26th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition

You are cordially invited to a reception

to celebrate the opening of the

Emeryville Arts Exhibition

on Oct. 6, 2012 from 6:00PM - 9:00 PM.

5890 Christie Ave. Emeryville, CA 94608

EBB & FLOW
You are cordially invited to the opening artist reception
featuring recent paintings by Richard K Bacon.
Friday, October 12, 2012  4:00 - 9:00 PM
at The Good Life Gallery
2620 Telegraph Ave. Berkeley, CA 94704
(510) 356-4048

Art in Nature/The Nature of Art Festival 2012

On Sunday Sept. 23rd, I participated with 200+ other artists at the 3rd annual Art in Nature Festival in the Redwood Trails Park in Oakland, Ca. This year I brought my sculpture installation titled "Earth Blessing: The Flower of Life" as a free co-creative community activity to raise the consciousness of loving the Earth. With the help of my friend Zhang Ke, we were able to hang custom-designed prayer flags to inspire creative expression. The response from attendees young and old was overwhelming with hundreds of beautiful messages added to the sculpture by the end of the day. Also, I brought my various gongs and singing bowls for people to play and along the trail's fence I displayed 8 different recent paintings for people to see how I work with paint on canvas. Two different people expressed interest in collecting my artwork, so it may have been a profitable day after all. However, the whole experience of holding a safe space for creativity and expression among the towering redwoods is truly priceless.

EcoFair Marin

On Sunday Sept. 9th, I joined other "Art in Nature" artists at the EcoFair in Marin County to facilitate free art making to the general public. The Fair was filled with nature-loving attendees and "green" vendors, all offering something to sell, inform, or persuade. We were the only group simply offering an opportunity to have creative fun for free. What a joy and blessing to spend the day in the cool shade of the Live Oaks by the pond, where I got to meet so many kind, interesting and inspiring people!

Take 5: ArtBreak Day 2012

On Friday, Sept. 7th I had the great experience of being host artist at the 2nd annual ArtBreak Day in downtown Oakland at City Hall Plaza where we offer free art making to the general public. (see www.artismoving.org) This year's experience was a contrast to hosting in Richmond last year because I didn't have volunteers to help with facilitating the event, obviously making my day a bit of a challenge.

Thanks much to ProArts who stepped in at the last minute to provide chairs for us. During the day I observed healing taking place on many levels in the community; from the maintenance crews who were reseeding the lawn, to Occupy Movement members who challenged our presence, to unemployed citizens begging for money, to local kids who wanted to steal everything off the tables (including my glasses). When you set up tables in public to provide free service to the community, you have to be prepared for anything to happen. The attendees started painting on paper, but quickly moved to face & body painting, then painting their clothes and their friends clothes. It was difficult to keep the scene under control, but young and old alike had a good time and that's what counts the most.