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.
Style
February 24, 2023

Artisan Transforms Old Leather Couches Into Stylish One-of-a-Kind Purses

With the right skills and an eye for sustainability, Lisa Crick transforms old leather couches into stylish handbags. The large pieces of furniture—still with life left—become the raw materials for her purses. The shiny blues and soft browns of her bags show the power of upcycling and highlight how we don’t need to produce more to have more; we need to get creative with what’s already available. You'd never realize these bags were once chairs.

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Dogs
February 22, 2023

Animal Shelter Takes Lovely Portraits of Its Longest Residents To Help Find Their Special Someone

For a dog living in a rescue shelter, they can't wait to be struck by cupid's arrow and find the love of a forever home. The St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, New Jersey, knows this well and is trying to find its longest residents their perfect matches. For Valentine’s Day 2023, St. Hubert’s created a campaign for the dogs who still hadn’t found their special someone.

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Technology
February 20, 2023

AI-Generated Art Personifies Countries as Different Women Across the Globe

Artificial intelligence (AI) learns from us, so what type of associations does it make based on its machine learning? An artist named Alexa, aka Crypto Tea, used AI to generate different countries reimagined as women. After inputting some text, the technology created a variety of stylized portraits of ladies adorned with the stereotypical characteristics of the countries.

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Creative Products
February 12, 2023

16 Black-Owned Businesses Selling Creative Products to Support

We are well into February, which is also Black History Month in the United States. There are plenty of ways to support the black community right now and throughout the year. Whether you're donating, self-educating, or spreading knowledge by sharing resources with others via social, there's one direct way to play a positive role—shopping at Black-owned business. Supporting Black-owned businesses is a win-win for everyone.

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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.