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There is a special golden moment on a San Francisco spring morning when the sun seems to break through with such clarity and radiance that it is as though you’d stepped through the gates of Paradise.  When I set up my large easel in San Francisco’s richly historic Presidio, I was blessed with just such a glorious morning.
Shadows danced on the foreground and the ancient chapel seemed to come alive. The Presidio is one of San Francisco’s oldest districts; since the Spanish occupation in 1776, it has been the site of Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. naval and military operations. The region, with its nearly five hundred historic buildings, splendid hiking trails, and spectacular natural vistas became a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1994.
Plein air painting allows the spirit of place to literarily take hold of my brush. As I worked, it seemed that the ghosts of history swirled around and my brush was charged with a special energy that was equal measure history, inspiration, and the golden morning sun.
I was joined by a number of my dealers as I worked on this piece; I decided to release San Francisco, the Presidio to share the moment with those who couldn’t be there.
--Thomas Kinkade