Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

Some old notes on Schoenoplectus Pungens – NW Sweetgrass

By

Growing and Harvesting Your Homegrown NW Sweet Grass. 9-3-2024 Melinda West Not everyone is fortunate to have there own land to cultivate, or even a place to call home, but perhaps you have a balcony on your apartment, or a friend with space in their garden, or access to a public Pea Patch? That’s all you need besides a large pot without holes … [Read more...]

Harvesting Homegrown Schoenoplectus Pungens

By

Hi Friends, For some of you who are learning to grow your own materials for basketmaking, it seems early to me, but I harvested my first pot of basketmakers sweetgrass, Schoenoplectus Pungens, that I grow at home. I live in a canopy of beautiful big conifers. Over the years we’ve emulated “bog” conditions in our sunniest spots, which means … [Read more...]

Ernestine Hayes – “Here We Are Together – Our Only Future Is a Future Together. As Humans.”

By

To listen to Earnestine Hayes in this beautiful short profile is a gift to any heart that aches for the ills in the world today. I’m so grateful that she found her gift of writing. I hope you enjoy! “I believe that the things that we learn about balance and about sharing and kinship and survival and dependence are not strictly Indigenous values … [Read more...]

Healing Words – Human Values

By

I apologize for this blog entry, as it may seem political, but I have never been more ashamed in my life to live in the United States. This president, in 2024, came into office with only 31% of the 245 million citizens eligible to vote. That is 77 million votes for trump and 168 million voters who did NOT vote for his corrupt regime. I think of … [Read more...]

The Community Completes the Artist

By

There are lots of reasons artists create their work…necessity (pay the bills), compulsion, yearning, expression, exploration, joy, invention, obligation….but many of us do our work alone. One of the beautiful things that happens when artists open up their studios to the outside world…is the interaction and exchange of ideas with friends, neighbors, … [Read more...]

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.
Read More
Melinda West and basket, Indianola WA