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Arts & Entertainment

Blowing The Lid Off Landscape

A new exhibit at the Bedford Gallery, filled with fun and fantasy, sheds fresh light on the meaning of "landscape."

Twenty-eight invited artists, 62 juried winners, plant cuttings, pumice, glass and dirt blew the lid off the meaning of “landscape” at the opening of the Bedford Gallery’s Outlandish: Contemporary Depictions of Nature.

Carrie Lederer, curator of exhibitions and programs, turned the Thursday event into an ecological work of living art, inviting East Bay artists Yvette Molina and Sarah Filley to bring their Wonderarium Mobile Plant Ambassador to the festivities.

The Ambassador, a futuristic push cart packed with plants, moss, tiny shovels and spray bottles, allowed visitors to dig in.

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And dig they did, sparking creativity and smiles of delight in the mini-terrariums guests assembled.

Henry Schlitt, 6, was all concentration as his 10-year-old brother, Miles, stood watch. Like any master artist at work, he layered stones and soil in his glass orb, pressing and watering the plants — completely oblivious to the excited chatter in the packed gallery or the photographer capturing his movements.

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His mother, Martha, a San Francisco artist whose winning entries appeared in the juried portion of the show, was inspired by an ancient oak that was cut down in Walnut Creek in 2003.

“The Big Tree Project the Bedford used to memorialize the tree stayed with me,” Schlitt said. “I was working with ledger paper and the relationship between the paper and the tree made a connection for me.”

Her work, with natural wood grain rising as sky above a land mass of handmade grid paper, is a subtle but immensely satisfying reflection on the Bay area’s rolling ridge lines.

Earl, a visitor from Chicago who declined to provide his last name, experienced Amy M. Ho’s Beyond II atop a 7-foot stepladder.

“You climb up, look inside and there’s mirrors all around, so it’s like one endless savannah,” he exclaimed.

Not to be outdone, Megan O’Lanen of Oakland, stuck her head inside a floating box.

Artist Vaughn Bell’s “personal biosphere”, suspended from the ceiling and filled with plants native to Walnut Creek, exposed gallery guests to the intimacy of nature.

“It was very earthy,” O’Lanen said upon emerging. “I felt like I was in a whole separate micro-climate!”

Other work, from Tiffany Bozic’s surreal paintings to Michelle Tobia’s porcelain, leaf-like sculptures — gently positioned with stick pins — required less physicality to appreciate.

The collection, notable for representing contemporary artists working in a variety of media, generated lively conversations and appreciative comments from viewers of all ages.

“Look at that!” a young girl said, pointing at Julia Nelson-Gal’s Lost in Sheridan, a scattered, dry-grass landscape littered with automobiles and trailer homes. “Is that art?” she asked.

“Marvelous, marvelous,” pronounced a gentleman, standing alone in front of a wall of work.

Despite the distractions of delicious food and reunions with friends, it was the art, presented with enthusiasm and a sense of fun, that made Thursday night’s opening a crowd-pleasing adventure.

The exhibit will continue through Sept. 4. Admission is free on first Tuesdays and always for children younger than 12. For hours and location, visit www.bedfordgallery.org.

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