Posts by Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met and Manager of My Modern Met Store. She is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art where she earned her BFA in Illustration and MFA in Illustration Practice. Sara is also an embroidery illustrator and writer living in Seattle, Washington. She runs Bear&Bean, a studio where she stitches pet portraits and other beloved creatures. She chronicles the creativity of others through her website Brown Paper Bag and newsletter, Orts. Her latest book is Threads of Treasure: How to Make, Mend, and Find Meaning Through Thread, published in 2014. Sara’s work has been recognized in Be Creative With Workbox, Embroidery Magazine, American Illustration, on Iron and Wine’s album Beast Epic, among others. When she’s not stitching or writing, Sara enjoys planning things that bring together the craft community. She is the co-founder of Camp Craftaway, a day camp for crafty adults with hands-on workshops in the Seattle area.
Birds
September 30, 2026

Watch a Man Help a Young Hawk in Pain by Expertly Removing Cactus Spines From Its Feathers

We all make mistakes—even our feathered friends. Sometimes you get yourself into a literal sticky situation and need a kind stranger to help you. That’s exactly what happened to a young hawk. In Arizona, a man named Gregory “Greg” Scott Schriner can be seen working to remove cactus spines that are stuck in the bird’s feathers.

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Sculpture
September 28, 2026

Jaume Plensa Explores Monumental Scale and Material Across Two Exhibitions Happening Now

Artist Jaume Plensa has opened two exhibitions within a week of each other in cities across the United States. Both shows are at GRAY galleries, one in Chicago and the other in New York. Respectively titled Beyond Silence and Remote, Serene, Ethereal, each comprises different works, but both represent the figure while examining scale and material. Beyond Silence at GRAY Chicago is the bigger of the two exhibitions.

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Painting
September 22, 2026

Artist Kelogsloops Confronts Emotional Highs and Lows in New Breathtaking Painting Exhibition [Interview]

The Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles has recently opened an exhibition that confronts big emotions. Hieu Thien Nguyen, known artistically as kelogsloops, debuts Love, Death & All Her Friends, a stunning show of ethereal works created in the artist’s signature style. Using watercolor, gouache, pencil, and gold leaf, the narrative compositions explore how nothing stays the same. Love, loss, and ultimately accepting them are part of life.

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Painting
September 21, 2026

Fantastical Paintings Imagine Changing Seasons as a Way To Express Our Inner Emotional Worlds

South Korean artist Mulgil Kim is a world traveler, and then some. At age 24, she embarked on a nearly two-year adventure that took her across 46 countries and five continents. Over the 673 days she spent traveling, she painted almost daily, amassing over 400 drawings that culminated in a project called Art Road. The natural landscape inspired her and continues to do so.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.