From Pixels to Peace

Why I Made "Among the Alpacas"

This wasn’t just a book I decided to make. It’s one that quietly made its way through over seven years of moments, memories, and gentle rewiring.

About seven years ago, I started visiting alpacas. It began as a casual curiosity—just another farm stop. But they got to me. The hums, the soft eyes, the way they somehow manage to look both wise and mildly disapproving at the same time.

Since then, I’ve had three phones—technically smartphones, but I’d call them moderately intelligent at best. The kind of budget models that develop stage fright if you open the camera app too often. I keep running out of memory, so I try to store the alpaca photos elsewhere. And yes, I understand about SIM cards—but not when your budget is smaller than an alpaca’s attention span.

Yes, I technically have the cloud now, but let’s just say the relationship is still complicated.

Then, at the end of last month, I went back to visit the alpacas again (because, of course, I can’t not). I took even more photos—lots of them—and when I got home and looked through them, I realized something: they weren’t that great. Blurry here, shadowy there… but the expressions, the little quirks, the softness—it was all there.

So, I started wondering if I could edit them (the pictures, not the alpacas). One experiment led to another, and then—presto—line drawings.

And suddenly, everything clicked.

Alpacas. Coloring. Neuroplasticity.

Neuro who? Earlier this year I’d learned about neuroplasticity—how the brain can rewire and heal through repetition, creativity, and calm focus. That idea had been quietly simmering, waiting for the right project to bloom. And apparently, it was waiting for alpacas.

Among the Alpacas: A Gentle Coloring Book became a blend of everything I love—part art therapy, part humor, part accidental neuroscience, and part love letter to the fluffiest philosophers I’ve ever met.

That’s why this isn’t just a coloring book; it’s a soft corner of the world you can step into whenever things feel too sharp.

Because sometimes, the best way to rewire your brain is one gentle alpaca at a time.
Because calm has officially gone fluffy.