Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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Untitled Pieces

June 27, 2014 By Melinda

2014 limb and leaf

I'm spending a lot of time lately, (and this has happened a few times before), trying to find a surface area, or a wall space in my studio, on which to work. New piles develop each week as I gather, prepare, and dry new materials that come into their prime. I organize the dried materials, trying to incorporate as much as I can into the many … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artwork Tagged With: cedar limb, clean the studio, hand-made paper, minimal, new work, spring

Traditional Fishing Weir

June 12, 2012 By Melinda

Cedar Limb Weir

This split cedar root and cedar limb fishing weir was just completed by Suquamish weaver Ed Carriere.  He spent most of the year working on materials preparation; every elders trip; all his sight-seeing voyages from China, to Antarctica, to Mexico, and the Bahamas.  Ed gets around in his retirement and has made the largest open twined basket that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Teachers, News Tagged With: canoes, cedar limb, cedar root, clam basket, Clam Basket A Story By Ed Carriere, cultural art film, Ed Carriere, fish weir, my teachers, Suquamish, weir

Clam Shell Rattle Necklace

May 22, 2012 By Leslie

Clam Shell Rattle Necklace

Using materials from three important Northwest ecosystems:  forest, shoreline, and estuary, students learn plant fiber technologies to construct a Clam Shell Rattle Necklace.     Using clam shells from the Salish Sea's inter-tidal zone, cedar limbs from the lowland forest, and NW sweetgrass from the estuary, learn plant fiber … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: age level, bivalve, cedar limb, clam, class, Environmental Science, exploring, grass, mollusk, Music, nature beads, necklace, netting, NW sweetgrass, rattle, Red Osier Dogwood, Rhythms in Nature, River Willow, Small Plant Fiber Projects, students, weaving, Western red cedar, workshop

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Recent Posts

  • Bare Bones Abstracts
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  • October 2020 London Craft Week at J&M Davidson
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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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Melinda West and basket, Indianola WA

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