Art Notes

“I love Carmel. The town looks like it was invented by artists, which, in a sense, it was. The houses are incredibly picturesque, and when I set up my easel on one of the boulevards, I’m just doing what so many painters do every day.” – Thomas Kinkade

From my many conversations with Thomas Kinkade, I recall his enthusiasm as he talked about Plein Air painting. In Plein Air, or open-air painting, the natural light is always changing as the sun moves across the sky and clouds can play with this natural light. Thom always traveled with a small portable studio and was ready to paint at any time.

Carmel-by-the-Sea was a favorite destination for Thom and his family. A quick, but picturesque, drive down the California Coast from his painting studio in the suburbs of Silicon Valley, the family found a vibrant village tucked up against the Pacific Ocean. Thom had found a muse he could capture numerous times on canvas. Carmel’s many quaint cottages and boulevards provided ample inspiration to his artistic eye. Thomas Kinkade’s Dolores Avenue, Carmel, is just one of the Plein Air paintings Thom created in his travels down the California Coast.

– Denise Sanders, Thomas Kinkade Historian