Fall is in the air and another day is coming to its end. In an attempt to escape the turmoil surrounding the family homestead “The Yellowstone”, the family retreats to regroup around the campfire for a moment of quiet reflection and recanting the events of the day. If only these walls could talk…

Thomas Kinkade Studios is pleased to present our newest collaboration with Paramount® for their series Yellowstone: The Dutton House.

Along the coast of the Golden State, there are numerous places for one to stop and contemplate the wonderous and powerful Pacific Ocean as it meets the rugged California coastline. To many, Big Sur is not just a destination, it is a state of mind. It is a beautiful ninety miles of coastline stretching from Monterey Bay and San Simeon on the West Coast of Central California. For almost one hundred years, the Pacific Coast Highway had meandered through Big Sur and drawn all to change gears, both literally and figuratively. Thomas Kinkade Studios® invites you to cruise down the West Coast of California and stop and admire all the grandeur that Big Sur has to offer.

“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
– John Muir

Thomas Kinkade was an avid outdoorsman, and grew up in the foothills of Northern California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Throughout his life he would return to this magnificent mountain range to paint. He told me that he always kept scribbled notes and quickly drawn sketches around his studio that he would use for inspiration.

In 1989, Thomas Kinkade was inspired to paint Warming Up. If I could go back in time, it would be fascinating to have a conversation with Thom to learn exactly which hiking trip up the Sierra Nevada Mountains motivated him to paint this solitary backpacker seeking warmth from the campfire as the cold daylight wanes.

Written by: Denise Sanders, Thomas Kinkade Historian

Does winter have a color? Possibly, but winter sometimes requires us to use our imagination to see the color. In A Winter Retreat you find lavender, pinks, blues, whites, grays, yellows, greens, and shades of brown on glorious display. The subtle tones of the sky, the green of the mallard’s head, the blues of the water, and the whisper of grays in the rabbits’ footprints provide our imaginations with a kaleidoscope of color.

The inviting cabin in A Winter Retreat displays a unique beauty in the shape of the rustic brown hued logs, the subtle curves and the angular lines. The colors in this painting evoke a sense of warmth and home, giving the viewer feelings of peace and comfort – a place to get away, even if it’s just in your mind for a short time. May this artwork inspire you to find your winter retreat this season!

When I reflect on how much time we spend in our homes and offices, or hurrying here and there in planes and trains and autos – wrapped, always, in cocoons of our own making – I am dismayed. We need to break free from our self-imposed isolation and open ourselves to the healing power of God’s glorious creation. Nothing restores the spirit quite like a breathtaking mountain vista. It just doesn’t get much better than it is for this fisherman, who has tramped through the woods, rod in hand, to discover a glacial lake where he can fill his creel with plump rainbow trout. I love to fish, not so much for the strike or the catch, but simply because fishing gives me license to get out into nature. A haven such as this, I believe, truly is Almost Heaven.

The fisherman seems insignificant among so much grandeur; yet, bathed by the radiant glow of sunset, he is intensely a part of the scene. Like him, we are at once humbled and exalted by immersion in nature. I urge each of you to break free from the confinement of modern living. I would take everyone with me on my fishing expeditions if I could. And, indeed, through my art, I hope that I can transport you to where it is Almost Heaven.

Autumn is the perfect season for hiking the countryside. The air is crisp and invigorating; the light radiant and alive. Vistas painted crimson, gold and flaming orange by the frost-touched trees await the delighted walker around each bend.

Autumn Lane follows a rural road into the cool depths of an autumn forest. The scene is rich with the pleasures of the season – the quiet shadows are deep, the morning lights brilliant, the hardwoods are simply on fire with their autumn colors.

In a much admired tribute to the season, I entered an Autumn Gate to discover the elegant pleasures of a grand country estate. By contrast, the joys of the Autumn Lane are rustic; here is the merest hint of a human presence in the few standing boards of an ancient, weathered fence.

I find that a country lane is a lovely invitation to my imagination. On my rambles, I delight in anticipating what might lie around the next bend in the road; but I’m often startled by nature’s beauty. So be my guest – try to guess what you’ll see next on my Autumn Lane. But expect to be surprised.

We tramped through clean, deep patches of new snow until we came upon the river. The trees along the stream flamed orange and gold in their final blaze of fall color. The new fallen snow still clung to them, adding winter’s glistening white to the glory of autumn. The effect was breathtaking.

I painted Autumn Snow some years ago and its meaning has deepened for me as I pass through the seasons of my own life. The coming together of fall colors with the dazzle of winter white reminds me that each stage of our lives has its special pleasures and purposes. In that spirit, I offer it to you now.

The moon watches over the forest’s transition from day to night as the lone fisherman returns to his welcoming cabin after a long day on the river. With the soothing sounds of the waterfall and the crackling of the campfire, his faithful companion waits patently for his return. It is my hope an prayer that as you journey with me, you will find the calm and inner peace one can discover being Away From It All. God Bless!

When a morning dawns so bright, so clear, so bursting with beauty that you can’t help but pause to celebrate God’s wondrous creation – that is my idea of the Beginning of a Perfect Day.

My new painting celebrates just such a morning with the campfire that offers a hearty breakfast, a boat ebbing on shore that whispers of plump brook trout waiting to strike, and horses gazing nearby that coax us to ride the mountain trails into the magnificent peaks that loom on the horizon.

Beginning of a Perfect Day also launches a new painting series, alive with the exhilaration of morning in the wilderness. I can’t wait to see what each new “perfect day” brings!

The Kinkade family explored the desert southwest in an oversized RV, equipped to be a rolling artist studio. At Bryce National Park, God works on a monumental scale – the vast panorama of eroded rock stretches to the horizons.

We visited in late spring, when patches of snow still nestle on the shadowed high places. Hardy pine trees cling to the nooks and walls of the towering cliffs, creating a unique wonderland. This fantasyland carved in multi-hued sandstone presents a spectacular succession of dramatic vistas – one grander than the other.