Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

The Community Completes the Artist

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There are lots of reasons artists create their work…necessity (pay the bills), compulsion, yearning, expression, exploration, joy, invention, obligation….but many of us do our work alone. One of the beautiful things that happens when artists open up their studios to the outside world…is the interaction and exchange of ideas with friends, neighbors, … [Read more...]

Togetherness (Formed Cherry-Bark)

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This summer, Sydni Sterling opened her studio during the annual Indianola Days Festival, and I was fortunate to show my new work in her beautiful garden courtyard. Sterling Studio has been on the roster of the Art in the Woods studio tour that takes place in North Kitsap each November, and this is where Sydni sells her contemporary and expressive … [Read more...]

Sydni Sterling’s Gallery

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It was a lovely morning in November for the annual Art in the Woods Studio Tour sponsored by the Cultural Arts Foundation Northwest.     On the second weekend of each November for the past seven years, the annual Art in the Woods Studio Tour brings friends, neighbors and guests from far and wide into the charming studios of … [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