Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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More NCI 2011 Class Images

July 15, 2012 By Melinda

8-8-11 Sample

  More to come..... … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artistic Uses of Plant Fibers, Students, Workshops Tagged With: 2011, Artistic Weaving With Western Red Cedar, cedar bark, cedar bark preparation, class, creative, design, inspire, North Cascade mountains, retreat, students, weaving, workshop

NCI Students Begin Their Projects

July 13, 2012 By Melinda

8-8-11 033

The following images were taken by Julie Toomey.  Thanks for sharing these Julie! Many students came with their own project ideas.  It was amazing to see how these ideas became transformed into objects.  Don is making a wall sconce for a light fixture at home. Mary wants to make a special open basket, for holding her "angel cards" … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artistic Uses of Plant Fibers, Students, Workshops Tagged With: 2011 Class, Artistic Weaving With Western Red Cedar, baskets, cedar bark, creative, design, function, inspire, North Cascades Institute, Pacific Northwest plant materials, projects, retreat, students, summer, workshop

2011 NCI Class – Finished Projects

July 12, 2012 By Melinda

8-8-11 035

What a joy it was for Elizabeth and me to see what these students had accomplished in four days.  These types of introductory workshops are always more about the process than the product, but it is meaningful for students of any age to have physical reminders of what they are learning.  I have noticed that when students begin working with Western … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artistic Uses of Plant Fibers, Students, Workshops Tagged With: 2011, Artistic Weaving With Western Red Cedar, cedar bark preparation, class, creative, design, inspire, North Cascades Institute, North Cascades Mountain Range, students, summer, weaving, Western red cedar bark, workshop

Paper Making and Sculptural Work

May 31, 2012 By Melinda

Vine Maple and Cedar Paper

  Using the treasures of natural plant materials, handmade papers, and perhaps recycled personal artifacts, students create interesting sculptural forms, and/or baskets, each piece with it's own story to tell.  Please click the link in the side bar for more information about this upcoming class at North Cascades Institute. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artistic Uses of Plant Fibers, Students, Workshops Tagged With: armature, build, cedar bark paper, Cedar weaving, class, creative, design, freeform, inspire, mixed grass paper, mixed media, natural materials, Paper making, Sculptural Weaving and Paper Making, Sculptural Weaving and Paper Making With Plants From the NW Landscape, sculpture, students, surface design, workshop

Small Cedar Baskets

May 21, 2012 By Leslie

Woven Cedar Bark and Sweetgrass Baskets

Students learn to make small bark baskets using the inner bark of the Western Red Cedar, a tree highly valued by First Peoples cultures of the Pacific Northwest.     Learn why the Western Red Cedar has been referred to as "Long-Life-Maker' by the First Peoples of the Pacific Northwest as you experience the process of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Weaving with Cedar, Workshops Tagged With: age level, base, class, design, freeform, inner cedar bark, Long Life Maker, NW sweetgrass, planting cedar trees, rim, Schoenoplectus pungens palla, sides, small basket, Small Cedar Projects, students, traditional, Twining, weaving, Weaving With Western Red Cedar, Western red cedar, workshop

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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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