Tuck Box Tea Room, Carmel

I love Carmel. The town looks like it was invented by artists which, in a sense, it was. Galleries are everywhere; the houses are incredibly picturesque, and when I set up my easel on one side of the boulevards, I’m doing just what so many painters do everyday.

The Kinkade family is as fond of Carmel as I am; my girls were with me on the sunny afternoon when I painted Tuck Box Tea Room, Carmel. It’s a thoroughly charming little spot – with scones and tea cakes that just melt in your mouth. On this particular day, Chandler – I believe it was – said to me, “Daddy, is that the original gingerbread house? You know, the one Hansel and Gretel tried to eat?”

Suddenly, I found myself looking at the tea room through her innocent eyes. I could see the quaint little cottage with its red-and-white peppermint striped awning, cheery flower boxes, quirky windows, inviting door, and looked to me as it must have looked to her…good enough to eat.

I suddenly knew that I had to paint Tuck Box Tea Room, Carmel on the spot just as I was seeing it that day. I got my paint and canvas – which are never far away – an in just a few hours I had this study which preserves, I think, the innocence and freshness of a child’s eye view.