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By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

health through art

Red Deer artist launches colouring book to help with mental health

Aug 5, 2022 | 9:40 AM

A Red Deer artist is using her talents to help others through their mental health journeys, much like it helped her come out on the other side of her own.

Nicole Raffa, 38, recently launched an adult colouring book, which heavily features a variety of mandalas — a pattern which she says mimics, “the sacred geometry around us.”

Raffa experienced her own traumas when younger, and used drawing and colouring herself to deal with the Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

“My symptoms lay hidden for almost 20 years until I started having flashbacks. Luckily, I was already creating mandalas and completely immersed myself in creating them for nearly two years,” she shares.

“Mandalas can be traced back thousands of years in art and architecture, to China and India. Traditionally, mandalas have been used as tools of visual meditation, inducing trace states and as sacred art.”

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Raffa hopes the book helps others find peace from the turmoil in their life. She says each page also includes a written affirmation designed to help mood.

“Art therapy and affirmations have been so helpful for me in my personal development. While they aren’t a magic bullet by themselves, I believe art therapy to be a valuable piece of the puzzle,” she says.

“Another way I hope to help others with this colouring book is by donating one book for every one book sold. They will be donated to children experiencing mental or physical illness. I hope to collaborate with the Ronald McDonald House and the Stollery Children’s Hospital in the future as well.”

To obtain a copy, visit raffasmadness.com.