Amanda Cobbett: Stitching the forest floor

It takes a very special artist to turn plant decay, lichen and fungi into beautiful works of art. And that special person is textile artist Amanda Cobbett.

Amanda cherishes the discarded and overlooked treasures found on forest floors. And the way she recreates and presents those items through stitch, papier mache, and pyrography is remarkable. Her goal is to fool the eye, and she’s very successful at doing so.

As the saying goes, words could never express the magic in Amanda’s work. So we strongly encourage you to take a moment before reading further to view this very short video demonstrating her creative process:

Amanda was kind enough to give us an insider’s look at her techniques, including how she creates her own layered ‘fabrics’ with machine stitch and dissolvable backings. She also explains her unique display methods using contemporary versions of Victorian display cases that both amuse and delight.