Coloring My Way to Peace of Mind: How a Childhood Pastime Helped Me Adjust to Life After Cancer

Mere color, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.--Oscar Wilde


   It's funny but while going through chemo for Stage II A Breast Cancer the last thing I wanted was to look at something ugly. This sentiment was reflected in my daily appearance, especially when I had doctor's appointments and other medical visits. Part defense mechanism, part sartorial expression my style helped me cope with my changing health and lifestyle. One of my favorite outfits-a pink tweed Chanel-esque blazer over a white ruffled trim shirt and frilly multi-tiered skirt-was made even more memorable with a pink knit cap and orange flower pin attached to my lapel. During my six hour visits, to the chemo suit, I tried to relax and daydream amidst the harsh battle that was going on inside my body. In that short period, my mind flowed from words, in the latest book I was reading to glossy photos of the season's trends and supermodels. Later, after my treatment ended, I discovered I still craved constant beauty. With my digital camera I rediscovered the "naturehood in my neighborhood" and photographed every flower, tree and sunset that caught my eye.
   "How can I immerse myself in all of this eye candy and stay awhile?" I wondered to myself as I shot frame after frame of lush wonder.
    The day I discovered adult coloring I got my answer.

White Roses on Chesapeake Avenue

What I Love About Coloring

   The first pages I ever colored were free Xerox copies of floral and leaf bedecked dresses from one of my favorite coloring books, Creative Haven's Flower Fashion Fantasies by Ming-Ju Sun. Peaceful and calming, they were a pleasant diversion from the first job I'd held since my cancer diagnosis, as a Special Education Trainee Assistant Substitute for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). As I became more adept at my new hobby, however, I realized I could use it to help the Special Ed students I was assigned to. A teacher, for one of my Kindergarten students at Beethoven Elementary School,often asked me to help him color correctly to improve his fine motor skills. First he'd retrace over the straight and slanted lines I drew with yellow highlighter, then he'd progress to the alphabet, his name, numbers one to ten, and finally coloring a picture the teacher had given the class to do. 

   Personally I soon developed better composition techniques, design tactics, and an improved eye for subtlety, which helped me last summer when I took FASHN 9A, a fashion illustration class, at Santa Monica College. The therapeutic aspect, including "complete absorption in a project", is another reason I enjoy doing this activity alone and sharing it with students and others.

My First Coloring Page from Flower Fashion Fantasies

The Coloring Contest

It takes reality pedagogy and pedagogical strategies birthed from neoindigenous practices like the battle to bring their voices to the fore and allow their brilliance to flourish.--Christopher Emdin

   My chance to use coloring came up again when I did my one-month assignment at 74th Street Elementary School in another Resource classroom. An assigned group of students came for their appointed time, but after a few minutes we ran out of things to do academically, leaving them restless and tired. I'd printed out some free educational coloring pages, Animals from the Ice Age, from Dover Publications and gave them to the Resource teacher. The mail-order catalog said they were an excellent way for students to learn about a new subject while coloring, whether you used them for home schooling or as part of a class curriculum.

  "Do you want to work on these?" I asked them.

  They immediately agreed to do them and one student even proposed having a Coloring Contest where I selected the best picture at the end. Fortunately we had a tie because everyone did a phenomenal job and the reward was in the creative output.

Coloring Pages I've Created

   Recently, at the end of my time at Baldwin Hills Elementary School, I ran into a similar scenario when a substitute in a class I was one-on-one in became overwhelmed by a roomful of bored, hyper students. Keyed up because of a Christmas show we were putting on, I suggested giving them some coloring sheets to do. Since I worked with a Special Needs student in a fifth grade class of 30, I always kept a folder full of coloring and other activity pages on our work shelf. When I showed the sub the pages from the Snoopy Christmas Coloring Book I'd brought to use with my student, and asked her if she wanted me to copy one for the class, she said, "Yes," after choosing the one that also required decorating a Christmas tree.

   "We're going to have a Coloring Contest," she said. "After we've all finished we'll vote for the winner."

    I wish I could say I won, but when all of the entrants were laid out, one of the more talented colorists did.

Coloring Page from the Tranquil Trees Coloring Book

Color can have a huge effect on whatever you're creating."--Carey Jolliffe

   A Hue By Any Other Shade

   Depending on my mood I usually select pages that will feature hues I'm feeling at the moment. For the picture I colored for this blog, from The Tranquil Trees Coloring Book, I followed my usual procedure of selecting a photo to reproduce. Vogue magazine's October 2015 layout Interior Lives was the basis for my palette, and the Peter Pilotto dress and Derek Lam ankle boots, my inspiration. In the photo, Saturated Solution, the caption describes how the off-white dress accented with pink, orange, green and cream "arts-and-crafts embroidery" contrasts effectively against the "forest green" and "Santa Red" interiors.

   From my box of Crayola Crayons I selected green, yellow-green, vert olive, spring green, sea green, and granny smith apple for the leaves at the top of the tree, and brown, tan, chestnut, burnt sienna and tumbleweed for the bark and roots. Lastly I threw in red, orange and blue to fully replicate Pilotto's embroidery.

Monochromatic Magic Contest Entry

Color It Pink

Nothing can steal my joy.--Sarah Ranae Clark 

   For the Dover Publications' Monochromatic Magic coloring contest I chose pink for my entry, a long dress from Flower Fashion Fantasies, because it represents breast cancer awareness. Even though it's always been my favorite color, my illness gave it added significance. Everything came back to me-hospital stays, chemo, labs, etc.,-as I worked on it while sitting on the front steps of 42nd Street Elementary School (the school I was subbing at then) with my colored pencils and crayons.

Breast Cancer Awareness Day Collage

   In October 2016, at Baldwin Hills Elementary School, they decided to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness Day instead of Halloween, so they asked everyone to show solidarity and wear pink. I wanted to also celebrate a new chapter in my recovery, so instead of wearing something I already owned I went to Target and bought a lovely orange and pink print blouse and denim Mossimo jeans from the Sale rack. Topping it off with my pink Chanel-esque jacket then accessorizing the blouse with my pink Breast Cancer ribbon scarf I approached the day with as much brightness as one of my coloring pages and with renewed hope for my future.

Adult Coloring Books:

1. Creative Haven's Flower Fashion Fantasies (www.doverpublications.com)
2. Vive Le Color JAPAN (www.lacma.org)
3. ESCAPES: (Various Titles include: Joyful Gardens, Fashion Art, Collage, Mosaics) (www.doverpublications.com) and (www.amazon.com)
4. Keep Calm and Color: Tranquil Trees (www.doverpublications.com)
5. Color Therapy: An Anti-Stress Coloring Book
6. Cancer Treatment Coloring Book: Color Your Way to Health (created by cancer survivor Julie Carmen. Ideal for those going through chemo and other treatments and therapies.
7. Coloring Through Cancer: An Adult Coloring Book with 30 Positive Affirmations to Encourage Cancer Survivors, by Sarah Ranae Clark
8. I AM A CANCER Warrior: An Adult Coloring Book for Encouragement, Strength and Positive Vibes, 20 Powerful Mantras To Color (Courageous Coloring)

Coloring Tools:

   I found most of my "coloring tools" at Target and through www.amazon.com, but you can also find them at grocery and drug stores if coloring books are available.

1. Crayola Crayons (48) Preferred by Teachers!
2. Crayola Colored Pencils Built-in Sharpener (64) Preferred by Teachers?
3. Multicolored Pencils (www.lacma.org) LACMA Gift Shop
4. Crayola Fine Line Markers (40 Vibrant Colors)
5. Prisma Color Premier Colored Pencils (72)