Thomas Kinkade is an American painter who was born in 1958, at Sacramento, California. Kinkade spent most of his life in Placerville. His artwork made of oil painting communicated deeply with the viewers by providing a warm nostalgia in a stressful and often complex world. He gave out a message to slow down by appreciating the slightest details of life and look for world’s beauty around us. Thomas Kinkade studied in Dorado High School and later joined the University of California at Berkeley for higher education (Boylan 25). Kinkade transferred to the Art Center College in Pasadena after two years of general education at the university. In 1982, he married Nanette Wiley, and they had four daughters. Individuals who trained and mentored Thomas Kinkade before he joined college include Glenn Wessels and Charles Bell.
At the start of his artistic career, Kinkade utilize
...d his savings to print his initial lithograph. Thomas Kinkade with his colleague James Gurney traveled to various places across the U.S in June 1980 for summer. During their travel, they won a contract to develop a sketching book with Guptill Publications. They produced the book after two years which earned Guptill Publications high profit that year (Mason 809). The success of their contract landed them into Ralph Bakshi Studios where they developed the background for Fire and Ice film of 1983. Thomas Kinkade started to research the depiction of imagined worlds and light. After accomplishing the film, Thomas Kinkade got his income as a painter and sold his works in galleries across California.
Artistic style and themes
The common features found in the Thomas Kinkade’s painting works included saturated pastel colors and glowing highlights. Through
his art, Kinkade emphasized on inspirational messages and simple pleasures so as to touch people from all walks of life and bring joy and peace to their lives. The settings in his work focused on American scene painting and displayed idyllic and bucolic settings like lighthouses, gardens, and main streets. Moreover, he utilized Christian themes such as churches and Christian cross (Boylan 85). In his work, Kinkade aimed at passing life-affirming and motivational information using painting. As an artist, his goal was to depict the sense of peace by touching and changing the faith of individuals. Kinkade was passion and skills of capturing memories to trigger the emotional connection related to certain experience.
Awards
In his lifetime, Kinkade was highly awarded and recognized for his good work including NALED and the best Graphic Artist awards. Moreover, Kinkade was recognized as one of the individuals who changed the perception of the public on tourism through his work of Calfornia sights. In 2002, he was recognized for his contribution to enhancing the welfare of families and their children through his work with Art for Children and Kolorful Kids (Mason 819). Also, Kinkade was selected as the national spokesperson, in 2003. The Christmas Pageant of Peace also chose him in 2004 to decorate the Christmas tree. Kinkade was given the NALED award in 2004 that recognized his continuous award winning for 25 years. In 2005, Kinkade was also recognized as the NALED Graphic Artist. NALED recognized Kinkade for his philanthropic contributions and gave him the Humanitarian Award.
In April 2012, Kinkade passed away in his Calfornia home at the age of 54 years. Reports claimed that he died of intoxication from
Valium and alcohol. Based on the explanation from his girlfriend, before his death, Kinkade had been drinking at his home (Mason 823). Moreover, Kinkade’s wife had earlier filed for divorce and had planned to travel to Australia. A disagreement between Patrick Kinkade and Kinkade’s wife arose that made her seek for restraining order that would prevent her from releasing family information. The two later came to a secret agreement, and Kinkade was then buried in California.
References
- Boylan, Alexis L. Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall. Durham N.C.: Duke University Press, 2011. Print: 23-132.
- Mason, Julia. "Light for Light's Sake: Thomas Kinkade and the Meaning of Style." The Journal of Popular Culture 45.4 (2012): 807-827.
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