Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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Community Programs at IslandWood

March 5, 2015 By Melinda

<img class="alignnone size-large wp-image-3301" src="http://www project collaboration software.melindawest.com/mwwp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/image11-545x407.jpg" alt="accomplished cedar weaver at IslandWood" width="545" height="407" srcset="https://www.melindawest.com/mwwp/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/image11-545x407.jpg 545w, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving with Cedar, Workshops Tagged With: cedar from Bark to Basket, IslandWood, IslandWood Community Programs, NW sweetgrass, Schoenoplectus pungent palla, students, Weaving With Western Red Cedar, Western red cedar, Woven Cedar Satchel

The Cedar Experience

May 22, 2012 By Leslie

Woven Cedar Mat Necklace

Participants learn to make either a:  Woven Cedar Mat Necklace, (as you see pictured below at IslandWood), a Woven Cedar Wall Hanging, or a Small Cedar Bark Basket.     The Cedar Experience is a class designed to give learners of any age the opportunity to experience the gifts of Western Red Cedar through the hands, heart, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Weaving with Cedar, Workshops Tagged With: Cedar life cycle, Cedar Satchel, culturally sagnificent tree, NW sweetgrass, preparation of inner cedar bark, replanting cedar trees, Schoenoplectus pungent palla, Small Cedar Bark Basket, Small Cedar Projects, Weaving With Western Red Cedar, Woven Cedar Wall Basket. "Long Life Maker"

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

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Recent Posts

  • Lissa Hunter’s Take Two Online Workshop
  • Ernestine Hayes – “Here We Are Together – Our Only Future Is a Future Together. As Humans.”
  • Healing Words – Human Values
  • Greetings – It’s 2026!
  • The Community Completes the Artist

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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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