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.
Macro Photography
August 11, 2026

Mini Wildlife Portraits Made With Plastic Toys and Other Materials That Threaten Real Animals Today [Interview]

Photographer Benedek Lampert gathered straws, burnt matches, and plastic netting to create his latest series of striking miniature photography. His visually impactful project is titled The Nature We Replaced, and it focuses on the effects humans have had on the environment and, by extension, the creatures that inhabit Earth. In short: it’s not great.

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Hotels
August 7, 2026

Bowl-Shaped Roof Embraces Rainfall To Win 2026 Hotel Design Competition

Melbourne-based architect Steven Chu was awarded the Grand Prize in the 2026 NOT A HOTEL International Design Competition this past spring. The founder of Artefact Architects submitted a design proposal titled Sound of Rain, which was selected from over 1,000 entries from 112 countries worldwide. The project is set to be built by the boutique hotel brand on Yakushima, a forested island off the southern coast of Kyushu, Japan.

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Social Cause
August 5, 2026

Former Victoria’s Secret Model Shows How the “Perfect” Body Is All About the Angles

Social media isn’t always reflective of real life. In many, if not most cases, Instagram shows a highlight reel, with people curating the best moments of themselves, down to how they look. Model and actor Sara Sampaio knows this all too well. As a former Victoria’s Secret Angel, she’s acutely aware of how angles and posture can change a body’s shape.

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Art
August 4, 2026

This Laguna Beach Arts Festival Champions Local Art With a Juried Show of 120 Area Artists

The Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach, California, has made its yearly return and ignited the creative community in Orange County. Happening now through September 3, 2026, the event features 120 local visual artists alongside live entertainment, hands-on art activities, and more. There’s something for everyone in this long-standing show, which has been around for nearly a century. The core of the festival is its artists and the work that they exhibit.

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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.