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.
Sculpture
September 9, 2019

Fantastical Figures Emerge From Hand-Carved Pieces of Found Driftwood

Artist Debra Bernier scours the natural settings around her home to cultivate her artistic practice. Working in sculpture, the artist transforms the things she finds traversing the nearby shoreline into fanciful figures that evoke the same wonder she experiences when she's outside. “While I walk in the forest, explore tide-pools or beach-comb,” she describes to My Modern Met, “I am in awe of Mother Nature's creations.

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Creative Products
September 5, 2019

Pennywise’s Iconic Red Ballon from ‘IT’ Is Now a Lamp Straight Out of Your Nightmares

Are you a fan of horror flicks? If so, then a red balloon probably means something sinister to you. Its presence can only promise that Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King's It is nearby. To commemorate the terrifying antagonist—and the film's sequel It Chapter 2—online purveyor Firebox is selling a novelty lamp shaped like a red balloon.

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Landscape Photography
September 4, 2019

Interview: Photography-Loving Sea Captain Captures the Quiet Beauty in Everyday Moments

Myanmar-based photographer Zay Yar Lin looks to the fundamentals of art as a way to capture compelling portraits of the world. Focusing on lighting, composition, and color, his often-aerial shots are simultaneously abstract while communicating stories about people as they travel, work, and exercise their spirituality. The images depict everyday moments that are otherwise easy to forget. But thanks to Lin's keen eye, he transforms them into works of art.

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Art
August 30, 2019

Interview: Man Makes World-Famous Art in His Sleep But Has No Creative Talent While Awake

When Lee Hadwin is awake, he identifies as someone with no artistic talent. But while he’s asleep, his creative side comes alive and he crafts portraits, landscapes, and abstract drawings that only someone with amazing artistic prowess can produce. Once Hadwin wakes from his slumber, he has snapped out of his art-making trance and carries on with life as a non-creative person. So, how does he do it?

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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.