(Of course, I used to wonder the same thing about Stephen King. "Here's the idea, now fill in the holes.")
The cartoonist Garry Tredeau (?sp) did just that ... he gave ideas to cartoonists and told them how to draw them ... he didn't do the actual artwork himself.
You are correct. He has a group of "artists" who make the giclee copies by the ton. Kinkade only adds some oil highlights (and maybe he really does let someone else do it) to giclee copies of originals and overcharges for the copies. Plus, it is pretty cheesy art to begin with.
I have a friend artist who does much better work and is far more talented than Kinkade, but he does not have the marketing strength by selling through his own art shops.
"I've always wondered about the sheer volume of paintings he's produced. Figured he must have a team of artists doing work under his name."
He does.
His style of painting doesn't that that long, either - sweat shops in China can crank one out in an hour - and do. And, it's not like his paintings require much research or prep. I won't go into the value of the paintings, or their quality, let's just say IMHO as a lifelong artist, he's the fast food of the art world. His stuff is created and sold to match your couch.
More to the topic, I've heard rumors about him ONLY working with Christians, for what it's worth - and Roman Catholics did'nt count. I'm not surprised by this story, I've heard lots of stories about him and him being a real slimebag over the years. I don't know if they're true or not, but he has a nasty reputation in the fine art publishing world. That's my opinion, of course, and has nothing to do with his potential use of lawyers to silence his critics.