Beyond pottery

Just visiting the Beatrice Wood Art Gallery is a full immersion experience. After nearly an hour-long drive through the Ojai Valley and onto Highway 150, the idyllic setting put me into that nature-appreciating, artistic mindset in which I wistfully imagine what it would feel like to have ceramics experience beyond elementary school pinch-pot projects. The panoramic view of Beato’s beloved Happy Valley had me in cliché transcendental-poet mode before I even opened the door.

But not a solitary Hudson River School oil is to be found within the walls of the Mama of Dada’s home-turned-gallery. Augmenting the permanent collection of Woods’ works adorning the walls — and the occasional fireplace mantel — is the first of two small rooms devoted to Contemporary California Clay, which began July 12 and runs through August 24.

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~ by kingstonstone on October 1, 2008.