Melinda West | West Gardens Basketry

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

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My Teachers

Since time immemorial Indigenous cultures all over the world have gathered, refined, and passed forward their Traditional Ecological Knowledge through practicing their traditional arts, including plant fiber technologies such as weaving. Passing forward earth sciences and cultural knowledge in such a way is part of the oral tradition. Unlike the modern industrial culture of today, the oral traditions come with the understanding and point of view of reciprocity, inclusion, and personal relationships.

Weaving with plant fibers is a living art form. Nothing I write or share in this website can substitute for a relationship with a Living Master at their craft. I implore you, if you are interested in learning anything well, please look, and find a Living Master near you. Or travel to them if you can. I think about the knowledge I've been given as a tree. My teachers and my own ancestors are the roots and sap, my origins.  My family and community are strength of the trunk, which supports me in every way. My students, and their students, are the branches and the seeds. We are all part of a forest of living knowledge.

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

I live on the traditional land of the Suquamish People. There is so much history and culture here and all the time I’m learning more, hearing more of the Lushootseed language spoken, watching the canoes being crafted and returning to the waters, witnessing the weavers teaching the next generation of weavers.

Here’s What’s Cooking – Porch Paper Making

To remain sane, what do you do? I’m cooking Sword Ferns this month to see if the green leaves can make a good paper.

Grateful for a Community That Supports Local Artists

Syd and I want to thank all of you who came out to visit us and support our work during the Art in the Woods Studio Tour.

Art in the Woods Studio Tour 2024

We hope to see you next weekend. Painter Sydni Sterling and I are in Sterling Studio which is Studio #2 in Indianola, just a block away from the Indianola Country Store.

Mathewson and West’s Woven Wearables Workshop at BARN

Mathewson and West collaborate to teach “Woven Wearables” at Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network.

Woven Wearables with Mathewson & West

Mathewson and West’s October Workshop At Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network

Spend three inspired days exploring local plant-fiber use and universal fiber techniques with two contemporary plant-fiber artists, Margaret Mathewson and Melinda West, at the Bainbridge Artisans Resource Network.

Betty Pasco

Betty Pasco – Recipient of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Arts BRAVA AWARD in 2023

Thinking about one of my favorite people in the world, Betty Pasco.

Ed Carriere in DC, Sept 2023

Ed Carriere-National Heritage Fellowship Tribute Video (2023)

This is a poignant tribute film made by the National Endowment for the Arts to honor the Ed Carriere, recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship in 2023.

Ed Carriere Receives the National Heritage Fellowship Award in September 2023

Suquamish Elder Ed Carriere goes to Washington DC to receive his award. He is accompanied by his granddaughter and three of his great-grandchildren.

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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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