Melinda West is a plant-fibre weaver living in the Pacific Northwest of North America, along the Salish Sea on the land of the Suquamish peoples. Her work is shaped by deep respect for place, community and the living landscape. She describes herself as non-verbal in the studio, letting materials carry meaning where words might fall short.
Melinda has been an artist for many years and a teacher of art to students of all ages. Her creative life has always been steady, but like many long-term makers, she reached a point where she felt ready to reimagine what she already knew.
Finding the words for what she was already doing
Melinda says it is hard to pinpoint a single moment when Connecting with Lissa Hunter changed her, because there were so many “nuggets of wisdom”. Lissa’s enthusiasm and encouragement stayed with her, and Melinda filled pages of notes with quotes and questions she wanted to carry into her daily thinking.
One idea landed with particular force. Lissa said, “If my art nourishes me, it will likely nourish others.” For Melinda, that was profoundly affirming. It made her feel that what she was doing was okay and right.
Melinda’s work holds stories of transformation and rebirth. She uses plant-based materials that have already lived a life, then regain a new life through her hands. When she heard that line, it strengthened her trust that her quiet intentions could be felt by others.
She hopes a sense of reverence and love for the living landscape comes through her work, especially for those who choose to bring it into their lives.
A shift in approach and permission to begin with ideas
Alongside the emotional affirmation, the course also shifted Melinda’s process. She realised she could begin with an idea, research it and develop it, rather than waiting for the making to reveal everything. That step felt important for where her practice wants to go next.
She also loved how Lissa invited students to consider materials in an honourable way, not just in a poetic sense but also in practical choices. This included recycling, reducing waste, reusing and working with what is around you. Melinda appreciated that the course welcomed all kinds of makers and circumstances, including people without access to wild materials.
It expanded the definition of what counts as a material and what counts as a starting point.
Letting go of preciousness and making space to play
Since taking Connecting: A Philosophy of Making with Lissa Hunter, Melinda has been restructuring how she uses her time. She took Lissa’s advice seriously, organising her workshop and ideas as a favour to herself, something she would thank herself for later.
Even as someone who already knew some basket-weaving techniques, Melinda found value in being guided through small tasks that built momentum. Prompts gave her the push to apply the materials she had collected, experiment with old objects, and try combinations she had always intended to explore but never quite got around to.
One of the biggest breakthroughs was letting go of preciousness. Melinda described the barrier of saving special materials for the perfect moment, then never using them because of perfectionism. The course helped her move through that.
Now, with family duties easing and retirement shifting the rhythm of her days, she feels like she is just getting started. Lissa encouraged her to claim studio hours and let others know she is working. While friends are retiring, Melinda is returning to the studio with a childlike sense of play.
Belonging, confidence and taking the next step
Before the course, Melinda saw herself as an artist, yet at times felt on the edge because she had not been formally trained. Her professional background was in healthcare, and she has long been drawn to art for its healing qualities.
She is also deeply influenced by Indigenous cultures in the place she lives, including Suquamish weaving traditions, where making carries knowledge, healing and cultural continuity. That understanding has shaped how she teaches young people to connect with plants and how she thinks about art as a living practice.
During the course, she also felt challenged to find words for her work. She realised how much language can support people in understanding a practice that is usually communicated through touch and form. Looking back to her childhood, she remembered always making, raised by creative parents and surrounded by four generations of elders and stories. Now those stories are returning, alongside inherited artefacts she no longer wants to store as objects but to transform into materials for art and story.
She described the course as arriving at exactly the right time, helping her draw out stories without having to keep everything.
Why Take Two and why this course
Melinda first encountered Take Two while researching online and exploring what was possible through digital learning. She took an earlier mixed-media course as a test and was surprised by how well the format worked for her. The production quality stood out, with clear visuals, good sound, strong teaching, and the ability to follow each step.
She had also been aware of Lissa Hunter’s work for years, remembering seeing a piece in a contemporary fibre show decades earlier. The craftsmanship, layering of paint and paper, and the way the work was displayed resonated deeply. It elevated handcraft and echoed what Melinda herself had been doing by mounting bark pieces so they could be seen at eye level.
When she listened to Lissa speak, she connected immediately with her philosophy and the warmth in her delivery. She knew she wanted to learn from her.
A course she will return to
Melinda recommends Connecting: A Philosophy of Making with Lissa Hunter to beginners and established artists because the course meets people where they are. It helps students look at their environment and their own life, find the stories they want to tell, and offers practical ways to tell them.
She also values that it is self-paced, so she can return again and again, revisiting the lessons whenever she needs those words of wisdom.
She is not finished with the course. She sees it as something she will return to for rejuvenation, insight and structure, especially as she shapes new projects and considers collaborative exhibition possibilities in the future.
About Connecting: A Philosophy of Making
Connecting with Lissa Hunter supports makers in building a grounded, sustainable practice through prompts, projects and thoughtful guidance. It offers both practical making pathways and deep reflection on intention, material choice and meaning.
With self-paced learning, lifetime access and a supportive online community, students can return to the content over time and continue building work that feels honest, nourishing and connected.