I worked on Caesarea at sunset, as the sun touched the wispy clouds with gold and painted the azure Mediterranean a rich cobalt blue. I worked at a frantic pace as I struggled to keep up with the setting sun. I think you’ll note the broken colors and bold brush strokes that give plein air studies like this their energy and dramatic power. Caesarea may not be a vigorous port any longer, but I certainly attempted to make my Caesarea a vigorous painting.

Chicago’s Water Tower looms like a nostalgic monument from an ancient age. Indeed, the limestone and concrete tower, built in 1869 to resemble a Gothic castle from a much more distant time, is one of the very few standing survivors of the great Chicago fire. In my painting, quaint hansom cabs convey tourists to and fro, and crowds of shoppers and celebrants fill the streets. It’s winter in the city; for the visitor, winter is a romantic season in Chicago, softening the city’s hard lines with its shimmering light.

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. A magnificent white dogwood, 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.

Life is quietly enchanting in this romantic island haven where the modern world seems a million miles away. Autumn on Mackinac Island takes us to this nostalgic Victorian village, where carriages clatter down the lane and bicycles weave languidly to and fro. Nan’s Fudge Shop (a tribute to my wife’s famous fudge recipe) invites us to sample the island’s chief product, while the famous Grand Hotel peeks from behind the autumn trees. At the right, the steeple of the famous Little Stone Church …

The Kinkade family delights in travel. One of our recurring discoveries is Charleston, South Carolina, where the heart of the Old South lives on. The feeling that I get when I visit Charleston is nostalgic, romantic, as if I had somehow stepped back in time. So, as I worked on my studio treatment of Charleston, Sunset on Rainbow Row, I’ve filled my streets with vintage cars and passersby wearing simple yet timeless garb. Step aboard the horse-drawn carriage for a leisurely visit to Rainbow Row!…

A New Day at Cinderella Castle Thomas Kinkade

There are inspiring places I return to time and again. The English Cotswolds of the Cobblestone Lane series are one such favorite destination. Throughout the series, I’ve imagined that our journey would end at just such a destination as we discover in Cobblestone Evening. We’ve come full circle with this classic English village; fittingly, our ramble ends at just that breathless hour when the plump trout are biting in the brook, and stillness wraps the land in a fleecy blanket of perfect …

I’ve chosen to re-visit a favorite artistic place in “Blessings of Christmas”, which takes a fresh look at the charming cottage of “Home Is Where The Heart Is II” in its evergreen bower, but now in the snowy grip of winter. Somehow, the warmth of family life lived in this cozy dwelling is accentuated by the shroud of snow that that sits so gracefully on the trees. The cheerful snowman wrapped in his red scarf and wielding a straw broom, embodies the very spirit of the season.

In Christmas Evening I return to the cottage that is the centerpiece of “A Quiet Evening” – the thatch-roofed hutch many collectors have told me is their favorite Kinkade home. It is the evening before Christmas day, and the joyous symbols of the season abound. The cozy cottage is festooned with Christmas lights; a wreath is hung on the door; a previously unseen gas lamp heralds visitors from across the icy stream. Perhaps you can even imagine children gathered around the tree, singing …

Cobblestone Lane I wends its way through a rustic village. The very unevenness of the cobbled path adds a sense of adventure that awakens our senses; we hear birdsong, feel the bracing mist of the morning, pluck a ripe apple to savor its sweet juice, smell the mingled scents, enjoy the play of sunlight and shade.