AssemblyBoard

I like See's candy!  But I can only eat a few before I've had enough. Three See's candy during one time is too much sugary sweet for my palate. However one or two is great. That is the way I enjoy Thomas Kinkade. His paintings of English style cottages surrounded by beautifully dappled Autumn rays of shadow and light are nice, quaint, ideal, Norman Rockwellian enough for a few minutes a week but to see his stuff on computer screens, mugs, coasters, night lights, paper napkins is too much. It is sickening sweet. It makes me nauseous. That is why 5 years ago I began asking local dealers the questions, "Aren't you concerned that Mr. Kinkade is over marketing his stuff?"  Their reply was one of insult. "Why Uh no!"  "People are buying his stuff like mad!"  Yes and they WERE buying his stuff, However the "Born Again" artist who signs every painting with a fish and John 3:16 now finds himself extremely unpopular. The problem?  Mr. Kinkade's marketing schemes have ended up making him millions while his faithful believing (Many of them Christians who believed they were spreading the faith) followers have gone bankrupt. The details are too much for me to go into here but i just pose the question, "Didn't Thomas see this coming?"  I mean come on, does it take a genius to know that this was going to happen?  Ofcourse not. I believe Thomas milked everything he could to get every penny he could before his stuff would go out of style. Oh btw, I hope you didn't buy one! >:( >:( >:( >:( >:(

Dave,

Someone has well pointed out that the reason Kinkade's paintings look so serene is there are no people in them. There's a lot to think about. Did you hear about the Northern California housing tract that was designed Thomas Kincadesque? The model homes were beautiful. All the problems started when people bought the houses and moved in. The stories are as drama charged as anything happening on Wisteria Lane. We are a funny speicies, are we not?

   I can't imagine trying to  fit myself into such an ideal world!!  Oh wait the Assembly!!!

Yes, the assembly like a Kincade painting or the Communist Manifesto, so pretty on paper, but never a working model with all that human nature getting in the way.

Folks,

I have always felt that Thomas Kinkade paintings were pretty, but quite unrealistic.   He usually has a beautiful stream flowing past one or more pretty little cottages at twilight.  The lights are on inside the cottages and they look warm and inviting.  It is obvious that he is going for the warm fuzzy feelings that we enjoy having.

However, the pretty streams are usually flowing down from distant mountains.  The cottages are usually situated about 3 feet above water level.  I always ask myself, "Doesn't it ever rain in those mountains?"  In any real world, a normal day's rain would definitely wash all the pretty cottages away, leaving a not-so-pretty residue of eroded dirt and tree branches.

I know nothing about his marketing practices or his "faithful believing".  (What, exactly, did they believe?)  Why did they go bankrupt?

Thomas Maddux