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.
Inspiring
December 27, 2018

Artist Tired of Reading Bad News Illustrates the Good Things That Happened in 2018

Italian illustrator Mauro Gatti is tired of reading bad news. And he’s not alone; almost seven in 10 Americans, for instance, experience “news fatigue,” exhausted by both the sheer amount of information and how foreboding it can be. To help combat this, Gatti is using his artistic skills as a way to spread positivity. His Instagram account, The Happy Broadcast, aims to “counter hate and fear culture” by illustrating heartwarming stories from around the world.

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Drawing
December 21, 2018

Powerful Illustrations Offer a Poignant Mirror to Our Modern World

Illustrator Stephan Schmitz creates digital art that reflects the trials and tribulations faced in modern life. His work describes different facets of ourselves, from how we view our bodies to our relationship with technology to dealing with family and navigating our career. The images are often poignant and don’t shy away from the things that are hard to talk about. But they aren’t overly dramatic, either.

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Portrait Photography
December 14, 2018

Airport Worker Photographs Unique Travelers He Encounters From Around the World

The airport is a prime location for people watching. There, you see folks from all walks of life in various states of being; some are rushing to their gate while others are killing time until they board their plane. For photographer Mustafa Çankaya, working at the Atatürk airport has given him more than just an opportunity to watch people from all over the world.

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Photography
November 30, 2018

Side-By-Side Photos Show Heartbreaking Contrast of Western World and War-Torn Middle East

Artist Uğur Gallenkuş portrays two different worlds within in a single image. Combining a pair of side-by-side photographs—one of the Western world and the other of the Middle East—he highlights how, despite living on the same planet, these places couldn’t be more different. “I live in Turkey, which happens to be located next door to one of the most dangerous regions in the modern world,” Gallenkuş writes.

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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.