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

Gratitude for Winter Projects

April 26, 2014 By Melinda

Spring is here, and like most plant weaving folks I’m in the midst of all the designing, constructing, gathering, and preparing of materials that the season demands.

But before I rush off to all the new explorations of materials, and adventures in learning through art-making, I’d like to express my gratitude for the work I was able to complete this winter.

I enjoyed weaving “Lopez Wing” for a wonderful couple who recently moved to Lopez Island. Birds and their ability to take flight have always captivated me, and in my mind represent a place of transitional existence, somewhere between the material world and the spirit world. I used three of my favorite materials: ornamental plum limbs, inner bark of the Western red cedar, and Yew limb buttons. The size is approx. 60″ wide x 20″ tall x 2″ deep, if hung horizontally, but the piece can be oriented to the space in any number of ways. I had a lot of joy in the weaving of this through some of the colder darker days of winter. Thank you for this commission!

20140426-111133.jpg

Another project I truly enjoyed was learning to rush an antique chair seat in the original traditional materials. I used all of the cattails I had planted in a small patch in our garden, and harvested each year for the past ten years. I was surprised that the seat required so much material, but by the time all the pieces were twisted and compacted, with all the trimmings and ends used as stuffing, it became such a soft and comfortable seat! Many thanks to the client in New York for providing me this opportunity to learn another traditional plant fiber skill!

20140426-110736.jpg

20140426-111006.jpg

And thank you to a flower-loving friend in Mossy Rock, Washington, who suggested I make her a quart-jar vase-cover for her flower arrangements. I kept it simple, so the beauty of the cedar could compliment the flowers.

20140426-110442.jpg

And another personal project my husband and I are very happy to have done is a new roof for this sweet old house!

20140426-112000.jpg

Now into the garden we go!

20140426-145946.jpg

Filed Under: Artwork, News Tagged With: cattail, cedar bark, Lopez Wing, new work, plumb limbs, rush a chair seat, winter, Yew buttons

Search the site

Subscribe

Blog Categories

Connect with Melinda

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Recent Posts

  • Weaving Project With Periscope Woodcraft
  • Food Along the Trail – Big Leaf Maple Flower Fritters
  • Weaving Nature Workshop Fall 2022 at BARN
  • Paper From Plants – A Lesson in Resilience
  • Fireweed and Nettle Fiber Papers

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 IslandWood ivy Katie Jennings leaves new work North Cascades Institute NW sweetgrass Pacific Northwest Paper making Small Plant Fiber Projects spring students summer Suquamish Sydni Sterling Studio teaching vines 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 © 2022 Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry | Indianola | Washington | USA

Site by LND