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.
Art
December 16, 2016

Cartoonist Secretly Chronicles Everyday Quirks of Life With Her Boyfriend

Love is about more than grand gestures—often, it’s the little things that make you fall head over heels with someone. The minutiae of everyday life can seem insignificant, but when you’re spending it with your favorite person, it suddenly seems fun. Catana Chetwynd, aka Catana, captures this sentiment perfectly in her hilarious comics about her and her boyfriend. The sweet sequential art features the two as they simply enjoy each other’s company.

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Art
December 15, 2016

Small Town Is Filled With Giant Sculptures of Everyday Objects

You wouldn’t know it, but the small town of Casey, Illinois is home to eight Guinness World Records. With just 3,000 residents, the Midwestern locale—100 miles away from the nearest big city—boasts a smattering of the world’s largest objects: a rocking chair, mailbox, knitting needles, crochet hook, wind chime, pitchfork, golf tee, and clogs. The attractions are the brainchild of local businessman Jim Bolin.

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Installation
December 11, 2016

Museum in Japan Has a Collection of 1,700 Rocks That Look Like Human Faces

Venture two hours northwest of Tokyo to the city of Chichibu, and you’ll find a museum dedicated to rocks. But these aren’t just any stones—they're unconventional portraits. Each of the rocks on display naturally resemble human faces. The place is called Chinsekikan (aka The Hall of Curious Rocks), it holds 1,700 of these peculiar-yet-endearing objects. Chinsekikan includes faces that showcase the depths of human emotion.

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Design
December 7, 2016

Beautiful Vintage Light Bulbs Feature Luminous Floral Filaments

LED light bulbs are all the rage nowadays, but you can’t beat the timeless beauty of vintage filaments. Between the late 1930s and into the 1970s, the Aerolux Light Corporation produced novelty bulbs with tiny sculptures inside. These decorative filaments take the shapes of flowers and birds which are electrically illuminated in a variety of vibrant colors. To construct these bulbs, Aerolux used low-pressure gas in their filaments—either neon, argon, or both.

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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.