To Relieve Stress Try Coloring!

I’ve been noticing a new trend lately that keeps growing by the minute.  Adult coloring books.  Seen on the shelves of my local art store, JoAnn’s Fabric store, Target, Amazon, there are dozens of titles suddenly appearing everywhere.

So what is driving this trend?  According to artist/blogger Joan Beiriger, publishers such as Dover Publications began marketing their coloring books by pointing out that coloring has therapeutic value.  Joan’s blog post led me to another blog, Quartz to read more about coloring in its post, “Color Me Happy”.  It says and I quote here:

“Many adult colorists have latched onto the idea that coloring promotes mindfulness, and can help reduce stress. They are right, judging by the latest expert thinking. Though there aren’t studies specifically on the benefits of adult coloring, play is important for both adults and children. Coloring can act as a de-stressor, art therapist Saba Harouni tells Quartz.

These coloring books can act as a reset button for adults who are moving too quickly from one responsibility to the next, or trying to do them all at once. The repetitive motion of coloring can be both cathartic and meditative, and you can focus on filling in the lines on the page. “You’re giving your brain some some space and something to focus on that’s meditative, that’s containing,” Harouni says.”

So, it’s not surprising that artists see this as another opportunity to find ways to put their art out there and have it be interactive with consumers.  Spread the joy!  My good friend Debra Valencia just released three wonderful adult coloring books on Amazon.com and is working on several more for later release.  They feature some of her signature patterns that she has successfully licensed to a multitude of surface design applications.

New Great Arrow Cards!

Great Arrow Graphics, the greeting card company that makes every card by hand using traditional silkscreen methods sent to me a box of my latest designs. It’s always exciting to see the finished products and hold them in my hands.  I think they look great, feel great and even have a lovely smell of fresh ink!  Let me know what you think and leave a comment.  I will choose at random, three people and they will receive a nice sampler gift package of my cards.  Not just the ones you see here but for other occasions as well!

Please Vote for my Flying Machines Contest Design, “Race To The Clouds”.

This is a friendly reminder that the voting is still open at Spoonflower.com for the weekly fabric design contest.  This week’s theme is Flying Machines and I’ve entered my design, “Race to the Clouds”.  If you wish to vote, and I would be thrilled if you would add in your vote for “Race to the Clouds”. You can do so hereThe Spoonflower folks picked my design to be featured on on the contest post in their blog!!

It is the top row center, with the pink hot air balloons. Woo Hoo!

Artist Spotlight in Annie Troe’s Art Licensing Blog

I’m honored to appear on Annie Troe’s Art Licensing Blog, Artist Spotlight feature.  You can read it here.

Happy New Year 2015!

Thank you for reading my blog, a bit of a clumsy stumbling effort through the last year as I was trying to get the hang of using the software.  I’m still figuring it out, so I’m going to be patient with myself and keep moving forward.  I wish all of you joy, peace, health and prosperity in 2015, in your families, in your work and in your personal endeavors.  I did not mention yet that during the year I reconnected with a licensee that I lost contact with from a few years ago and I also  signed several new contracts with new companies.  I look forward to working with them to get them new art.  But mostly I want to continue to make more art that conveys the feeling of  innocence, wonder and joy of life that come out in my characters and designs. Art that people have said makes them feel happy.  To do that I must stay connected to the most important things that matter and have gratitude for those blessings.  Happy New Year!

© Teresa Woo-Murray

Deck Your Tech

My designs for electronic tech cases are now live and available for sale at Keka!  Keka Case Company of San Francisco/London features artwork from some of the top surface designers and Illustrators from around the world and I’m thrilled to join this talented group.  The company has a product development set up that lets the artists control how their designs are applied to their signature iPad, iPad Mini, Smartphone and Kindle Keka Cases and Snap On Cases.  Though it was a lot of work (190 sku’s), I’m very satisfied with the outcome.  This design (above) is called Bloom Pa Pa and can be seen here along with the other 9 designs.  Here are a few more of the designs below.

Please visit KekaCase.com!

Great Arrow Graphics

The folks over at Great Arrow Graphics, the fabulous greeting card company in Buffalo, New York, are busy cranking out their 2013 holiday cards.  Each card is lovingly silk-screened by hand and I consider them miniature works of art.  I was delighted to see this photo posted on Great Arrow’s Facebook Page inside of their packing room.  My snow owl greeting card from last year sold at Barnes and Noble and was also nominated for the Louie Greeting Card Award.  Nice to see that the little guy is back on the block for the holidays this year!

Terrarium trend of the 70’s is baaaack!

Going strong for a couple of years now is the terrarium trend.  Miniature gardens behind glass sitting on your coffee table were very popular in the 1970’s.  I recently visited the Descanso Gardens Sturt Haaga Gallery in La Canada, California to see the “Dangerous Beauties” exhibit featuring artwork and plants.

Part of the exhibit features examples from the plant world of the spiny, carnivorous and poisonous kind and terrariums!

I love the twisted pieces of wood and the insect eating Pitcher plant lurking in the back.

Miniature desert scene with skinny cacti I haven’t seen before.

Another one with cacti and a jade plant. I have both of these plants growing in my garden. The cacti looks like it almost has fur growing from it, but don’t dare touch it!!

Another one with nice twisted pieces of wood and moss.

Though I may not run out and buy a terrarium kit I want to point out how this trend translates to imagery on items we buy, such as greeting cards.

This cool greeting card design by Lindsey Chin-Jones on the Minted.com site caught my eye. Terrarium sticky notes from Up With Paper and

Terrarium diecut shaped cards from Blas Bleu.  I’m going to hit the drawing board soon and see what I can come up with.  Stay tuned!

Terrarium greeting card design by Lindsey Chin-Jones

Terrarium sticky notes by Up With Paper

Terrarium Shaped cards