Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

Pearls of Experience

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I will have four of my shaped bark pieces in the Pearls of Experience exhibit at the  Schack Art Center, in Everett, Washington.  This exhibit will feature traditional and contemporary basketry and sculptural fiber-art crafted by members of the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild.  The opening is August 9th, 2012, from 5 to 8 pm.  The exhibit will be up … [Read more...]

Some Images of Winter Work

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What is it? It is Pacific Madrona bark.  My first chance to work with it was this summer after we had to cut down a beautiful old, but injured tree, that happened to be precariously leaning over our old house.  The only other sculptural basketry in Madrona I'd ever seen before was made by Canadian artist Joan Carrigan, who is my total … [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