Thomas Kinkade was born in 1958 in Sacramento, California into a family of Scottish/Irish descent. Not too long after his birth his family moved to the nearby town of Placerville, California. While growing up, Kinkade began to take a keen interest in drawing, often producing pencil or watercolor paintings. At the young age of twelve, Kinkade would often wander the woods near his home, toting along his sketch pad, and drawing the elements around him.

At home, values based on family, home and faith in God were being instilled in the young man, and were serving as inspiration for his drawings. Thom helped pay for his paints and brushes by delivering the local newspaper. His mother was a single parent raising three children and struggled to make ends meet. This is the foundation of Thom’s philosophy that all people should be able to enjoy art regardless of their income. By his 16th birthday, Thom was under the apprenticeship of his nearby neighbor, Glen Wessels, a well-known artist. Upon completion of his primary education, Kinkade turned to the University of California at Berkeley to formally study art, followed by another degree from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

After college, Thom and his fellow painter and friend, James Gurney, traveled throughout America by catching rides on freight trains. Accompanied by their art gear, they both worked on plein air sketches while on the road. They sold many of these sketches to help purchase their food and lodging as they traveled across thecountry. Working outdoors, Kinkade studied how the light brought forth brilliant colors that sparkled, and how the movement of clouds created shadows over the landscape. Thom worked hard to capture this effect in his paintings. In May of 1982, Thom married his childhood sweetheart, Nanette. With his wife’s encouragement and support, Kinkade pursued a career as a free lance artist.

For a few years, Thom earned a modest living, selling his paintings in galleries in Placerville, California. Kinkade’s message of family, home values and faith was taken to heart by his fans and added to his popularity and the demand for personal appearances was quickly rivaling the demand for his paintings. In 1989, Lightpost Publishing took over the rights to Thom’s artwork and began producing Thom’s art in large quantities, resulting in many Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries opening across the nation and in England. Although Lightpost Publishing played a huge role in increasing Thom’s name recognition throughout the world, there were disagreements between Thom and Lightpost management as to the way the business was being run, especially with the mass production of Kinkade product.

Thom was touring the nation almost every week and was required to release as many paintings as possible. After suffering devastating retail losses following 9/11, Thom purchased all the devalued stock in Lightpost Publishing, cleaned house and renamed his company the Thomas Kinkade Company. Since then, Thom spends more time with his family, and much more time (often years) creating his new masterworks, along with less time traveling to galleries. As a result, Thom’s artwork is more detailed and production quantities are much more limited than they were when Lightpost Publishing owned all the rights.

Lionsgate Films® created a major motion picture release entitled, “The Christmas Cottage,” inspired by the early life and art of Thomas Kinkade. It is a story of how a small community and an aging mentor (Glen Wessels) come to the aid of Thom’s family to save the only home they had ever known and along the way, taught Thom the meaning of love, friendship, and what it means to be an artist. It stars Peter O’Toole (as Glen Wessels), Marcia Gay Harden (as Thom’s mother), Chris Elliot (the town mayor) and Jared Padelecki (as Thom). It was released for Christmas 2008 and Thom created a new Christmas painting, Christmas Cottage, which is featured in the movie.

Unfortunately, due to the movie entailing strong family values with no foul language, nudity, or violence, the movie was not picked up by any major studio and was released directly to video for the 2008 Christmas holiday. In the words of a major motion picture studio representative, “If ‘On Golden Pond’ were released today, no studio would buy the rights” for the same reason. Thomas Kinkade’s “Christmas Cottage” DVD can be purchased at both Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries at Cherry Creek and Colorado Seasons (Centennial).