After visiting Marianne Donohoe, it is a short stroll to The Toast Office where you will find Amanda Meaden in a lovely village setting, plus cake! What better combination?!
Amanda is a textile artist specialising in Cyanotypes on fabric, which is the original form of photography, using sunlight and patience to capture an image. Inspired by nature and what she finds around her, Amanda describes herself as “a foliage junkie, searching out interesting forms found in nature, adding a dash of sparkle with foiling to create lampshades and prints that are all unique”.
Working as an office manger by day, Amanda finds a day of printing an absolute joy. She waits in anticipation for a sunny day to set out her exposure after a bit of foraging. Amanda first learned her skills having studied graphics and photography at college. Her mother was a seamstress so Amanda grew up around textiles and home interiors. Amanda describes creating cyanotypes as “combining my love of photography, back to basics, with my love of textiles. Creating something with out any fancy technology but what I have around me and mother nature”.
When asked how art has changed her life or if she has seen how art can transform the lives of others, Amanda reflects, “art is therapeutic and helps with many mental health illnesses…Anyone can make art, any age, any background. There isn’t anything that limits a human from making a piece of art. Art also builds friendships. I moved to the area 5 years ago and have made so many great friends through Arts Trails”.
