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.
Academy
September 1, 2026

Here’s How To Create a Hue Matrix (And Why Every Painter Needs One)

Imagine you’re looking at your collection of acrylic paint colors, mixing them on your palette—but you still can’t get the hue you want. It’s frustrating, and worst of all, wasteful. You’ve got hues you can’t use and aren’t any closer to putting pigment to canvas. Well, there’s a hack for helping you mix paint colors, especially if you utilize a limited palette.

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Art
August 27, 2026

RIP Yayoi Kusama: Iconic Japanese Artist Known for Her Dots Dies at 97

A gourd covered in dots of varying sizes. Mirrored rooms, littered with lights, that seem to go on forever. Monumental flowers with rainbow-colored circles across their blooms and stems. This is the oeuvre of art icon Yayoi Kusama, who sadly died on August 14, 2026, at 97 years old. Her death is a deep loss for the art world. Art icon Yayoi Kusama died on August 14, 2026, at 97 years old.

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Astrophotography
August 25, 2026

See the Closest-Ever Photo of the Sun and Its Swirling Surface of Wild Whirlpools

The cosmos is a beautiful mystery, but one we’re unraveling bit by bit. It helps that new technology and imaging advancements allow us to view outer space in ways we’ve never seen before. The Inouye Solar Telescope is one example. As the world’s most powerful telescope, it recently captured the sharpest photo of the sun we have so far. What the image revealed was that our closest star is covered in literal whirlpools of activity.

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Crafts
August 24, 2026

Camp Craftaway 2026: A 3-Day Adult Craft Camp Creates Community Through a Shared Love of Making

Americans are spending more time than ever on their analog hobbies, specifically crafts. Making things with our hands is therapeutic, and who couldn’t use less screen time? And in the right setting, crafts provide a valuable source of community. Knitting, sewing, and weaving in the company of others invites conversation and forges lifelong friendships. But where do you find those opportunities?

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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.