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.


June 30, 2016

Unconventional Tourist Photographs Reveal What’s Behind the World’s Most Visited Sights

When visiting a monument such as the Taj Mahal, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the microcosm of these iconic sights. Photographer Oliver Curtis is seemingly unfazed by all the action and instead captures scenes that often go unnoticed by tourists—ones that are in the vicinity, but might as well be invisible. In the series Volte-face, he presents images that look opposite to historic sites such as Stonehenge, the Mona Lisa, and Lenin’s Tomb.

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June 28, 2016

Designer “Catifies” a Human Home into a Playful Haven for Seven Felines

For three months during the spring of 2014, Rebecca Mountain of Mountain Pet Products undertook a big “catification” project for her friends Eliza and Tiffany. The couple had just bought their first home and was also combining their two households—including seven felines and three dogs. With that many animals, Mountain knew that having a “cat only” space was going to be an important part of their new home.

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