Posts by Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
Art
September 16, 2016

Complex Web of Red Thread Swarms Above Stranded Boats as a Meditation on Fate

Artist Chiharu Shiota is known for her intricate, immersive installations that are meditations on the human brain and memory. Last year, she illustrated this idea by collecting 50,000 keys and stringing them along thread that engulfed the ceiling of a gallery. In a similarly awe-inspiring fashion, Shiota has created Uncertain Journey, a site-specific exhibition in which a dense web of scarlet-colored yarn swarms above stranded skeletal boats.

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Art
September 12, 2016

Makeup Artist Expertly Transforms Himself Into Real-Life Disney Princesses

Makeup artist Richard Schaefer transforms himself into Disney princesses so authentic that you’ll do a double take. The 22-year-old has an impressive collection of 40 costumes and 30 wigs that he uses to cosplay as Snow White, Ariel, Cinderella, and more. He’s perfected their longing stares and doe-eyed expressions to mimic not only their looks, but personas, too.

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Art
September 9, 2016

Architect-Turned-Baker Designs Geometric Desserts That Look Like Modern Buildings

Pastry chef Dinara Kasko combines architecture and baking to create desserts that, from certain angles, look like buildings rather than sweets. They feature strong, precise lines and glossy exteriors that resemble concrete and steel rather than soft, spongy cakes. This unique fusion is a striking interpretation of edible structures—forget your ordinary gingerbread houses; these creations are akin to Zaha Hadid’s visionary designs.

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Art
August 31, 2016

Artist Spontaneously Adds Color Drops to Beads of Water to Create Gorgeous Fashion Illustrations

Many fashion designers have a muse, so it’s no surprise that illustrator JaeSuk Kim employs the same idea in his stylish paintings. Known as the Susu girls, these whimsical figures don beautiful gowns imagined by Kim. The ethereal garments are created primarily using water-based media, and they’re vibrant explosions of color—Kim often lets his pigment flow freely over the page, embracing the diffused edges as if they’re bunches of lightweight fabric or feathers.

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