Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

  • About
    • Art Resume
    • Artist Statement – Land Acknowledgement
    • Teaching, Exhibits, Projects
  • Galleries
    • Functional Ribbed Work
    • Wall Pieces
    • Woven and Folded Bark
    • Sculptural Blends
    • Community
  • Workshops
  • Weaving Knowledge
    • Workshops
    • My Teachers
    • Resources
  • Blog
  • Contact

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

Ed Carriere-National Heritage Fellowship Tribute Video (2023)

May 8, 2024 By Melinda

Ed Carriere in DC, Sept 2023

https://youtu.be/PouV49-M8QI?si=brctPAd9auhH5-wo   … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, My Teachers, News, Plants and Places, Resources, Students Tagged With: cultural art, cultural art teacher, culture keeper, culture teacher, Ed Carriere, Ed Eugene Carriere, National Heritage Fellowship Award 2023, NEA, Tribute to Ed Carriere by NEA

Ed Carriere Receives the National Heritage Fellowship Award in September 2023

November 5, 2023 By Melinda

Ed Carriere has been working steadily for eight decades keeping Suquamish weaving traditions alive. I’ve always known him to be a unique and talented individual, a good friend, and a teacher. One of the lessons I carry from knowing Ed is that a love for learning can take you places you never dreamed possible. I am so happy Ed Carriere is being … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, My Teachers, News, Resources, Upcoming Tagged With: Dale Croes, Ed Carriere, National Heritage Fellowship Award 2023, Suquamish, Suquamish elder, Washington DC

Weaving Words – 1990 Suquamish-Indianola Oral Histories

April 3, 2021 By Melinda

Weaving Words - 1990 Suquamish-Indianola Oral Histories Thirty years ago, some White land owners from the community where I live attempted to block the sale of land to the Suquamish Tribe. For most of time, this land was known to be a part of Traditional Suquamish Territory, so the Tribe persisted and eventually purchased enough land in Indianola … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, My Teachers, News, Resources, Upcoming Tagged With: 1990 Suquamish-Indianola Storytelling Project, Ed Carriere, Elliott Pickrell, Ethel Kitsap Sam, Eva Meacham, Ida Purser, Jo MacKay Imeson, Joan Sunde, Lawrence Webster, MacKay Family, Marilyn Wandrey, Oral Histories, Reine Enschede, Suquamish Museum

Ed Carriere’s Residency at Bloedel Reserve

March 13, 2021 By Melinda

It was a delight to spend a sunny afternoon this March visiting Suquamish Master Weaver and Cultural Teacher, Ed Carriere, during his Artist in Residency at the Bloedel Reserve. Suquamish Elder, Marilyn Wandrey, Ed’s younger cousin, explored the native woodland landscape on Bainbridge Island that surrounds the beautiful house where Ed is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, My Teachers, News, Upcoming, Weaving with Cedar Tagged With: Artist in Residency, Bloedel Reserve, Ed Carriere, Marilyn Wandrey, National Museum of Natural History, National Treasures, Split Cedar Limbs, Split Cedar Roots

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

Search the site

Subscribe

Blog Categories

Connect with Melinda

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Recent Posts

  • Local History – Interview With Barbara Ann Lawrence – Suquamish Tribal Cultural Teacher and Storyteller
  • Porch Papermaking With Food Plants – Cardoon and Kale
  • Paper from the Ditch – Weathered Reed Canary Grass
  • Late Winter Papermaking – Mixing Siberian Iris Leaves and Lichens
  • More Spring Porch Papermaking – With Ivy Leaves

Popular Blog Topics

art Art in the Woods Studio Tour Artistic Weaving With Western Red Cedar Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network BARN BARN workshops cedar bark Cedar From Tree To Pouch Clam Basket A Story By Ed Carriere class community creative Cultural Arts Foundation NW design early spring Ed Carriere English ivy Fall First Peoples grasses inner cedar bark IslandWood ivy Katie Jennings leaves new work North Cascades Institute NW sweetgrass Pacific Northwest papermaking Paper making Small Plant Fiber Projects spring students summer Suquamish Sydni Sterling Sydni Sterling Studio teaching weaving Weaving With Western Red Cedar Western red cedar winter workshop

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.
Read More
Melinda West and basket, Indianola WA

Copyright © 2025 Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry | Indianola | Washington | USA

Site by LND