Los Angeles Times
March 5, 2006

Dark Portrait of a 'Painter of Light'
Christian-themed artist Thomas Kinkade is accused of ruthless tactics
and seamy personal conduct. He disputes the allegations.
By Kim Christensen, Times Staff Writer

Thomas Kinkade is famous for his luminous landscapes and street
scenes, those dreamy, deliberately inspirational images he says have
brought "God's light" into people's lives, even as they have made him
one of America's most collected artists.

A devout Christian who calls himself the "Painter of Light," Kinkade
trades heavily on his beliefs and says God has guided his brush - and
his life - for the last 20 years. "When I got saved, God became my art
agent," he said in a 2004 video biography, genteel in tone and rich in
the themes of faith and family values that have helped win him legions
of fans...

In litigation and interviews with the Los Angeles Times, former
gallery owners depict Kinkade, 48, as a ruthless businessman who drove
them to financial ruin at the same time he was fattening his business
associates' bank accounts and feathering his nest with tens of
millions of dollars. Last month, a three-member panel of the American
Arbitration Assn. ordered his company to pay $860,000 for defrauding
the former owners of two failed Virginia galleries. That decision
marks the first major legal setback for Kinkade, who won three
previous arbitration claims. Five more are pending.

It's not just Kinkade's business practices that have been called into
question. In sworn testimony and interviews, former gallery owners,
ex-employees and others say his personal behavior also belies the
wholesome image on which he's built his empire...

Dandois, who left the company to become chief executive of a group of
galleries owned by Kinkade's brother, Patrick, recounted that about
six years ago the artist was so intoxicated during a performance by
Siegfried & Roy in Las Vegas that people seated nearby moved away from
him. "I think it was Roy or Siegfried or whatever had a codpiece in
his leotards," Dandois testified. "And so when the show started, Thom
just started yelling, 'Codpiece, codpiece,' and had to be quieted by
his mother and Nanette."

At other times, Kinkade could be downright nasty, Dandois testified,
recalling an incident in which Dandois' wife tried to help the
allegedly inebriated artist to his feet in a bar. "He had been falling
down, and he fell off the stool, and he was laying on the ground and
just looked up at her and flipped her the bird and told her, you know,
just to 'F you' several times," Dandois testified.

And then there is Kinkade's proclivity for "ritual territory marking,"
as he called it. In an interview, Sheppard, a former vice president
for Kinkade's company who often accompanied Kinkade on the road,
recounted a trip to Orange County in the late 1990s for the artist's
appearance on the "Hour of Power" television show at the Crystal
Cathedral in Garden Grove. On the eve of the broadcast, Sheppard said,
he and Kinkade returned to the Disneyland Hotel after a night of heavy
drinking. As they walked to their rooms, according to Sheppard and
another person who was there, Kinkade veered toward a nearby figure of
a Disney character. "Thom wanders over to Winnie the Pooh and decides
to 'mark his territory,' " Sheppard told The Times... When pressed
about allegedly relieving himself in a hotel elevator in Las Vegas,
Kinkade said it might have happened...

At a signing party in Indiana in August 2002, Kinkade polled the men
in the room about their preferences in women's anatomies. "He was
having a conversation with the men in the room about whether they like
breasts or butts," said Lori Kopec, Cote's director of gallery
operations, who also testified about the party. "There were only two
women in the room, and I was very uncomfortable at that point." It was
during that bawdy discussion, according to arbitration records, that
Kinkade turned his attention to the other woman. "He approached [her]
and he palmed her breasts and he said, 'These are great tits!' " Ernie
Dodson, another Cote employee, told The Times, adding that he drank no
alcohol that night. "I was just standing in the corner in amazement.
It was like, holy cow!" The woman whom Kinkade allegedly fondled
confirmed to The Times that he touched her breasts without her
consent... Cote and Kopec said they also saw the alleged groping. "She
let out a yelp and backed away," Kopec said. "That's when I knew he
had actually touched her."...

