Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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Weaving Summer

July 22, 2014 By Melinda

some students with their baskets

If summer could be woven into a basket, this past Saturday's "Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket" class at the Rolling BARN is it! The Rolling BARN is the interim location for the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, or BARN, http://bainbridgebarn.org We had a creative day in a really nice space that the volunteer members of BARN have been … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, BARN, cedar, class, English ivy, herbs, ivy, Small Plant Fiber Projects, students, summer, twined, Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket, workshop

Wild Twined Baskets July 19 Class

July 16, 2014 By Melinda

4 baskets of same pattern, but different materials

Here are four versions of one basic twined basket pattern I'll be teaching this Saturday. Using different materials gives lots of variety. The largest basket here, done in an open weave, uses grapevine. The smallest is mostly lavender stems, ivy and akebia vine. The two middle sized are ivy, Iris leaves, New Zealand flax, cedar limb bark, with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, class, Small Plant Fiber Projects, summer, teaching, Wild Twined Basket, Wild Twined Ivy Herb and Flower Basket, workshop

Workshop Sat July 19, 2014

July 3, 2014 By Melinda

Wild Herb and Flower Basket

Wild Twined Herb & Flower Basket with Melinda West When Saturday, July 19, 2014 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM Location Rolling Bay Center, 11272 Sunrise Dr. NE, Bainbridge Island Registration BARN Family Member - $72.00 (USD) BARN Member - $72.00 (USD) Non-BARN member - $80.00 (USD) Learn to make a "Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket" … [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisans Resouce Network, BARN, class, English ivy, Rolling Bay, summer, Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket, workshop

Wild Twined Basket Class 7-19-14

May 30, 2014 By Melinda

Wild Herb and Flower Basket

There is a wonderful new resource for artisans brewing on Bainbridge Island, in Washington State.  It is called the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, or BARN. A place for artisans to learn, share tools, practice skills, and have space and opportunity to work and network. BARN has developed site and building designs with generous help from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, class, English ivy, ivy, spring, twined, Wild Herb and Flower Basket, workshop

How do You Measure Learning?

November 18, 2012 By Melinda

Options Program Students, 4-12

I originally wrote this blog entry last June.  But today, it is raining torrentially, so I am revisiting some ideas that concern me about the concept of how to measure learning, and the bind that most excellent classroom teachers find themselves in, trying to serve their students, with an insatiable burocracy on their backs.  Gordon Elementary's … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: age-range, clam shell rattle, class, Gordon Elementary, Measure learning, necklace, Options Program, public school, rattle, workshop

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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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