We're headed out of town for a bit of a long weekend, but it occurred to me that I mentioned a larger Veerakeat that we owned. "Telegraph Hill" was painted in 1999 and is 48" x 48". The purchase of this piece and another (by another artist we'll feature later) was a pretty big departure for us. This cost mid-4 figures and represents one our largest outlays for artwork. It's worth every nickel. Click on the photo to enlarge it. Go ahead, I'll wait, it's worth it. The photo does absolutely no justice to the power of this work on the wall, the way it captures the changing light in our home to mimic the changes seen on the real Telegraph Hill, the sense of movement in the street and sky, the richness of the colors. This is what I meant by "energy" as discussed in the previous post about Veerakeat. We adore this piece. ADORE it.

Having said that, and in my new role as a "collector" I must say that I'm proud of our purchase of this piece. I'm not sure if Veerakeat has done anything as large (or at least I don't think he has very often and definitely (my recollection) not before 1999), plus I think that this is one of his best pieces combining the movement you see in the street, with the beautiful golds of the roofs and the intensity of the sky. So, as an investment in Veerakeat, I see this as quite astute. Plus, did I say how much we love it? ;)

A word about Veerakeat in case you didn't read about him on Thomas' site. He's one of the nicest people we've met in the city. He honestly seems to delight in the love people have for his artwork. He seems to really appreciate how blessed he's been (as seen in his recent auction to build a hospital to help those in Thailand hurt by the tsunami). He's a great guy. He and Thomas Reynolds even delivered and hung this one for us personally.

Full Disclosure, we live at the bottom of Telegraph Hill. While our place is not pictured here, this is a scene we are intimately familiar with, and that says something doesn't it? That we, who actively seek to view all parts of our city (The Ten Year Tourists*), should choose artwork that presents what we see everyday in such a wonderful light just goes to show how much Veerakeat's work (and SF itself) has touched us.

*Now there's a good name for a blog of photos of a city by residents, maybe even a good name for a book of photography. Consider it taken by me ;)