LEARNING CURVE ON THE ECLIPTIC: Arty Farty Friday ~ the Anomaly that was Thomas Kinkade

When I think of paintings reflecting the traditional flavour of Christmas, other than Nativity paintings that is, the first painter's name springing to mind is Thomas Kinkade. When I first wrote a blog post on Mr Kinkade, in December of 2009, Thomas Kinkade was still with us; he died, however on April 6, 2012, in Monte Sereno, California. Here's my post, edited slightly to reflect the artist's demise.

As we're closing in on the annual beanfeast known as Christmas, a look at an artist whose paintings, many of which depict winter and Christmas landscapes, are well-known in the USA, and elsewhere. They appear on Christmas cards, calendars, and death knell of a "proper" artist, chocolate boxes. Thomas Kinkade, self-styled Painter of Light is this week's seasonal arty-farty subject.
(Photo by John Storey/Corbis)

I cannot put hand on heart and say I like Kinkade's paintings, but they are very recognisable, and that has to be a plus for artists of any stripe. He was way too twee for yours truly. Yet having carried out a spot of light research, it appears in real life Mr. Kinkade was anything but twee. Ruthless business man, prone to "inappropriate" behaviour, yet said to be a devout Christian

The Los Angeles Times reported that some of Kinkade's former colleagues, employees, and even collectors of his work said that he has a long history of cursing and heckling other artists and performers. The Times further reported that he openly groped a woman's breasts at a South Bend, Indiana sales event, 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." Kinkade denied some of the allegations, and accepted and apologized for others.

In 2006 John Dandois, Media Arts Group executive, recounted a story that on one occasion ("about six years ago") Kinkade became drunk at a Siegfried and Roy magic show in Las Vegas and began shouting "Codpiece! Codpiece!" at the performers. Eventually he was calmed by his mother. Dandois also said of Kinkade, "Thom would be fine, he would be drinking, and then all of a sudden, you couldn't tell where the boundary was, and then he became very incoherent, and he would start cussing and doing a lot of weird stuff."
(At Wikipedia)

A devout Christian who called himself The Painter of Light, Kinkade traded heavily on his beliefs and said God has guided his brush - and his life - "for the last 20 years".
"When I got saved, God became my art agent," he said in a 2004 video biography, genteel in tone and rich in the themes of faith and family values that have helped win him legions of fans, albeit few among art critics. But some former Kinkade employees, gallery operators and others contend that the Painter of Light has a decidedly dark side.

In litigation and interviews with the Los Angeles Times, some former gallery owners depicted Kinkade as a ruthless businessman who drove them to financial ruin at the same time he was fattening his business associates' bank accounts and feathering his nest with tens of millions of dollars.

Kinkade - whose solely owned Thomas Kinkade Co. was based in Morgan Hill, Calif. - denied these allegations. Later, however, a three-member panel of the American Arbitration Assn. ordered his company to pay $860,000 for defrauding the former owners of two failed Virginia galleries. That decision marked the first major legal setback for Kinkade, who won three previous arbitration claims. Five more followed. (LA Times)

ASTROLOGY

So...what should be found in the natal chart of this artistic anomaly? Certainly some indication of his acute business sense, there's no denying that. Wikipedia tells us
He is self described as "Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light" (a trademarked phrase), and as "America's most-collected living artist". Media Arts, the publicly-traded company that licenses and sells Kinkade's products, claims that 1 in 20 homes in the U.S. feature some form of Thomas Kinkade’s art."

There should be some link to creativity and artistic skill - whatever one's taste, it has to be admitted that the man could paint a picture. There's going to be a hint of the obtuse, or unexpected too, I'd guess.

Born on 19 January 1958 in Sacramento, California. No time of birth available so 12 noon chart has to suffice. Rising sign and Moon 's degree will not be accurate as shown. If born after 4pm Moon would be in Aquarius, before that, in Capricorn.

Sun and Mercury in Capricorn - Capricorn, the sign of the businessman. That fits! Whether Moon was in Capricorn or Aquarius that would still be a good fit too. Venus is already in Aquarius, reputed sign of the oddballs of this world. In his case Venus, planet of the arts lies there. I wouldn't call his art oddball, or in any way Aquarian, but it is odd and unexpected (another Aquarian trait) given the kind of guy he's said to have been. Uranus, ruler of Aquarius lies in Leo in opposition to Venus - here's a second hint as to the unexpectedness of the type of art this painter produced, and the anomaly of his Christian beliefs with his reported actions.

Neptune, planet of creativity is conjunct Jupiter planet of excess in Scorpio, and is in helpful sextile to Mercury, communications and mental process planet. That link-up brings together mental process, creativity, and the wide marketing of his prolific output of artwork.

Saturn and Mars are conjoined in Sagittarius - sign known for its excesses, these two planets traditionally thought of as malefics, and are magnified in Sagittarius. Could this account for a streak of ruthlessness in Kinkade's nature?

Examples of his Christmas/Winter-related pieces. The Kinkade website is HERE.