrew, prefer working with colored pencils.
“Mistakes can be erased,” said McGrew, noting that she has a slight tremor in her left hand that sometimes affects her coloring ability.
But as Fleet pointed out, courtesy of Bob Ross, a painter, art instructor and television host who was best known as the creator and host of “The Joy of Painting” on PBS in the mid-1980s to mid-90s, “There are no mistakes, just happy accidents.”
McGrew encouraged her friend, Barb Raymond, 80, of New Eagle, to join the class. Raymond chose a design with a young girl that reminds her of her granddaughter.
“To me, it’s like bringing back memories,” said Raymond, who plans to frame the finished work of art and give it to her great-granddaughter as a baby gift.
Friends Peg Jackson, 79, and Barbara Clegg, both of Monongahela, also attended the Color Me Happy Hour, and their selections were based on their experience.
Since it was Jackson’s first time, she picked the easiest design: a simple swan.
“I’m the least crafty person. That’s why I read,” she joked. “I thought coloring would be a thing to do. My cousin just loves doing it.”
Meanwhile, Clegg, who has taken care of children most of her life and colors with her grandchildren, selected a more intricate design depicting cats. Like Jackson, Clegg plans to frame it and give it to her sister as a gift – that is, if she completes it.
“I don’t know where to go with the bodies,” she laughed as she stared at the half-finished page.
In addition to Monongahela library, Paris Presbyterian Church offers coloring sessions twice a month at The Gathering Place; South Fayette Township Library offers them once a week; and Heritage Public Library in McDonald and Frank Sarris Public Library in Canonsburg both hold a session once a month.