{"id":40594,"date":"2024-02-03T00:01:10","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T08:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=40594"},"modified":"2026-06-05T12:46:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T12:46:17","slug":"california-clay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/california-clay\/","title":{"rendered":"California Clay: Oozing, Writhing, Glistening Art. Now at the Bedford Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"california<\/a>
California Clay: Detail of “Blot,” a work in stoneware clay and nichrome wires by Mary Alison Lucas. It’s part of the California Clay show now at the Bedford Gallery. Photos by Barbara Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Is it a porcupine? Or a toad? Whatever it is, your fingers can’t help wanting to reach out to touch the prickly, worty thing. But, hands off! This is a work of ceramic art, and a sign warns, “Please Do Not Touch.”<\/p>\n

You can do all the looking you want for the next few weeks, however. Mary Alison Lucas’ homely creature will be on view through March 31 at the Bedford Gallery<\/a> of the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California.<\/p>\n

It’s part of a show, “California Clay,” where ceramic art appears to have forgotten how to look like art and chooses instead to ooze, glisten, drip and writhe.<\/p>\n

Itchy Fingers?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

If your fingers itch to fondle one of these works of art — not a problem. For $3,600, “Blot” can be all yours. Take it home. Touch it all you want. Introduce it to your pet iguana.<\/p>\n

Same goes for Ahn Lee’s\u00a0 “Miasma,” priced at $4,400. Or Erik Scollon’s “Lava Lamp,” a more affordable $500.<\/p>\n

Or just head on out to the Lesher Center, take a look, and enjoy the wonderful stuff on view. hands behind your back.<\/p>\n

More notes on clay at “Ceramics Envy at the Berkeley Art Center — I Want to Get My Hands Into That Earthy, Messy Squishy Clay.”<\/a>\u00a0 Also,\u00a0 “I’ve Got a Pile of Antique Bricks in My Backyard. And They’re Headed for the Dump.”<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"california<\/a>
Detail of Ahn Lee’s beautiful, writhing “Miasma.” Glazed porcelain.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"california<\/a>
Erik Scollon’s oozing “Lava Lamp.” Layers of glaze on stoneware.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"california<\/a>
Reniel Del Rosario’s ceramic and glaze “Sunday Painter’s Studio,” with brushes crying out to be dipped into paint.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"california<\/a>
At the California Clay show, Nathan Lynch’s glistening glazed ceramic — stepstool? —\u00a0 tempts the viewer to take a seat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"do-not-touch-sign\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"blot-by-Mary-Alison-Lucas\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bedford Gallery’s “California Clay” show, where ceramic art forgets to look like art and chooses instead to ooze, glisten, drip and writhe.\u00a0 Read more.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[221],"tags":[376,1345,653,2818,2819,2820,2821,2384,2822,2823],"class_list":["post-40594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-house-and-garden","tag-art","tag-artists","tag-arts-and-crafts","tag-bedford-gallery","tag-california-clay","tag-ceramic-art","tag-clay","tag-home-decor","tag-lesher-center-for-the-arts","tag-touch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40594"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40594\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48850,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40594\/revisions\/48850"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}