Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

Ichi-go ichi-e: IslandWood 2-7-2016

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February 7th, 2016. The sun rises on a sleepy Sunday. Wow, am I happy to see this sunrise! I wonder who are the special people I will meet today? They don't mind missing the Super Bowl to learn cedar weaving! Sometimes an idiom so perfectly describes an experience that it must be remembered. "Ichi-go ichi-e" is an expression in the Japanese … [Read more...]

IslandWood Cedar Class Feb 8, 2015

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I will be teaching a class at IslandWood during their Community Open House. Please click on the link for more information. If the link doesn't work, go to, www.islandWood.org, click on community events, and scroll down to the class announcement. https://islandwood.org/event/cedar-bark-basket  … [Read more...]

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