Los Angeles Times
March 5, 2006

Dark Portrait of a 'Painter of Light'
Christian-themed artist Thomas Kinkade is accused of ruthless tactics
and seamy personal conduct. He disputes the allegations.
By Kim Christensen, Times Staff Writer

Thomas Kinkade is famous for his luminous landscapes and street
scenes, those dreamy, deliberately inspirational images he says have
brought "God's light" into people's lives, even as they have made him
one of America's most collected artists.

A devout Christian who calls himself the "Painter of Light," Kinkade
trades heavily on his beliefs and says God has guided his brush — and
his life — for the last 20 years. "When I got saved, God became my art
agent," he said in a 2004 video biography, genteel in tone and rich in
the themes of faith and family values that have helped win him legions
of fans...

In litigation and interviews with the Los Angeles Times, former
gallery owners depict Kinkade, 48, as a ruthless businessman who drove
them to financial ruin at the same time he was fattening his business
associates' bank accounts and feathering his nest with tens of
millions of dollars. Last month, a three-member panel of the American
Arbitration Assn. ordered his company to pay $860,000 for defrauding
the former owners of two failed Virginia galleries. That decision
marks the first major legal setback for Kinkade, who won three
previous arbitration claims. Five more are pending.

It's not just Kinkade's business practices that have been called into
question. In sworn testimony and interviews, former gallery owners,
ex-employees and others say his personal behavior also belies the
wholesome image on which he's built his empire...

Dandois, who left the company to become chief executive of a group of
galleries owned by Kinkade's brother, Patrick, recounted that about
six years ago the artist was so intoxicated during a performance by
Siegfried & Roy in Las Vegas that people seated nearby moved away from
him. "I think it was Roy or Siegfried or whatever had a codpiece in
his leotards," Dandois testified. "And so when the show started, Thom
just started yelling, 'Codpiece, codpiece,' and had to be quieted by
his mother and Nanette."

At other times, Kinkade could be downright nasty, Dandois testified,
recalling an incident in which Dandois' wife tried to help the
allegedly inebriated artist to his feet in a bar. "He had been falling
down, and he fell off the stool, and he was laying on the ground and
just looked up at her and flipped her the bird and told her, you know,
just to 'F you' several times," Dandois testified.

And then there is Kinkade's proclivity for "ritual territory marking,"
as he called it. In an interview, Sheppard, a former vice president
for Kinkade's company who often accompanied Kinkade on the road,
recounted a trip to Orange County in the late 1990s for the artist's
appearance on the "Hour of Power" television show at the Crystal
Cathedral in Garden Grove. On the eve of the broadcast, Sheppard said,
he and Kinkade returned to the Disneyland Hotel after a night of heavy
drinking. As they walked to their rooms, according to Sheppard and
another person who was there, Kinkade veered toward a nearby figure of
a Disney character. "Thom wanders over to Winnie the Pooh and decides
to 'mark his territory,' " Sheppard told The Times... When pressed
about allegedly relieving himself in a hotel elevator in Las Vegas,
Kinkade said it might have happened...

At a signing party in Indiana in August 2002, Kinkade polled the men
in the room about their preferences in women's anatomies. "He was
having a conversation with the men in the room about whether they like
breasts or butts," said Lori Kopec, Cote's director of gallery
operations, who also testified about the party. "There were only two
women in the room, and I was very uncomfortable at that point." It was
during that bawdy discussion, according to arbitration records, that
Kinkade turned his attention to the other woman. "He approached [her]
and he palmed her breasts and he said, 'These are great tits!' " Ernie
Dodson, another Cote employee, told The Times, adding that he drank no
alcohol that night. "I was just standing in the corner in amazement.
It was like, holy cow!" The woman whom Kinkade allegedly fondled
confirmed to The Times that he touched her breasts without her
consent... Cote and Kopec said they also saw the alleged groping. "She
let out a yelp and backed away," Kopec said. "That's when I knew he
had actually touched her."...