Artist Thomas Kinkade faces DUI arrest, bankruptcy

Hudson Sangree - Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The painter of light is having a dark period.

Thomas Kinkade, the Placerville native who became one of the world's wealthiest artists with his sentimental landscapes and Christian motifs, has had a string of legal troubles.

His company owes millions of dollars to art gallery owners who successfully pressed fraud claims.

Earlier this month the firm filed for bankruptcy protection from those gallery owners and hundreds of other creditors.

And on Friday, the 52-year-old Kinkade, who calls himself "the painter of light," was arrested on a DUI charge outside Carmel, where he owns a home.

Kinkade could not be reached for comment Monday. But a company spokesman insisted all was well in the artist's empire.

"Tom is still painting and the business is still strong," said Dave Satterfield.
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I'll save my coming comments for the comments to come. ^_^

wow this is really shocking

MetLHed4GZus wrote:: wow this is really shocking

Not really.
Most people who capitalize on warm, fuzzy imagery lead inverse lives.

What was the fraud?

ELAN wrote:

MetLHed4GZus wrote:: wow this is really shocking

Not really.
Most people who capitalize on warm, fuzzy imagery lead inverse lives.

I wouldn't say most because I don't know most, but you're right.

I'm not sure if its the people of bright and prestigious positions that make these kind of mistakes, or if it's just super noticeable because they're in bright and prestigious positions. (probably the latter)

In my opinion, there's a lessons to learn here. (Lessons, not examples)

Fireprophet, Wikipedia might have the information you're looking for, and then some.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_kinkade

I believe he might have a bit of trouble with alcohol, at least according to Wikipedia.

ELAN wrote:

MetLHed4GZus wrote:: wow this is really shocking

Not really.
Most people who capitalize on warm, fuzzy imagery lead inverse lives.

Not always. Though it could be therapeutic to create calming imagery for troubled souls.

Hguols wrote:: Fireprophet, Wikipedia might have the information you're looking for, and then some.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_kinkade

Wikipedia wrote:: "...and mentioned his proclivity for ritual territory marking through urination, once relieving himself on a Winnie the Pooh figure at a Disney site while saying "This one’s for you, Walt."

Hahaha, that's funny whether it's true or not.

FireProphet wrote:

Hguols wrote:: Fireprophet, Wikipedia might have the information you're looking for, and then some.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_kinkade

Wikipedia wrote:: "...and mentioned his proclivity for ritual territory marking through urination, once relieving himself on a Winnie the Pooh figure at a Disney site while saying "This one’s for you, Walt."

Hahaha, that's funny whether it's true or not.

Yeah! This one was my personal favorite though,

"Kinkade became drunk at a Siegfried & Roy magic show in Las Vegas and began shouting "Codpiece! Codpiece!" at the performers. Eventually he was calmed by his mother."

That's almost as messed up as those guys that beat up Dan Rather while saying, "Kenneth, what's the frequency?".

That is sad! I had heard that Kinkade was using Christianity to sell his works. My father in law loved his works of art and bought several including a few that me and my wife have. My father in law came across a guy in Missouri who calls himself The Light Painter in a similiar style of Kinkades, the thing is is that Jesse Barnes has been painting this way for a longer period of time and is self taught while Kinkade studied art at the ultra liberal Cal Berkeley.

To see the Original Light Painters works of art go to www.jessebarnes.com

Kinkade was very lucky and perhaps grew too big for his own pants, in that most Artist / Painters have to wait until after they are dead to see there works of art be worth any thing of real value. Kinkade did not he had a vast empire and enjoyed the benefits of it. I do not know if he is a con or not but I do know that he understood how to market his art way more than Jesse did!

whoah crap! He seemed like such a nice guy! I always dream of living in those paintings!!

You guys can't see this, but I'm smiling from ear to ear right now. It's probably a bit of an evil, "The Joker" smile, as my parents have always liked Kinkaide, and my wife likes him, and I always dismissed his work as fluff and devoid of any real passion or "artistic spirit" like some of the more tortured, obtuse stuff I'm into. Yeah. I'm vindicated by this. Very Happy

However, his battle with alcohol is serious, and it's a shame, really, because despite my feelings about his art, there's no doubt he has talent.

MetalFRO wrote:: You guys can't see this, but I'm smiling from ear to ear right now. It's probably a bit of an evil, "The Joker" smile, as my parents have always liked Kinkaide, and my wife likes him, and I always dismissed his work as fluff and devoid of any real passion or "artistic spirit" like some of the more tortured, obtuse stuff I'm into. Yeah. I'm vindicated by this.

However, his battle with alcohol is serious, and it's a shame, really, because despite my feelings about his art, there's no doubt he has talent.

Ditto.

MetalFRO wrote:: You guys can't see this, but I'm smiling from ear to ear right now. It's probably a bit of an evil, "The Joker" smile, as my parents have always liked Kinkaide, and my wife likes him, and I always dismissed his work as fluff and devoid of any real passion or "artistic spirit" like some of the more tortured, obtuse stuff I'm into. Yeah. I'm vindicated by this.

However, his battle with alcohol is serious, and it's a shame, really, because despite my feelings about his art, there's no doubt he has talent.

This is just about my response as well, word for word.

Yea me too Rolling Eyes

How is Dui and bankruptcy anything that special? Both of those things are pretty common in the US. It doesn't always mean your a douchebag just because you have gone through them.

Once you cut off your own ear and then shoot yourself and walk into a bar and order a drink, while you are bleeding to death.. link Van Gogh did.. then I'd say that your pretty nuts.