Designs to Color!

Normally, I just post my records.
But this is a special mention for Designs to Color!  This psychedelic, abstract coloring book was *THE ORIGINAL*, created in 1965 by my beloved aunt, Betty Schaffner.  She was an artistic pioneer, decades ahead of her time.

Coloring books with unusual subject matter are the current "zen" thing - but what you need to know is that the Betty Schaffner Designs to Color book was the first, created almost 50 years ago.  She knew she had created a phenomenon then, and now it's back in full force.

My aunt believed that everyone had innate creativity, and in a time where she felt traditional coloring books for children lacked imagination, she boldly created and published designs that could be decorated in a unique way. No two people color the designs the same.  Each design can be colored and interpreted differently, as many times as you like.  The possibilities are endless, when you color in one of the Designs to Color books. Six books were published in the late 1960s.

They are for people of any age, any gender, any ability, and any lifestyle to enjoy.  Use markers, crayons, watercolors, ink pens, or whatever you want to color the designs. No limits.  Open your mind...

And you know what else?  You can color within the lines --- or not!  Your choice. The lines are only a suggestion of where to take your thoughts.

My aunt Betty and these books were an enormous influence on my life and creativity.  I had the unique privilege of living with my aunt until her tragic death, and I am so happy to see that her spirit lives on with these magical designs.

Here is a link to the coloring books, available online:

http://www.tallfellow.com/default/tf-designs-to-color.html

You can also request them at your local bookstore or art supply store.

HAPPY COLORING!

Seen enough fences to last a lifetime.

For a fun change, I reverted to painting in my spontaneous, freewheeling style from a few years ago. I love the glossy black against the colors.  It gives me flashbacks of growing up in our Texas house, whose contents and appliances were lovingly painted with psychedelic designs by my beloved late Aunt Betty with her abstract designs in the 60s. What?  Didn't everyone have a refrigerator in their dining room painted with fluorescent pink and turquoise seaweed and anenome?

My aunt was a pioneer of innovative coloring books for children, and believed that people needed to keep their creativity alive in their leisure time, by avoiding the conventional and expected.  The usual coloring books of the day that kids spent time using were stifling to young minds (you know, before everything was electronic and made of plastic, and back when people used their HANDS + BRAINS to do and make things).  And she was totally right.

***BONUS FREEBIE: Here, have some of my Aunt Betty's printable coloring sheets for FREE!

Please remember that they are copyright protected and strictly for non-profit and non-commercial use.  Click the link to be taken to the Pinterest link to the DropBox folder. 

Betty Schaffner's Designs to Color.

This far-out record went to live in an incredible house in California.  It is comforting to know that it is surrounded by beautiful works of art and lovely people, so it will never be alone.