Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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Northwest Sweet Grass – Basket Grass – My Favorite Grass

September 27, 2010 By Melinda

Bridget's Visor

No matter what name it goes by: Northwest sweet grass, basket grass, three-square, beach grass, common three-square, bulrush, three-cornered grass, scirpus Americanus, or weaver’s sedge - I always enjoy gathering, drying, organizing, and especially, weaving, with the grass that now goes by the botanical name: Schoenoplectus pungens Palla. I’ll … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places, Resources Tagged With: estuary, Jo Hart, NW sweetgrass, Schoenoplectus pungent palla, Seabeck, Wilderness Basketry

Art on the Trail – Messages From the Land Exhibit – Oct 1 to Nov 1, 2010

September 6, 2010 By Melinda

Precarious by Melinda West

Once autumn slips its toe in the door the days quickly shorten. On the beautiful, crisp and clear fall days, there is still gathering to do. I’ve yet to collect cattail leaves and the stems of nettle and fireweed. The sweetgrass I grow at home, was gathered weeks ago, and is now dry. Rainy days like today, give me pause to review the summer and to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artwork, Community Tagged With: Art Along the Trail, Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, exhibit, fireweed, Messages From the Land, nettle, NW sweetgrass

August 16, 2010 Harvesting Grasses and Leaves

August 16, 2010 By Melinda

<><><> </></></>grass fan   28"x20"x2"<><> </></> Summer has peaked in the Puget Sound area with temperatures in the 90's, clear skies, and gentle breezes from the North. This is the time my thoughts flow to the harvesting of foliage from the many long-leaved plants and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: bulrush, cattail, common rush, corn husks, crocosmia, crocus, curing, daffodil, foliage, garlic leaves, grass-like materials, grasses, harvesting, leaves, mellowing, mixed grass paper, NW sweetgrass, onion leaves, papermaking, Siberian iris, spring, storage, summer, wall pieces, Yellow Flag Iris

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Recent Posts

  • 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
  • Here’s What’s Cooking – Porch Paper Making

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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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