Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

Bloedel Reserve Residency Notes #2

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I am grateful to be in the fellowship of writers, poets, scientists, culture keepers, composers and art-makers of all types, as a participant in the 2023 Bloedel Reserve’s Creative Residency Program. There I was able to completely loose track of all the usual markers of time in my life. For me, the gift of time for reflection and discovery is an … [Read more...]

Basketry Program at BARN-Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network

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After an almost two year pause in the basketry program at the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network (BARN) due to the covid pandemic, I was honored to be able to contribute to this program by teaching a Weaving Nature Workshop this Fall. Many volunteers besides myself have worked hard to build a Basketry program at BARN, which began it’s programs … [Read more...]

Weaving Nature Workshop Fall 2022 at BARN

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Hello - Are you still there? My blogs have been sparse these past several years. My explanation is simple. The late Upper Skagit Elder, Vi Hilbert, many times said that her elders told her: “If you’re talking, you’re not listening!” Let’s just say I’ve been doing my best to be listening, and reading, and listening, and reflecting, and … [Read more...]

IslandWood Artist Residency Spring 2018 – Blog Catching Up

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I’ve never gotten to teach with a baby on board, but having 7 week old Verite with us for some of our teaching time added to the experience of sharing sharing skills in a more traditional way - as a family. Verie’s mom, Kah-Ty-Ah Lawrence Moran, was team-teaching with me for the two weeks of my IslandWood Artist Residency in May of … [Read more...]

August 26-27 – Weaving Nature-Plant Fiber Projects Blending Culture, Science & Art

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Each year for the past fifteen, I've had the privilege of spending two intensive weeks teaching the craft of weaving with plant fibers, to young people with wildly diverse backgrounds, between the ages of 8 and 14.  As an Artist in Residence at IslandWood, an environmental education campus on Bainbridge Island, just a ferry ride across the water … [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.
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Melinda West and basket, Indianola WA