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.
News
July 29, 2026

Professor Hides an Invisible Word in Midterm Exam, Catches Almost All His Students Cheating Using AI

Dr. Jason Gibson noticed something strange when grading his students’ midterm exams. Across two summer history courses at Alcorn State University, Madagascar was an extremely popular reference. On its face, this wasn’t odd, but in this case, when the assignment asked to compare the Industrial Revolution with our digital age, phrases like “Madagascar floats sideways through the afternoon” made no sense.

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Furniture
July 27, 2026

These Avant-Garde Lamps Are Made Using Issey Miyake’s Innovative Shape-Shifting Fabrics

Fashion designer Issey Miyake is known for innovative garments that have helped transform avant-garde clothing. But that’s not all that the designer and his studio are doing. While its wearables are noteworthy, the Issey Miyake brand has entered a collaboration that sees its design ethos reflected in industrial design, including lighting. Miyake’s A-POC ABLE ISSEY MIYAKE brand and Swiss-based design studio atelier oï recently unveiled new lighting, the O Series, from their TYPE-XIII Atelier Oï project.

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Animals
July 21, 2026

Meet Jimothy the Unusually Round Raccoon Who Has Captured Hearts and Inspired Fan Art

There’s one name on every Seattleite’s lips this summer: Jimothy. The round raccoon—which some have likened to a cryptid—has taken the Emerald City by storm, turning videos filmed in a northwest Seattle neighborhood into the stuff of legends. But Jimothy has captured not only the city’s hearts, but the rest of the world, too. If you’re unfamiliar with the tale of Jimothy, here’s a quick recap to get you up to speed.

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Street Art
July 13, 2026

Audrey Kawasaki Reimagines a Past Painting in a Monumental 30-Foot-Tall Mural

Artist Audrey Kawasaki has brought her ethereal figures and floral beauty to the outdoors in Bristol, England. The work, which combines her signature soft rendering with graphic elements, completely covers a 30-foot wall and was created during Upfest, Europe’s largest mural festival. It took Kawaskai six days to complete the three-story-tall painting alongside “lots of sunscreen.

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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.