Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

  • About
    • Art Resume
    • Artist Statement – Land Acknowledgement
    • Teaching, Exhibits, Projects
  • Galleries
    • Functional Ribbed Work
    • Wall Pieces
    • Woven and Folded Bark
    • Sculptural Blends
    • Community
  • Workshops
  • Weaving Knowledge
    • Workshops
    • My Teachers
    • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact

Bloedel Reserve Residency Notes #2

July 5, 2023 By Melinda

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...]

Filed Under: Artistic Uses of Plant Fibers, Community, News, Plants and Places, Upcoming, Weaving Nature Tagged With: Appendix X Funds, artist residency, Bloedel Reserve, English ivy, grateful, gratitude, Nootka Rose, Pacific Northwest plant materials, Scholar in Residence, Scholar in Residence 2023, Suquamish Nation, Suquamish tribe

Basketry Program at BARN-Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network

October 9, 2022 By Melinda

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...]

Filed Under: Community, News, Plants and Places, Students, Weaving from the Wild, Weaving Nature, Workshops

Weaving Nature Workshop Fall 2022 at BARN

April 13, 2022 By Melinda

Harvest Basket

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...]

Filed Under: Community, My Teachers, News, Upcoming, Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: Appalachian Egg Basket, Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, BARN workshops, branch work, gathering, Skagit elder Vi Hilbert, Weaving From The Wild, Weaving Nature

IslandWood Artist Residency Spring 2018 – Blog Catching Up

June 5, 2019 By Melinda

Students plant young Cedar Trees

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...]

Filed Under: Community, News, Students, Weaving Nature Tagged With: Cedar Mat Necklace Pouch, IslandWood, IslandWood Artist in Residence, Suquamish

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

July 29, 2017 By Melinda

Dividing the inner and outer bark layers

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...]

Filed Under: News, Upcoming, Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: Artist in the Woods Residency, Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, cattail, iris, IslandWood, Project for kids, publication, Science & Art, Seasonal Round, Traditional Ecological Knowlede, vines, Weaving Naure - Plant Fiber Projects Blending Culture, Western red cedar, workshop

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »

Search the site

Subscribe

Blog Categories

Connect with Melinda

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Recent Posts

  • Bloedel Reserve Residency Notes #2
  • Bloedel Reserve Residency Notes #1
  • Spring – It’s on the Way
  • Water Is Life – A Song Worth Hearing
  • Suquamish Elder Ed Carriere is a 2023 National Heritage Fellow

Popular Blog Topics

art Art in the Woods Studio Tour Artistic Weaving With Western Red Cedar Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network BARN BARN workshops baskets cedar bark Cedar From Tree To Pouch Clam Basket A Story By Ed Carriere class community creative Cultural Arts Foundation NW design early spring Ed Carriere English ivy Fall First Peoples grasses inner cedar bark inspire IslandWood ivy Katie Jennings mixed grass paper new work North Cascades Institute NW sweetgrass Pacific Northwest Paper making Small Plant Fiber Projects spring students summer Suquamish Sydni Sterling Studio teaching weaving Weaving With Western Red Cedar Western red cedar winter workshop

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

Copyright © 2023 Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry | Indianola | Washington | USA

Site by LND