Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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The Community Completes the Artist

November 14, 2025 By Melinda

There are lots of reasons artists create their work…necessity (pay the bills), compulsion, yearning, expression, exploration, joy, invention, obligation….but many of us do our work alone. One of the beautiful things that happens when artists open up their studios to the outside world…is the interaction and exchange of ideas with friends, neighbors, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artwork, Community, News, Upcoming Tagged With: Art in the Woods 2025, Art in the Woods Studio Tour, cafnw, community, Community partnership, Cultural Arts Foundation NW, fiber art, painting, Sydni Sterling painter, Sydni Sterling Studio

Local History – Interview With Barbara Ann Lawrence – Suquamish Tribal Cultural Teacher and Storyteller

May 19, 2025 By Melinda

Barbara Ann Lawrence is a Suquamish culture carrier. I am blessed when our paths cross in the many ways they do through our work, families and friendship. I consider her one of my precious teachers. I’m sharing an interview with Barbara here because she is a participant in many of the positive things going on in the Suquamish community today. Her … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, My Teachers, News, Resources, Upcoming Tagged With: 1990 Suquamish-Indianola Storytelling Project, Appendix X Funds, Barbara Anne Lawrence, Barbara Lawrence, Community partnership, Ed Carriere, Krist Novoselic, Nirvana, partners, Port Townsend, Suquamish culture, Suquamish history, Suquamish Museum, Suquamish Nation, The Thing, treaty rights, WA, Washington State Historical Society Peace and Friendship Award

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Recent Posts

  • Lissa Hunter’s Take Two Online Workshop
  • Ernestine Hayes – “Here We Are Together – Our Only Future Is a Future Together. As Humans.”
  • Healing Words – Human Values
  • Greetings – It’s 2026!
  • The Community Completes the Artist

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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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