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.

September 15, 2026

5 Intermediate Online Art Classes for Beginners Ready To Level up Their Skills

The internet is built for beginners. Don’t know how to do something? Just Google it! But what happens when you’re past the beginner stage and are ready to level up? When it comes to art, it can be challenging to sift through newcomer content—especially when you already know your way around a brush, needle, or pencil—and you want to challenge yourself to get even better.

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September 8, 2026

Mixed Media or Realistic Portrait Drawing? Here’s How To Find What’s Right for You

There’s more than one way to draw a human face. Depending on your preference, artwork featuring the face can be bold and expressive or precise and lifelike. But which style is right for you? Two courses on My Modern Met Academy, our e-learning platform, offer different ways of depicting facial features: Realistic Portrait Drawing Made Easy with Matheus Macedo and Mixed Media Portrait Drawing with Nitika Ale.

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September 3, 2026

World’s First Desktop Full-Color 3D and UV Printer Is Now Ready for Your Home

Printing capabilities have grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of decades. As consumers, we’ve gone from simply printing on paper to creating three-dimensional objects that come to life, layer by layer. UV and 3D printers are widely available to everyday people, but their abilities have varied. Often, you couldn’t do everything you need in one printer—but not anymore.

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