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.
Painting
September 3, 2019

Amazing Galaxy Painting in a Swimming Pool Lets You Take a Dive That’s Out of This World

Artist Ania Amador transformed an ordinary swimming pool into a stellar basin that is out of this world. Created as a commission, the outer space scene is painted in the base of the sprawling pool and adjacent jacuzzi. The resulting artwork is both massive in scale and impressive in its attention to detail. The composition features an astronaut, asteroids, and faraway planets surrounding a colorful swirl; it makes going underwater an extraordinary experience.

Read Article

Architecture
August 29, 2019

10 Tiny Prefabricated Homes You Can Buy Online This Month

Searching for the right home can be an arduous process. But what if finding a cozy abode was as easy as buying something online? It turns out that it is! Independent sellers have listed a variety of prefabricated homes for sale online through Amazon and eBay. Many of them are classified as tiny homes, and their small square footage has many upsides—including a price tag that won’t break the bank.

Read Article

Painting
August 26, 2019

Thickly Layered Landscape Paintings Are a Dreamy Escape into Tactile Fields of Flowers

Ireland-based artist Therese O’Keeffe creates paintings that make it easy to enjoy a spring day no matter the time of year. Using a brush and palette knife, she applies thick pigment to the canvas and depicts colorful fields of flowers. In O’Keeffe’s world, the sky is always a perfect shade of blue and the blossoms are bountiful. They offer a visual respite—especially if you find yourself dreaming of escaping the office and frolicking among nature.

Read Article

Funny
August 21, 2019

These Passport Photo Shoots Reveal a Bizarre Twist When You Zoom Out

Passport photos are some of the most mundane types of portraits you can have taken. They come with a lot of restrictions. You have to look straight at the camera, wear a neutral facial expression, and be positioned against a clear background without a shadow—just to name a few. Because of these constraints, it seems like it’d be impossible to add any sort of creativity to the images.

Read Article

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.