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.
Design
May 19, 2014

Eco-Friendly Skateboard is Made Using Recycled Fishing Nets

Fishing nets are not a material that you'd imagine a skateboard would be made of. The three friends who make up the company Bureo, however, know differently. Ben Kneppers, David Stover, and Kevin Ahearn worked in partnership with the creative collective Satori Movement and designer Gabriella Laruccia to craft The Minnow, a unique board that uses roughly 30 square feet of harvested fishing nets.

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Art
May 4, 2014

Elegant Sculptures Formed From Deconstructed Instruments

Sculptor Koji Takei deconstructs everyday objects and reassembles them in new and exciting ways. As a fan of classical music, the Los Angeles-based artist focuses his subject matter on guitars, fragmenting their original parts and occasionally adding vases and trumpets to the mix. Now, a chair doesn't look like a chair anymore. We see every part of it at once, and it tricks our perception of what's three-dimensional and what's flattened.

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Art
April 28, 2014

Minature Olive Pit Sculpture Masterfully Carved in China in 1737

If no one told you, then you'd probably never guess that this intricate sculpture was carved from the pit of an olive. Chinese artist Ch'en Tsu-chang crafted it in 1737, and this miniature artwork stands at only 16 millimeters tall and 34 millimeters wide. It follows the shape of the pit and depicts a small boat with eight figures, each of which has its own expression and action.

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Music
April 18, 2014

Heat Maps Show the Surprising Musical Preferences of the United States

Rock & Oldies Do you think that you live in a country music-loving town, or a city that's more fond of rock and roll? A recent data analysis by Movoto Real Estate may surprise you with its findings. They took statistics gleaned from the National Endowment of the Arts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and calculated the musical preference of the lower 48 United States.

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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.