Thomas Kinkade

[Sketcher]

I agree, Cris. I'm not sure why it's seen as "cool" to be all tortured and cynical. As if being hopeful and positive is on a par with being vapid. The one thing I despise about art is how unbelievably pretentious it can be - or, at least, the world and culture surrounding it. Happiness and hopefulness and joy aren't cool, perhaps, but they are wonderful

I don't think most artists think it's cool to be tortured. I think we just are that way. What's mainly cool among artists is being somewhat out of the box (very broad term, I know) and raw talent.

 

[Cris413]

I don't think most artists think it's cool to be tortured. I think we just are that way. What's mainly cool among artists is being somewhat out of the box (very broad term, I know) and raw talent.

I don't know if you guys remember or have ever seen The Joy of Painting...but I just loved to watch Bob Ross...the "happy" painter...

I got a kick out of this promo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnfkZqZegLA

 

[A New Dawn]

This is the one I have. http://www.paintinghere.com/painting/Bridge_of_Faith_3459.html

 

[Cris413]

This is the one I have. http://www.paintinghere.com/painting/Bridge_of_Faith_3459.html

That's just beautiful New Dawn...I like to look at Kinkade's work...but I've never went gee...I'd like to have that...until I saw this...

...not that I'm coveting your painting...... but it is quite lovely!

 

[mont974x4]

They are nice but I prefer Tim Cox prints...which we have a few of.

 

[Tonks]

I was in for some sticker shock when I walked into his store in Las Vegas.

This is the only one that I remotely care for...the rest are meh

 

[synger]

Just like in the fiction market, there's a huge audience for Christian-themed art. Now that we have "our own" bookstores (because it's harder and harder to find what we want in regular bookstores), there is a built-in adjacent marketing niche. Folks who come into a Christian bookstore (or Web site) looking for Christian books are more likely to be interested in Christian-themed art rather than secular art.

Also like fiction, it doesn't really matter how good it is, if it's the only thing out there. Some of the early "Christian fiction" books were horrible writing (well, actually, many of them still are), but over time that's gotten better. Similarly, those artists who tapped the "Christian market" for art early on didn't have to be all that good, or interesting, or unique. They just had to express Christian themes in their art work.

It is my hope that, like fiction, Christian art will get better as the demand for good art increases.

 

[GreenMunchkin]

I don't think most artists think it's cool to be tortured. I think we just are that way. What's mainly cool among artists is being somewhat out of the box (very broad term, I know) and raw talent.

Sorry I reckon I expressed myself badly. I meant society in general thinks cynicism and misery are cool - art is supposed to reflect society (except for Damien Hirst ) so it mirrors many of its attitudes but it's not responsible in any way.

For example, emo is a huge, pervasive sub-culture because being in pain - be it genuine or pseudo - and wearing your agony on your sleeve is trendy.

 

[FreeinChrist]

I pretty much like everything he does.

 

[edie19]

my husband gave me this one for my birthday years and years ago (maybe even the year it came out). I wouldn't want only TK works in my home, but one is very nice

http://www.thomaskinkadegallery.com/painting.php?id=202

now a current artist that I do have several of (thanks to my mom) and wouldn't mind one or two more is Pat Buckley Moss

 

[A New Dawn]

my husband gave me this one for my birthday years and years ago (maybe even the year it came out). I wouldn't want only TK works in my home, but one is very nice

http://www.thomaskinkadegallery.com/painting.php?id=202

That is a very nice one, too, Edie.

Mine is pretty small, but even a nicely done small one is very expensive. I'd like to have a larger one in my living room to replace a cheap print above the fireplace.

 

[edie19]

That is a very nice one, too, Edie.

Mine is pretty small, but even a nicely done small one is very expensive. I'd like to have a larger one in my living room to replace a cheap print above the fireplace.

mine probably is about 8 x 8 (without the matting - which includes a passage of Scripture, with the matting maybe 10 x 12)

 

[A New Dawn]

mine probably is about 8 x 8 (without the matting - which includes a passage of Scripture, with the matting maybe 10 x 12)

That is like mine, almost. (Instead of a scripture, it talks about the book of John, but otherwise sounds the same.)

 

[MrJim]

That is a very nice one, too, Edie.

Mine is pretty small, but even a nicely done small one is very expensive. I'd like to have a larger one in my living room to replace a cheap print above the fireplace.

Don't think of it as a "cheap print"~rather, it's an "inexpensive reproduction"

 

[GreenMunchkin]

Ooh, I should add, I totally meant prints, also. Dawn, do you mean you have an original painting? I kind of assumed you meant a print!

The actual paintings run to tens of thousands of dollars, I think. Eep.

 

[Catherineanne]

I only heard about him a couple of days ago, but apparently he's huge in the States with Evangelical Christians, and I just wanted to find out who here has his paintings, and whether you like them

I don't like Kinkade. His paintings are to art what candyfloss is to food.

No problem if you want candyfloss on your walls, but I am not interested. As 'realism' they lack reality (not to mention perspective), and as paintings of light they contain huge amounts of darkness. I would say that Turner is a far finer painter of light than Kinkade will ever be, whatever his trademark.

If 10% of US homes really contain this stuff, then Kinkade knows his market, and has targetted it effectively. I am intrigued by comments that his pictures remain expensive, though. Someone, somewhere is getting very, very rich at the expense of ordinary people. Is that really compatible with evangelical Christianity?

 

[porterross]

I love Turner, too, especially after seeing his work at the National Gallery. The impressionists and romanticists remain most appealing to me. Kinkade could be labeled a modern progression of their styles and if people like his work, more power to him. It's far better than what's been passing for art at Trafalgar Square lately.

 

[A New Dawn]

Don't think of it as a "cheap print"~rather, it's an "inexpensive reproduction"

Ooh, I should add, I totally meant prints, also. Dawn, do you mean you have an original painting? I kind of assumed you meant a print!

The actual paintings run to tens of thousands of dollars, I think. Eep.

LOL. I guess I should clarify .............. the "cheap print" is something I got from Home Interiors, or something (definitely not a Kinkade). It's nice, but I'd like to move on to something more meaningful.

 

[edie19]

If 10% of US homes really contain this stuff, then Kinkade knows his market, and has targetted it effectively. I am intrigued by comments that his pictures remain expensive, though. Someone, somewhere is getting very, very rich at the expense of ordinary people. Is that really compatible with evangelical Christianity?

at least as compatible as preachers getting rich off of their membership, maybe more so because I don't think Kinkade specifically targets Christians

 

[Catherineanne]

I love Turner, too, especially after seeing his work at the National Gallery. The impressionists and romanticists remain most appealing to me. Kinkade could be labeled a modern progression of their styles and if people like his work, more power to him. It's far better than what's been passing for art at Trafalgar Square lately.

Kinkade might be many things, but modern is certainly not one of them. Reactionary might be a better term.

As for Trafalgar Square, did you see the talking lions?