A local artist is in on one of the latest artistic trends with her hand drawn colouring book for adults.

Crystal Salamon, an art instructor and mom of two from Turner Valley, has illustrated her own designs and compiled them into a book called Awakening Artful Colouring.

Salamon says there are a few things that differentiate her product from a child's colouring book.

"The main difference is that it's not cartoon characters and that sort of thing, it's a little more mature, but it's also more intricately detailed than most children's books," she says. "It's a trend that's really taken off all around the world and it's finally coming to North America so it's exciting to see it be more accepted as an artistic pursuit for adults."

According to Salamon, adult colouring books have been popular in the UK for a few years and the trend has moved across Europe, South Korea, and Australia.

Salamon says the concept of compiling a colouring book made sense to her.

"It was really cool when I heard about the idea of grown up colouring and how it actually can even help people health-wise through meditation and stress relief, so when I heard about that it seemed to be the perfect math," she says. "The style I already love to draw in doesn't take much to turn it into more of a colouring page and it also allows me to help people with my art."

Salamon says she has a dream of seeing her books on the shelves of Chapters and Indigo stores.

In mid-October, Awakening Artful Colouring books will be available at Paintworks Art Studios, Monkey Mountain Toys & Games, Home Ground Coffee, the Okotoks Art Gallery, and Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond. The book is also available to purchase through Salamon's website.

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