Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

Feb 4, 2018 Workshop at IslandWood

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Gifts From The Landscape Weave a Ribbed Gathering Basket With Melinda West https://islandwood.org/event/gifts-landscape-weaving-ribbed-gathering-basket Sunday, Feb 4th, 9:00-4:00, 2018 At IslandWood Join Melinda West for a day in the Art Studio at IslandWood and learn to transform plant materials from the Pacific Northwest Landscape into … [Read more...]

IslandWood Students 2014

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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...]

Weaving From the Garden – Harvest

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  This Harvest Basket is a Pacific Northwest version of a traditional ribbed gathering basket. In our little organic garden, I'm still using one of the first Harvest Baskets I made over 25 years ago, on a daily basis. I've refurbished it once, and it will likely last another 25 years. In this class students learn how to select and transform … [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