Monique Mandali

Monique Mandali always had an "instinct" for mandalas. Even as a child in Belgium she was fascinated by these circular designs found all over the world. The 22 designs in her first book emerged spontaneously during 10 days while living in a tent in Montana, USA, during the winter of 1977-78. "It was the most incredible creative process," she recalls. Wanting to share her mandala designs, she printed and collated several thousand books in 1978 and sold them all. Although her first book was a huge success, Monique decided to focus her energies on raising her young daughter, furthering her own educational interests, and therefore put her mandala venture on hold.

When in 1991 a series of events led her to reprint her mandala coloring book, Mandali Publishing was born. Given that a few First Edition copies from 1978 are still floating around, Everyone's Mandala Coloring Book, Vol. 1 has the unique distinction of being "The (grand)mother" of all mandala coloring books in print.

Responding to the popularity of her first book, Monique created two more mandala coloring books, in 1994 and 1997 respectively. Her third volume was inspired by a trip to Nepal which she undertook after being diagnosed with breast cancer (read more about her healing journey here: http://www.mandali.com/author/). Monique's fourth and last volume, Peace Mandala Coloring Book (publ. 2000), is an incredible collection of Peace Mandalas designed by remarkable girls and boys ages 6-15 from a dozen different countries whose desire was to help spread seeds of peace and harmony around the world at the birth of the new millennium.

In July 1999, she launched MANDALA CONNECTIONS (www.mandalaconnections.com), her online catalog with a one-of-a-kind collection of over 50 mandala coloring books from around the world as well as meditation books, jewelry, post- and notecards, flags and banners, jewelry and more. It is a unique store full of delightful mandala gifts for ages 4-104 that inspire, stimulate creativity, relax, help focus, promote peace and harmony, and soothe body, mind and spirit.

Monique Mandali manages her business and continues her mandala journey in Helena, Montana, which she calls her "personal little paradise". The mandala in the photo is one of her favorite designs (in Vol. 2) that she replicated into a needlepoint tapestry.