My kids are all taking part in the Sketchbook Project: Limited Edition, and my daughter Z has decided to do hers all in comics. She calls her book, “Kaboom Comics”. I adore the drawings and the edgy humour. As a kid, I always wanted to be able to draw comics, but I didn’t feel like it came naturally, and all the comedic talent went to my brother, James (his is a baseball site – not devoted to being funny, but still funny at times). These comics come easy to her, though. I watched her as she whipped them off, page after page. Where are these ideas coming from?! These are a few of my favourites.

Art is therapeutic and colour heals - bringing home an original painting by Belinda will light up your living space with a daily explosion of life & happiness. Belinda Fireman's colourful, inspiring art is guaranteed to lift the spirits, generate positive reflection and make you smile.
People who have bought Belinda's paintings say they can't stop looking at them, that they derive joy from them each day. Her paintings make wonderful, enduring and meaningful gifts.
Testimonials:
Shipping for all paintings and artware in this online store is available to customers in the USA and Canada. For international customers outside of USA and Canada, please email Belinda directly for orders instead of using this online store.Unrelated ideas: teach, sketch, act.
I just finished the third of five painting classes that I am teaching in my home. I want to remember the comments I received, to remind me why I enjoy doing this!
“You really know what you’re doing.”
“I’ve been meditating for ten years, and never really felt connected to the earth until you said to feel like a tree and spread my roots into the ground.” (I got this from Core Connexion)
“This was a really loving class.”
Well.
I have been thinking about teaching and wondering if I should continue, but this is really making me want to continue! Not to mention, when I am painting during class, I really lose track of time!
In other news, my Sketchbook Project 2012 is almost half completed (I am a bit behind on scanning). My son has been inspiring me to draw, because everyday when he comes home from school, he wants to work in his sketchbook. He has been copying some of my techniques, like drawing with color and then surrounding it with black. He is including a lot of rings and spirals, like in my work. I don’t want to discourage him from doing this, but I also want him to be drawing what is coming from inside him, rather than just what he thinks I want. He saw a drawing I did of the exterior of the school and he was surprised by this “new” idea of drawing what you see!
The theme for my sketchbook is “Nothing New,” but I am noticing that it is starting to morph into “Things that ARE New.” That’s OK, I am not chained to the theme. If you are working on your sketchbook, how is it going? Will you share some photos of your work? There is now a blog to follow where you can get ideas and inspiration for your sketchbook! I am really adoring this project. I’ve been telling so many people about it – I should be their official spokesperson! Ha!
And also (because I don’t know how to segue into this topic), I want to take an acting class.
Some closure.
The Sketchbook Project is old news now, but I need to bring closure to that topic! Instead of including all the pages that are missing on my blog (which I was about to do, but it’s way too much work), I will direct you to my flickr site to view the entire sketchbook! Here’s the cover! I hope the sketchbook holds up – some of the pages at the back of the book are perforated and were beginning to tear as I painted. Yikes! That presents quite a challenge for the paper conservator (my old job!) who gets to look after them!
Babylon Four Year Old

Babylon Four Year Old, originally uploaded by Belknits.
I am finally getting around to scanning some (what are now) old drawings in my sketchbook. They are from at least 4 months ago, I think, if not more. There is a lot of catching up to do!
Babylon (drawn on the left) is a great little game that takes about a minute to learn, and not much longer to play. Really easy for little ones to understand (like my 4 year old son). It’s a great time waster when you are waiting in a doctor’s office, or waiting for food to come to the table at a restaurant.