One of the most beloved figures in Sacramento art, ceramist Ruth Rippon, is being celebrated with a show of works by former students at Alpha Fired Arts.

Rippon taught for many years at California State University, Sacramento. Some of her best students are included in this show, organized by Alpha's proprietor, Brian Tanner.

Tanner himself was a student of Rippon, and he reveres her as "the grande dame of Sacramento ceramics."

"She was a strict taskmaster," Tanner said, "but everyone loved and respected her. When I came up with the idea for this show, everyone I contacted asked if Ruth would be at the opening. When I said yes, they all agreed to participate."

The result is a strong exhibit that features some of Sacramento's most prominent ceramic artists, among them Yoshio Taylor, Tony Natsoulas, Peter VandenBerge, Lee Kavaljian and Fred Gordon, as well as lesser-known artists who nonetheless show exciting works.

Taylor is represented by a bust of one of his evocative, exotic women, a mythic figure in deep red tones whose hair swirls up as if in a strong wind. She is mysterious and beautiful with a dark edge that hints at danger.

Natsoulas offers a wacky piece that is an homage to Mad Magazine artist Basil Wolverton, who has influenced artists from Clayton Bailey (who is having a retrospective exhibition at the Crocker), to Zap Comix's R. Crumb. Here, Natsoulas has assembled a group of off-the-wall aliens derived from Wolverton's work. They are suitably other-worldly in a rich comic vein.

A gentler sense of whimsy informs VandenBerge's plate with a delicate drawing of a two-faced man walking in a landscape. Nearby is a plate by Suzanne Adan, whose work is installed at the new airport Terminal B. It portrays one of her quizzical characters surrounded by a birdhouse, a stack of precariously balanced cups and a sea of floating numbers.

Gordon, who specializes in images of fish, offers a humorous piece titled "Boatload of Neurotic Bass," a mass of goggle-eyed fish in a small fishing boat. He also shows a number of wall pieces in the form of fingerling rainbow trout, steelhead, ocean perch and other denizens of the watery world.

Continuing with the fish theme, Steve Klein shows a large platter titled "Monet's Koi Pond," an elegant and decorative handling of a ubiquitous subject. In contrast, Michael Stevens offers a sinister cracked plate with a snake cut up and reassembled in disjunctive pieces that is wholly original.

Kavaljian is represented by one of his "Spirit Houses," this one made up of three towering forms with openwork decorative elements. It is nearly overwhelmed by a large piece by Glenn Takai in the form of a series of crude figures that sprout up from each other. Larry Ortiz gives us a complex sculpture of Odysseus tied to the mast of his ship as he listens to the sirens tempting him.

Among the lesser-known Rippon students: Mary Cargile stands out with a pair of nicely handled decorative bowls. Cathy Landgraf offers a sturdy loving cup-shaped vase. John Weber presents an earthy vessel with a stunning glaze, and Terry Accomando gives us a strange, expressionistic black-and-white structure that might have sprung from the silent film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari."

Appropriately, at the center of the show is a small piece by Rippon, an elaborate, intricate bust made up of words from the Bible. It's a gem.

Tanner plans to have more exhibits in what is quite a nice space in his store, well-lighted and separated from the merchandise. If this first exhibit is any example, we can expect good things to come.

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