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.
Oil Painting
July 2, 2026

Artist Paints “Glitches” Into Surreal Candy-Colored Landscapes With Giant Dandelions and Floating Cacti

Artist Alexis Mata was walking between the trees and mountains in Tepoztlán, Mexico, as dandelions drifted across his vision. Their existence fascinated him; the way they moved so freely, the seeds taking hold and pollinating new places. “In that instant,” he explains, “I experienced a strange sensation, as if I were standing on another planet, in another time, confronted with an entirely new landscape.

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History
June 26, 2026

How Estevanico, an Enslaved African Man, Survived a Shipwreck To Cross the U.S. Decades Before European Settlement

In 1528, an enslaved man from Morocco washed ashore on what’s now Texas. He was worse for wear; he had spent a month adrift in the Gulf of Mexico alongside Spanish sailors on a rickety lifeboat. Eventually, the small group landed on an island near present-day Galveston, Texas, where they would be the first people from the Old World (parts of the world known to Europeans) to enter what’s now the United States.

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Academy
June 23, 2026

Here’s One Way To Be a Landscape Painter, No Realism Required

Landscape painting has a rich tradition across humankind, and for much of it, the focus has been on replicating the earth as realistically as possible. It wasn’t until the Impressionist movement that landscape painting in the Western world was redefined. Now, there are many ways in which to express the mountains, oceans, and grassy plains—no exacting approach required. In fact, you don’t need to be a realistic painter to be a landscape artist.

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Photo Contest
June 11, 2026

The 2026 Weather Photographer of the Year Competition Is Now Open for Submissions

The Weather Photographer of the Year is now accepting entries for its 2026 competition. Hosted by the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS), it honors images that showcase the power, beauty, and ultimately the impact of weather. Last year’s winning photographs, for instance, were a mixture of rare sights—like circular rainbows—and images illustrating the influence of climate change on storms and sunshine across the globe. You can’t talk about the weather without mentioning climate change.

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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.