Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

Weaving With Western Red Cedar

By

It was a lovely week at IslandWood this May, with every kind of weather. Warm and sunny, then cool winds with dramatic clouds and thunder, torrential spurts of showers, and back again to warm slightly humid air, scented with the fragrance of everything living.   I brought a simple project for both the graduate students professional … [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.
Read More
Melinda West and basket, Indianola WA