Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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Ed Carriere Receives the National Heritage Fellowship Award in September 2023

November 5, 2023 By Melinda

Ed Carriere has been working steadily for eight decades keeping Suquamish weaving traditions alive. I’ve always known him to be a unique and talented individual, a good friend, and a teacher. One of the lessons I carry from knowing Ed is that a love for learning can take you places you never dreamed possible. I am so happy Ed Carriere is being … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, My Teachers, News, Resources, Upcoming Tagged With: Dale Croes, Ed Carriere, National Heritage Fellowship Award 2023, Suquamish, Suquamish elder, Washington DC

Basketry Workshops At Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network

June 25, 2017 By Melinda

Artist Sue Skelly

June has flown by, and with it, many wonderful experiences. One being that the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network, or BARN, has opened the doors to a beautiful new building on Bainbridge Island, a place of community and learning for makers of many disciplines.  Programs for all eleven studios are up and running, with a huge outpouring of response … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Community, News, Upcoming, Weaving with Cedar, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, Basketry Programs, Berry Pouch, Cedar Tree To Pouch, Cedar weaving, Ed Carriere, fiber art, Garden Spire, Nancy Sigo, Sue Skelly, Suquamish elder, Suquamish Weaver, Woven Cedar Works

Clam Shell Rattle Necklaces

May 24, 2014 By Melinda

2014Odyssey

I was delighted to be invited by teacher, Peggy Koivu, to share the cultural art and science story that my practice of art imparts, with her first and second graders at their Environmental Education Camp retreat. Part of the Bainbridge Island Public School system, this was a class from their Odyssey Program, an alternative program involving lots of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Island, clam basket, clam shell rattle necklace, cultural art, Ed Carriere, Environmental Science, first and second graders, First Peoples, Katie Jennings, Media Alley, Odyessy Program, Pacific Northwest, Peggy Koivu, public schools, Small Plant Fiber Projects, spring, Suquamish elder

Sword Fern

January 1, 2012 By Melinda

Sword Fern (Polystichum munitum), is widespread throughout the Pacific Northwest. It is an evergreen understory plant that thrives at the base of conifers and is often found mingling with Vine maple, Hazelnut, and Big Leaf maple.  This is a really tough plant, that can survive in drought conditions once established, yet can handle the wet weather … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: bedding, clam bake on beach, Clam Basket A Story By Ed Carriere, cultural art film, Ed Carriere, fern, fern use, flooring, food, food preparation, plants, Suquamish elder

Clam Basket – A Story By Ed Carriere

September 3, 2011 By Melinda

Suquamish Master Weaver Ed Carriere

This 15 minute Cultural Art Film is Now Available - New Canoe Media After decades of dreaming, and two years in the making, this story has found a beautiful way to be told. For the Puget Sound Coast Salish People of the Suquamish Tribe, weaving baskets from cedar limbs and roots and digging clams are age-old traditions that come together in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: My Teachers, News, Resources, Weaving with Cedar Tagged With: 15 minute film, Clam Basket A Story By Ed Carriere, cultural art film, cultural art story, DVD, Ed Carriere, Katie Jennings, Media Alley, purchase directly from Ed Carriere, short film, story by Ed Carriere, Suquamish, Suquamish elder

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Recent Posts

  • Local History – Interview With Barbara Ann Lawrence – Suquamish Tribal Cultural Teacher and Storyteller
  • 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

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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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