grow yo' brain

welcome. 

this is the place where brains are grown. 

where the work is hard, because that means your brain is growing. 

where you make mistakes and then fix them, because that's learning.

where it doesn't matter if you can't read the same books and solve the same problems that your classmates can, yet, because you can still work harder and get better. 

every. single. day.

#whyiteachforamerica

my favorite place

on a tuesday night, before a half-day-wednesday before a Thanksgiving-thursday, this is my favorite place in the whole world. especially since it's 8:30 and all my work is done.

#tooyoungtobethisold

the creative process: star

usual hodge-podge of papers, complete with hand-written lesson plan drafts underneath. multi-tasking!

using pen and ink to scratch out my black-and-white stripes by hand...

recycled grocery bags, watercolor paper, acrylic paints (including the best paint color name ever -- diva pink), old book pages, glitter, yes! paste, pen and ink.

this post was fueled by this song and that song.

all photos and content by ann howell brown, 2012

the creative process: diamonds in ink

vintage books, washi tape, watercolor paper, acrylic, pen and ink.

all photographs and content by ann howell brown, 2012

organization

when your home is 500 square feet, you have to get creative with organization.

currently trying these wine crates, generously given to me by my aunt, to help store things... i'm trying to figure out what else will go well on those slanted shelves.

[note the "creative brain juice," aka wine (a la Frick and Frack Scraps), in the bottom right area of my "art storage unit..."]

any other ideas? I need vertical, easily accessible storage, but my walls are mostly plaster and hanging heavy shelving units on them doesn't work.

the creative process: how much love

"and whatever you do, do it with a smile... for it is not what you do, but with how much love you do it."

-mother teresa

recycled grocery bags, old book pages, acrylic on watercolor paper, painted vintage wooden frame, and ink pen.

all photographs and content by ann howell brown, 2012

vintage books

my school library was cleaning out, and had stacks and stacks of old books to give away... i adopted this book with incredible art, and it lives with my beloved succulent on my coffee table now. 

the pictures are so whimsical and chic, and remind me of something french children would have on their nursery bookshelves. :)