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.
February 10, 2016

Ethereal Floral Tattoos Mimic Delicate Watercolor Paintings on Skin

Aro Tattoo, aka @tattooist_silo, creates exquisite works of art onto the skin of her clients. Focusing on floral arrangements, the Korean tattooist uses soft pink, red, and blue ink to mimic the colors you'd find in a beautiful sunset. They offer an alternative stylistic approach to tattooing–rather than outlining subjects in a solid dark outline, Aro Tattoo completely skips the black ink and defines form with color.

Read Article


February 7, 2016

100-Year-Old Hand-Colored Postcards Offer a Fascinating Glimpse of Pre-War Japan

Postcards can offer a fascinating glimpse into eras that have long since passed. The Digital Collections of the New York Public Library (NYPL) has released a selection of postcards from Japan in the early 20th century. Comprising hand-colored photographs, these landscape snapshots represent the country–specifically the Tokyo and Yokohama regions–and the culture at a time when it was on the cusp of modernity.

Read Article


January 25, 2016

Architecture Students Design Sustainable Low-Income Homes That Can Be Built for $20K

The architecture students at Auburn University's Rural Studio prove that well-designed homes can still be affordable, thanks to their initiative called the 20K Project. The undergraduate program advocates for social justice through architecture, and to demonstrate this, students have created sustainable and low-cost dwellings for the rural poor.

Read Article


January 22, 2016

Husband Playfully Poses for the Man-Version of a Sexy Boudoir Photo Shoot

Boudoir photo shoots offer their subjects the chance to free their inhibitions and express their inner sexiness. Women are typically the ones who participate in them, often intending them as gifts for their significant others. Brendon Williams of Langford, Canada recently shattered this stereotype by posing in his own version of a boudoir shoot, appropriately dubbed “dudoir” by his photographer, Masika May.

Read Article