Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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UW Society of Ethnobiology

May 30, 2015 By Melinda

It was a beautiful day for the outdoor workshop 'Weaving With Invasives' held in the lovely Medicinal Herb Garden on Seattle's UW campus.  I'm grateful to the UW Society of Ethnobiolgy which hosted this event, and especially to Alex Harwell and Ashley Blazina. Along with organizing this event they made sure we had plenty of English ivy and Reed … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: English ivy, ethnobiology, ethnobotany, ivy, Small Plant Fiber Projects, spring, students, UW Society of Ethnobiology, Weaving with invasives

Weaving With Invasives

May 25, 2015 By Melinda

I’ll be teaching a free workshop in Seattle this Friday. Registration is required.<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-3471" src="https://www.melindawest.com/mwwp/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/image27-545x674.jpg" alt="image" width="545" height="674" … [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: English ivy, ethnobotany, ivy, Seattle, Small Plant Fiber Projects, UW campus, UW Society of Ethnobiology, Weaving with invasives

Weaving Summer

July 22, 2014 By Melinda

some students with their baskets

If summer could be woven into a basket, this past Saturday's "Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket" class at the Rolling BARN is it! The Rolling BARN is the interim location for the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, or BARN, http://bainbridgebarn.org We had a creative day in a really nice space that the volunteer members of BARN have been … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, BARN, cedar, class, English ivy, herbs, ivy, Small Plant Fiber Projects, students, summer, twined, Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket, workshop

Herbs and Flowers Ready For Class

July 18, 2014 By Melinda

herbs and Flowers for class

I love to weave, but I love the gathering of materials equally, if not more. It's the being outside, most often in stunningly beautiful surroundings. In preparation for teaching the Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket class tomorrow, over the past two weeks I've been harvesting herbs and flowers from our garden, yarrow from the wild borders, and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, BARN, English ivy, German Statice, ivy, Louisa Brown, Persephone Farm, Rebecca Slattery, Small Plant Fiber Projects, Wild Twined Herb and Flower Basket class, workshop, Yarrow

Wild Twined Basket Class 7-19-14

May 30, 2014 By Melinda

Wild Herb and Flower Basket

There is a wonderful new resource for artisans brewing on Bainbridge Island, in Washington State.  It is called the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, or BARN. A place for artisans to learn, share tools, practice skills, and have space and opportunity to work and network. BARN has developed site and building designs with generous help from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, class, English ivy, ivy, spring, twined, Wild Herb and Flower Basket, 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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Melinda West and basket, Indianola WA

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