Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

Wild Twined Basket Class 7-19-14

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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...]

Wild Herb and Flower Basket

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  Learn to make a twined basket using the 'weedy-vine' English ivy.  This vine, innocently introduced to the Pacific Northwest as a landscaping plant, has eagerly escaped the garden borders and is now choking out many of our remaining native forests.  Let's use this material, for its tenacious qualities also make it a great weaving … [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