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.

As a Christian, I speculate on the mystery and wonder of God’s creation when nature was perfect and unspoiled. As an artist, I try to convey my own wonder at the richness and variety I still find in the natural world. I believe Eden to be a wonderful hideaway bathed in a silvery light, ablaze with flowers of every hue and description – a silent save for the murmur of gently rushing waters. I’m not sure to this day whether it’s a dream or a memory.

There are places that touch you so profoundly, they become a part of your personal, imaginative geography. Some years ago in my travels through the English Cotswolds, I found a wonderful old stone gate – simple and evocative, mysterious and inviting – that inspired my celebrated painting The Autumn Gate. When I first came upon it, I knew that I must paint it.

While I painted The Autumn Gate from memory I’m my California studio, I became obsessed with knowing what lay beyond. Nanette and I had to return to England and make a pilgrimage to that ancient gate in order to discover what lay beyond the stately, ivy draped stone manor house I celebrate here in Beyond Autumn Gate. Here is the perfect companion painting to The Autumn Gate, and a splendid evocation of how gracious, courtly, and distinguished it must be to live as “Lord of the English Manor.” In my daydreams, I often return to this favorite spot of mine.

My colorful Blossom Bridge began as a location painting in Ireland. I came upon a scene where ancient footpaths wind their way over an old stone bridge to a distant village. It was all so green that I began to add brightly colored flowers…and suddenly a riot of colors took over.

An idea bloomed along with the canvas – I would create a place where blossoms reign. You can see the scenic little village of Blossom Lane in the distance; what you can’t see are the lavish floral displays that await visitors to this blooming paradise!

“A crumbling bridge, this Bridge of Faith, and often without strength.

But look below, and then you’ll know, the Rock that lies beneath” ~ Thomas Kinkade

For me, the world is enriched by images of faith. In the Garden of Promise Collection, I look deep into myself for those moments of revelation, of joyous acceptance, that comprise our common spiritual experience. Then I look out into the world to find visual images that reflect the truths of my walk with God. Bridge of Faith speaks to those moments of tribulation, when we reach the end of our rope and know that our personal resources won’t see us through the crisis. At such times, I rely on my faith and find that God truly is my shield and salvation.

As the Painter of Light, is has been my personal goal that each of my paintings become a tool to communicate a message that represents hope, joy, peace, and tranquility. The Bridge of Faith is old and worn, but it is built of stone and it rests on a massive, unshakable rock. It crosses a stream fragrant with flowers; on our side the world is shrouded in shadow, but in the distance there shines a heavenly light. Here I hope to convey the sense of how marvelous nature can be, when the radiant light of God casts its warm glow – His “Heavenly Light” –  how crossing one worn stone bridge can transport us from darkness to God’s radiant light that lies ahead.

I believe that the cross of Jesus was made from dogwood, and so I symbolize God’s love for us in the pink dogwood tree and symbolize God’s hope and promise of Heaven in the white dogwood tree found in Bridge of Faith. The bridge leads us across a stream of living water and from darkness to light with a shaky handrail to guide, but you will find it is a very sturdy bridge if you keep your eyes on “God’s Heavenly Light,” as it will lead you around the bend and all the way back Home.

My Bridges of Inspiration Collection celebrates what I like to think of as God’s divine plan for provision. Each of us in our daily life, reach obstacles and chasms that can only be bridged by God’s miraculous love. In an earlier series, I created a painting entitled Bridge of Faith, and the popularity of this painting inspired me to speculate further on the nature of bridges.

A bridge is symbolic to me as an artist, since it suggests a transition point from one area of life to another. Bridges provide safe transport over impassable conditions, and are changeless in the midst of the changing seasons. In the Bridges of Inspiration series, I envisioned creating paintings that allegorically address such complex issues of human experience as hope, love, and personal peace. In the first painting of the series, I strove to portray an image of solidarity in the context of the delicacy of nature.

The Bridge of Hope is as stable as the massive granite flagstones that form its arch and will stand for as long as the quicksilver brook rolls down from the hills beneath it. Topped by antique alabaster cornices and graced by lavish vining flowers, the stone structure reminds us that hope is at once as solid as rock and as subtle as the fragrance of blossoms on the breeze.

A magnificent white dogwood, the symbol of the purity of God’s grace, shades the bridge. Its over-arching boughs remind us that, while we stand on the Bridge of Hope, we are enshrouded by the loving embrace of our creator.

As I worked on this Broadwater Bridge, Thomashire, dapper-looking people carrying fly rods would occasionally walk by and tip their tweed caps at me. These charming people added a touch of grace to the tranquil setting!

“Even if our family circle is small, the Christmas season can become a benchmark of friendship,
a time when we pause to savor traditions of comfort and joy.”
– Thomas Kinkade

Christmas was a favorite time of year for our founder, Thomas Kinkade. He looked forward with anticipation to the weather changing, especially the crisp feeling of winter air. To celebrate the season, Thomas Kinkade Studios imagined what Christmas would be like in the town featured in one of Thom’s most iconic paintings, Lamplight Village. The Brook Windermere has frozen, allowing young and old to enjoy the beautiful day ice skating. Visitors may stroll through the village shops to browse for Christmas gifts or enjoy a romantic ride in a horse drawn sleigh. Imagine being transported to this lovely town at the most wonderful time of year and join Thomas Kinkade Studios as we celebrate our favorite traditions in Christmas at Lamplight Village.

No other holiday is more joyful than Christmas. Family and friends come together to celebrate the season, reflect on Christmas, relish in merriment, and lavish love and gifts on each other. Every Christmas is memorable and filled with so many diverse traditions.

Whether your Christmas memories are replete with the unbridled excitement and anticipation of kids on Christmas morning, the beautiful Christmas Eve services, carolers at your door, or the famed Christmas tree hunt, ultimately Christmas is celebrated in the home surrounded by friends and loved ones – and that is the central message of my new painting.

Behind the beautiful Christmas Gate adorned with a holiday wreath and two luminaries gently cascading light across the snow-dusted ground, is a home preparing for the joy of Christmas. Every visitor to this year’s festivities will pass through this gate as its presence reminds them to leave the busyness of life behind and focus on the joy awaiting them inside. In a very real sense, this gate is a local herald beckoning passers to focus on the message of the season.

I trust that this gate will speak to you as profoundly as it does to me – behind its strong gate is a home where memories are in the making and where love abounds.

I was speechless with excitement! Here was the very location where many of Rockwell’s best known paintings were created. What’s more, upon snooping around, we discovered that the current owners of Rockwell’s home and studio had converted the ample buildings into a charming country inn! We managed – with a bit of haggling – to reserve Rockwell’s studio for the night. That evening, while warming ourselves in front of the fireplace, we could almost image Norman Rockwell sitting besides us reminiscing about his painting career.

Country Memories I The Old Covered Bridge at Thomaston Brook is a loving tribute to the charming country era Rockwell called home for so many years. It is also a tribute to the simpler, wholesome era he captured in many of his paintings, when a night out mean a ride in a horse-drawn carriage and a day off meant a trip to the village fishing hole. Incidentally, the village in the background is a compilation of many of the villages we visited on our trip. So, don’t be disappointed when you don’t see this exact view if you ever visit Norman Rockwell’s home territory!