Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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More Pictures From NCI Art Retreat

October 2, 2012 By Melinda

I am a hunter-gatherer of plant materials and I use them for specific fiber technologies.  Because of the rarity of some materials, the time put into the gathering of others, and the painstaking preparation of most of the materials once gathered, I have developed the habit of saving my scraps.  When I met Sue Smith in the late 1980’s early 1990’s, I found a kindred spirit, a basketmaker from Texas who had a habit of sweeping up the scraps from her studio and making them into beautiful handmade papers.  Since our meeting, I’ve been making batches of paper each year which I end up using in my work.

Making paper is fun, and using handmade papers as a sculptural medium is like magic.  Not only does the paper add shape, structure, and surface to armatures made of branches, roots, and architectural driftwood; it covers up mistakes, solves problems, and adds a wonderful texture to the work.

This four day workshop employed many acquired and innate skills that each student brought with them, and offered them a safe, friendly environment for adding to their knowledge of woodworking, lashings, cordage-making, frame-building, basic weaving, twining, netting, papermaking,  and sculpting with papers.

I was a delight for me to be with these participants, getting to know them better, and having the opportunity to learn from each person.  It was evident that everyone had creative ideas flowing long before they signed up for this workshop.  I’m grateful that we had this time to  share our inspiration and love of nature with each other.

Here are pictures of these hard working artists in the workshop:  Sculptural Basketry and Papermaking With Plants From the Northwest Landscape

Jewel and Raven

Exhibit

Kathy is Unleashed!

Maureen experimentsLinda's Artifacts Inspire Forms

Joan's Delicate Creations

Exhibit

Look WHOO

Jewel and Joan Hard at Work

Exhibit

Nancy at Sourdough Falls

Exhibit

Joan

Jay Carefully Selects

Exhibit

Kathy Puts It All Together

Callan

Elizabeth Weaves

ExhibitNancy

All Our Best Wishes To Brekken + Grandma Linda

Jay's Splendid Creation

Maureen

Jewel and Raven

Our NCI Exhibit

Maureen Paddles on Lake Diablo

View from Sourdough Falls

Filed Under: Artistic Uses of Plant Fibers, Students, Workshops Tagged With: armatures, cedar bark paper, creative, Creative Arts Retreat, Fall, mixed grass paper, North Cascades Institute, Northwest Landscape, Paper making, plant fibers, recycling materials, Sculptural Basketry and Paper Making, students, surface treatment

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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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