Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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Art in the Woods Nov 11-13

September 22, 2016 By Melinda

Giant Hearth Basket by Melinda West

Hi friends and fellow artists. I am working on commissions and creating new work with Pacific Northwest plant fibers which will be available this November 11,12,and 13 at Sydni Sterling's Studio and gallery, in Indianola, Washington, as a part of the 2016 Art In The Woods Studio Tour. In 2017, I will be writing a workbook/resource for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Artwork, News Tagged With: art, Art in the Woods Studio Tour, culture, IslandWood, new work, residency, science, small plant fiber project, students, teachers, teaching, website upgrade, young people

Grateful for Wonderful Students

July 31, 2016 By Melinda

Folded Cedar Bark Pouch with Braided Border and Shell Button

I've been meaning to catch up on blogging, but life has its way! Between a bumper crop of raspberries and Marionberries to pick, regular harvesting of our produce, family gatherings, and a lovely hike in the Olympics with friends, I've been silent! I hope to remedy this beginning now, with some entries that are retrospective of the past year or … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving with Cedar, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, Cedar From Tree To Pouch, spring, students, teaching, workshop

Wild Twined Baskets July 19 Class

July 16, 2014 By Melinda

4 baskets of same pattern, but different materials

Here are four versions of one basic twined basket pattern I'll be teaching this Saturday. Using different materials gives lots of variety. The largest basket here, done in an open weave, uses grapevine. The smallest is mostly lavender stems, ivy and akebia vine. The two middle sized are ivy, Iris leaves, New Zealand flax, cedar limb bark, with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: News, Weaving from the Wild, Workshops Tagged With: Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network, BARN, class, Small Plant Fiber Projects, summer, teaching, Wild Twined Basket, Wild Twined Ivy Herb and Flower Basket, workshop

IslandWood Students 2014

July 2, 2014 By Melinda

Happy

This May I had the opportunity to bring a freshly cut Western Red Cedar tree with me to IslandWood so the young people I worked with each week could learn first hand why this tree has been, and still is, so highly valued by the Local First Peoples whose ancestors have lived along the rivers and shorelines of the Pacific Northwest for thousands of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Students, Weaving Nature, Workshops Tagged With: artist in residence, graduate students, IslandWood, spring, students, teaching, Weaving With Western Red Cedar, workshops, woven cedar pouch necklace

A New Years Greeting

January 28, 2014 By Melinda

A New Years Dawn in Indianola 2014

Welcome to 2014. I have so much to be grateful for. Family, friends, health, a warm home, good food from our garden, and an occupation that I love. Weaving with plants, being outside close to the birds and the bugs, building and creating whatever comes to mind, gosh, this sounds a bit like a childhood dream! For now this dreamer is content to get … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Plants and Places Tagged With: art, cousins, craft, culture, First Peoples, kvaeoy, new year, Norway, Pacific Northwest, Sami, teaching, winter

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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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