Winter Garden has its own coloring book

Have you ever wondered how the Winter Garden water tower would look if it was green? Or what City Hall would look like with pink and red polka dots? Or how the purple cow would look if it had blue stripes?

You can use your creativity with these images and more in “Winter Garden, A Coloring Book,” illustrated by former Winter Garden resident Paige Nethers. The 24-page coloring book also is a storybook that walks artists young and old through some of the city’s familiar local landmarks, including the bench swings in the Centennial Plaza, the Plant Street Market and the bridges on the south shore of Lake Apopka.

She got the idea for a coloring book after visiting Cape Cod and seeing one depicting its local flavor. She was talking to the owner of Driftwood Market, on Plant Street, about the coloring book, and thought it would be a good addition to the mugs, greeting cards and stickers she currently has for sale there. She rents studio space in the back of Driftwood, which now sells her new coloring books.

The idea of creating a coloring book appealed to Nethers because she liked the thought of local children coloring the pages filled with buildings and locales they recognized in the community.

“I drove around; I kind of tried to think of, ‘What do (my children) love?’ — the caboose, the fountain, the purple cow, the Plant Street Market for dinner,” she said. “I tried to think of some of my favorite places. I also did include an image from Fowler’s Grove, but a lot of it focuses on Lake Apopka and the trail and things you think of when you come to visit Winter Garden — what you’re really going to see.”

Her favorite image is the Plant Street Flower Cart. She and the florist, Tasha Harrison, are longtime friends, and Harrison even sells stickers created by Nethers.

Once she decided on the pictures, Nethers began drawing in March, and it took about four months to complete.

“I got to work, and my arm just about fell off,” she said. “A lot of the buildings have the bricks, and I drew every little brick.”

Nethers is the mother of 4- and 5-year-olds, and they are both fans of the coloring book.

“My kids love it; they’ve already colored like three of them,” she said. “My son … was just so excited because it’s something he knows: ‘That’s our yellow train.’”

Now that she has made a coloring book of Winter Garden, she has considered drawing landmarks in other Central Florida towns. But, she said, she’s in no rush.

“I feel like Winter Garden is a very special place,” she said. “I might just expand the book at some point and add a few images.”

Nethers was exposed to art at a young age. Her grandmother was a professional artist and passed on the skill.

“She’s incredible, and I’m thankful that I got to learn from her,” she said. “I used to love painting with her, but I never thought I would do it professionally. I never took any kind of classes.”

Nethers started Two Peas Paper Co. as a wedding-planning business while she was teaching kindergarten. She has channeled several passions into one to assist clients from engagement to marriage to parenthood. She can create one-of-a-kind signs and hand-lettered and hand-painted home décor. She also specializes in calligraphy and offers public and private workshops.