Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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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

Gathering Cattail

September 13, 2015 By Melinda

I love how a person can take a humble leaf, or a handful of stems or grasses, and learn to manipulate them into vastly useful elements, or objects.  Recently, when two beautiful, handmade cherry wood frames arrived from New York state, in a large box at my door, I had an opportunity to become what in the British Isles is termed a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: cattail, curing cattail, curing process, eating cattail, freshwater marsh, gathering, Gathering cattail, June, preparing materials, processing cattail, summer

Gratitude for Winter Projects

April 26, 2014 By Melinda

Lopez Wing 2014 Melinda West

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 … [Read more...]

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

Salmon Return Festival Sept 7, 2013

August 30, 2013 By Melinda

Gathering Cattails at Suquamish Basket Marsh

For more information:  https://www.seattleartmuseum.org/calendar/eventDetail.asp?eventID=26281 I hope you can come to the upcming Salmon Return Festival, a Fall-FamilyFriendly-Free-Fun-Festival at Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle Washington, Saturday September 7, 2013, from 10 to 3 pm. Amoung many other fun free things to do and see at this … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: cattail, drop-in art project, Fall, Family programs, Olympic Sculpture Park, Pacific Rim Peoples, Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, weaving, weaving cattail Salmon

August 16, 2010 Harvesting Grasses and Leaves

August 16, 2010 By Melinda

<><><> </></></>grass fan   28"x20"x2"<><> </></> Summer has peaked in the Puget Sound area with temperatures in the 90's, clear skies, and gentle breezes from the North. This is the time my thoughts flow to the harvesting of foliage from the many long-leaved plants and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: bulrush, cattail, common rush, corn husks, crocosmia, crocus, curing, daffodil, foliage, garlic leaves, grass-like materials, grasses, harvesting, leaves, mellowing, mixed grass paper, NW sweetgrass, onion leaves, papermaking, Siberian iris, spring, storage, summer, wall pieces, Yellow Flag Iris

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About Melinda

Thirty 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. The experience of weaving with the materials at hand while being together with my sons on a beautiful Pacific Northwest shoreline, kindled a passion for creating art from natural plant materials. I thank my family, my community, and all my teachers for cultivating this gift in me.
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