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.
Art
August 27, 2025

See Ai Weiwei’s Largest-Ever U.S. Exhibition in Seattle Before It’s Gone

For four decades, Chinese-born artist-activist Ai Weiwei has created work that questions power, advocates for human rights and freedom of speech, and challenges authoritarianism. His work, which implores us to interrogate history, society, and culture—often with humor and a bit of goading—is so impactful that Weiwei was detained by Chinese authorities in 2011 for 81 days, and he’s been living in exile from China since 2015. The Seattle Art Museum (SAM)

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Oil Painting
August 25, 2025

Dreamy ‘Fluid Impressionism’ Paintings Imagine the Natural World in Flowing Beauty

With nature as her muse, artist Silver Francis imagines the world in ways that are both familiar and flowing. Her colorful landscape and floral oil paintings feature stylized renderings of mountainscapes, waterways, plants, and rock formations, often infused with a bit of magic. Warmth emanates from larger-than-life forms and illuminates delicate petals, flapping butterfly wings, and the inner depths of twisted tree branches.

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Photo Contest
August 6, 2025

Mangrove Photography Awards 2025 Reveals Winning Images Celebrating the Wonders of Mangroves

The Mangrove Photography Awards recently announced its 2025 competition winners, and the results offer a stunning glimpse into our natural world. An initiative of the Mangrove Action Project, this unique contest centers on conservation storytelling to celebrate the beauty, diversity, and, ultimately, fragility of global mangrove forests. It offers a platform to share the story of the mangrove, which is a shrub or tree that grows along coastlines and tidal rivers.

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Travel
August 1, 2025

My Modern Met’s Art + Culture Guide to Portland

It’s hard to be bored in Portland, Oregon. With its vibrant art scene, world-class dining, and stunning natural beauty, there is always something to see, eat, and hear. As the largest city in Oregon, it serves as a cultural hub with numerous idiosyncrasies. The largest independent bookstore in the world? Check. The most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan? Portland has it. A craft brew festival that’s been around for nearly 40 years? Yes!

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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.