Thomas Kinkade has sold more canvases than any painter in history. That's more than Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Gogan, Monet, Manet, and Renoir combined! Some critics argue that because of this fact, Thomas Kinkade is too mainstream but just think of it, the more popular and renowned an artist's works are, the more valuable their work becomes. And yet Thom is alive and well and at the age of 53, his work has never been better.

Thomas Kinkade was born January 19, 1958 in Sacramento, California into a family of Scottish/Irish descent. In 1964, Thom and his family comprising of his older sister Kate and younger brother Patrick, 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. In fact Thom's second grade teacher told Thom's mother he would be a great painter someday. 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. Thomas Kinkade made his bedroom his studio and his paintings typically spread to the entire house.

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 and his efforts in celebrating the family. Thom helped pay for his paints and brushes by delivering the local newspaper where he would eventually meet his future wife and high school sweetheart, Nanette. His mother was a single parent raising three children and struggled to make ends meet. In fact, Thom states that to this day, he hates to eat hamburgers because as a child, his mother was so poor, she would often mix oatmeal with hamburger meat which Thom ate regularly. Due to his mother working long hours, Thomas Kinkade was used to coming home to a dark and cold home and often envied those homes with light which is why Thom always paints cottages with the light on. Also, the fact that Thom and his family was so poor leads to the foundation of Thom's philosophy that all people should be able to enjoy art regardless of their income which is why he offers product at different price points. By his 16th birthday, Thomas Kinkade was under the apprenticeship of his nearby neighbor, Glen Wessels, an internationally known artist who taught Thom about art and life. 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 the country. 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 Nanette. With his wife's encouragement and support, Kinkade pursued a career as a free lance artist.

Thomas Kinkade first sold his prints outside his local supermarket at $25 each. He quickly consigned his artwork with a gallery who sold over 200 prints in just six months, then sold 1000 prints for $35 each which sold out super quick. Thomas 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. Thom soon realized that most of his collectors are people who never thought about art before or considered buying art. His artwork would make people feel comfort, peace, and joy. In Thom's words, "people would look at my paintings and say to me 'I wish I could live there' and I'd say I wish I could live there too. That's why I painted it."

Thomas Kinkade's "Robert Girrard" period: From 1984 to 1989, Thomas Kinkade, enthralled with the "French Impressionistic" style of painting, decided to experiment with this style but he did not want to tarnish his name and reputation as a romantic style painter known for his detailed cottage, mountain, and seascape scenes. Therefore, his French impressionistic artwork he published under the alias name of "Robert Girrard." Little did he realize that he was also deeply talented in this French impressionistic style as well which would later be published under the name "Robert Girrard."

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.

In 2008, 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" painting (featured at the end of the film) can be purchased on our website. Search for the title Christmas Cottage.