Thomas Kinkade Analysis

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Who Is Thomas Kinkade Thomas Kinkade was born 19th January 1958 of German/Irish heritage. Born the second child of Bill and Mary Anne, William Thomas Kinkade III arrived in Sacramento, California, on January 19,1958. and grew up in Placerville, California, with his mother, older sister and younger brother. His father left the family and he was raised primarily in a single family household. According to Thomas Kinkade's biography, America's most collected artist had a Tom Sawyer-like childhood in his Norman Rockwellesque. His family knew at a very young age that Thom was a gifted artist. At age 4, he was correcting the perspective of a roadway that his sister had drawn beside a house in a picture! From that age on, his direction was…show more content…
His cottages glow with a warm and fuzzy light, recalling a nostalgic, idyllic past--that never existed for him. Thomas was raised by a single parent and was always told to switch lights off to save on utility bill. He walked home to a dark and cold home in Winter (all lights off). For Thomas, the light in his paintings "represents God's presence and influence." The Painter of Light warns us of the pitfalls of light deprivation.

"For three long years I lived in arctic Lapland, where winters are inconceivably cold and interminably dark. Like many people lacking sunlight, I became affected with S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder), and daily I battled with feelings of desolation and melancholia."

I think it is a triumph of the soul that he has mastered the effects of light and shade and sold more canvases than any other painter in history~~ More than Picasso, Rembrandt, Gaughin, Monet, Manet, Renoir and Van Gogh combined. 
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He did an important apprenticeship at Walt Disney Studios, where he honed his scenery skills through work on background design Nearly all Christmas, Winter, and Snow scenes Thomas Kinkade painted has become a best seller escalating in value annually. St. Nicholas Circle was painted in Norman Rockwell Studio in Arlington Virginia. Norman Rockwell was a big hero of Thomas' St. Nicholas Circle looks like a Norman Rockwell painting -pure Americana. Thomas Kinkade's recurring theme of lighthouses is a reminder of simpler times: of sailing ships and oil lamps and the men and women whom day after day faithfully tended the coastal lights that guided mariners.

It was a sad day of loss and nostalgia when the keeper extinguished the lamp for the last time. Boarding up the lighthouse, he moved his family and belongings often to another light station. Lighthouses do not endure through space and time. Eroding coastlines, battering waves eventually cause enormous wear and tear on these structures.

In the 21st century there is much more than a lonely lighthouse to aid mariners. The modern Coast Guard consists of helicopters, small boats, cutters, aids to navigation, marine safety inspections and much more. Celestial navigation is now historical. GPS - Global Positioning by Satellite is the method used today. However, Celestial Navigation is taught in all Mercantile Marine Academies and Lighthouses are a dear symbol to all sailors.
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