I was never a fan of Kinkades paintings, but I read an interview he gave regarding his painter of light status.
He said that when he was a child his mom worked late. After walking home past houses with lights on and families together, he would come home to his dark empty house. He longed to be greeted by family and light. He painted what he desired but never had.
He spins a very charming tale, doesn’t he? I went to school with him, junior high and high school, and was at his home many times. His mom was divorced and raising three kids on her own, but they weren’t deprived or poor. His mom worked for the county and got home each evening by 5:30 p.m. Frankly, Tom would have preferred that she come home later! He was busy fooling around and learning to paint and sculpt. He left home at the first opportunity, heading to Berkeley then dropping out to do backgrounds for a cartoon feature in Hollywood. He was a bit of a wild man. In his heart of hearts he may have been a devout Christian, but that whole religious thing was used mainly for marketing. Have you read about the times he was arrested for DUI and his many misbehaviors in Las Vegas? (He stood on his seat and hollered, “Codpiece! Codpiece!” from the audience during a Sigfried and Roy performance. Another time he relieved himself on a statue of one of the Seven Dwarves at Disneyland.) And the details of his death are somewhat squalid.