Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

Growing, gathering, and weaving with plant fibers from the Pacific Northwest

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Bare Bones Abstracts

January 28, 2021 By Melinda

Those of you who are weavers, that work with plant materials you grow and gather yourself, likely understand that building a fine basket takes a lot of time. Sometimes it’s freeing to allow oneself to do a type of work that isn’t about the perfection of the weaving, but instead is more about allowing beautiful materials to breath, to gesture, like ancient markings on a canyon wall. Surprisingly, it took me just as long to make these abstracts as a finely woven basket, by the time the materials had been gathered in their season, cured for stability, and then finally assembled.

Bare Bones A by Melinda West
Bare Bones Abstract One by Melinda West
Bare Bones Abstract One by Melinda West, in situ
Bare Bones B, by Melinda West
Bare Bones Abstract Two by Melinda West
Bare Bones Abstract Two by Melinda West, in situ
Pealed Limbs in two abstract forms in situ
Bare Bones Abstracts by Melinda West

I’m grateful for the opportunity to make these two Bare Bones Abstracts. These ethereal pieces bring nature and lightness into the formal interior of this lovely home.

 

Filed Under: Artwork, Community, News Tagged With: Bare Bones, Curly Willow, Fig, hazelnut, inner cedar bark, willow, Yew

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About Melinda

Forty years ago, while sitting on the beach playing with my young children, I made my first basket out of a pile of willow trimmings someone had tossed there. It looked wildly made like a crazy bird’s nest. While being together with my two sons on a beautiful Pacific Northwest shoreline, this simple experience of crafting with the natural materials at hand kindled a passion for creating forms using plant fibers. I thank my family, my community, and all my teachers for cultivating this gift in me.
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Melinda West and basket, Indianola WA

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