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.
Installation
February 26, 2021

Flowers Are Flowing Out of Ice Cream Trucks in New York

Floral designer Lewis Miller offers an alternative to New York City's concrete landscape with his colorful “Flower Flashes.” Many eagerly await the magical moment when he and his team will erect a gigantic pop-up display of beautiful blooms on the sidewalk. Each installation features a variety of blossoms that turn trashcans into vases and occupy old phone booths. Miller’s latest flash was in celebration of Valentine’s Day, and it’s perhaps his most impressive yet.

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Graphic Design
February 23, 2021

How Helvetica Became the “Little Black Dress” of Typography

Typography is primarily thought of by designers, but there are some typefaces so popular that they enter the larger cultural zeitgeist. Helvetica is one of those typefaces. Developed in 1957, it has become ubiquitous and can be found everywhere from labels on grocery store shelves to transportation to the logo of American Apparel. Helvetica was not the first name for this now-iconic typeface.

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Crafts
February 20, 2021

Perfect Your Own Pixel Art When You Try Easy-to-Use Perler Beads

Do you love pixel art? This technologically inspired type of work is a charming way to recreate life, square by square. If you’ve always wanted to produce your own portrait made of pixels, then you’ll want to try Perler beads. The material—also called fuse beads, Hama beads, or melty beads—mimics the look of pixels and is an easy material to master. Plus, it's great for kids or adults.

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Sculpture
February 15, 2021

Beautiful 50-Foot-Tall Sculpture Pays Tribute to Native American Women in South Dakota

High above the Missouri River in South Dakota sits a magnificent sculpture that’s a beautiful tribute to the Native Nations of the Great Plains region. The 50-foot-tall artwork is called Dignity of Earth and Sky—often shortened to just Dignity—and is a statue of an Indigenous woman wearing a Plains-style dress and receiving a star quilt. In highlighting this figure, the memorial recognizes the often-overlooked group of women of the Lakota and Dakota Nations.

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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.