Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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More Spring Porch Papermaking – With Ivy Leaves

March 17, 2025 By Melinda

We’ve lived on the Kitsap Peninsula for 45 years now. When we moved here from Seattle, this land on traditional Suquamish territory was zoned rural, and the timber company Pope, owned vast swathes of land where it clear-cut the timber, and replanted mostly mono-cultures of Douglas Fir. Over the years, Pope morphed into Olympic Resources, converting … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artwork, Community, News, Plants and Places, Upcoming Tagged With: abaca, Basketry School, cockling, cotton linter, couching, English ivy, forest, formation aid, hand-made paper, ivy, lamination, Michelle Berg, Ocra, press, pulp, restrained, Ribbed Baskets, screen molds, slurry, Sue Smith

Vine Maple

May 11, 2012 By Melinda

Vine Maple

… [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: carving, deciduous, forest, graceful growth pattern, hardwood, hooks, impliments, native plant, needles, Pacific Northwest, Plants and Places, tools, understory tree

Bear Grass is Blooming

May 5, 2012 By Melinda

Bear Grass

In the Pacific Northwest, this perennial herb has been utilized by basket weavers for a long time.  With great care and delicacy, individual leaves, and only a few from each plant, would be pulled from near each stem.  It had, and still has, value to First Peoples cultures for decorative work on baskets and hats, and was and still is used as a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: baskets, bears, decorative design-work, early spring, forest, huckleberry, limited gathering, meadow, mountain blueberries, preparation, sharp edges, sweet scent

Western Red Cedar

April 12, 2012 By Melinda

Gifts of the Pacific Northwest Forests

The forest is a special place, and each plant has it's own story. Once tall, thick forests covered the land surrounding the Salish Sea, or Puget Sound, region. Since about five-thousand years ago, among these tall conifers, there is a pollen record of the existence of the Western Red Cedar.  This slow-growing, water and shade-loving plant, became … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: baskets, canoes, clothing, culturally sagnificent tree, First Peoples, forest, Long Life Maker, sap rising, shelter, spring, Western red cedar, Wild Rose

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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

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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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