The Dollop with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds - 77 - Christian Artist Thomas Kinkade

Episode Date: May 3, 2015

Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds examine The Painter of Light, Thomas KinkadeSOURCESTOUR DATESREDBUBBLE MERCHPATREON

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that really slow because you were typing each week I read a story from American history to my friend Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is about you did great to you really stretch that I finished the text people say this is funny not Gary Gareth Dave okay someone or something is tickling people is it for fun and this is not gonna come the tickling clock okay you are Queen Fakie of made-up town all hail Queen shit of Liesville a bunch of religious virgins go to mingle and do not pray and then go ahead shout the date I'm not gonna shout at this time just shout the fucking day you know

sometimes you can't just like pigeonhole me into something and say that's what I always do not because I don't that's January 19th 1958 oh William Thomas Kincaid III was born in Sacramento California okay to Bill and Mary Ann okay in those early years Bill Kincaid bounced from job to job Patrick Kincaid Thomas's brother said quote he'd go off on these flights of fancy about what he was going to do with his life he wanted to sail around the Sea of Cortez he had this weird little boat that in no way was ready nor was he a sailor sailor he had a hat and a map wait man you gotta start somewhere baby wait is this

the brother or the that was the brother of the guy that's his dad his dad's got a boat and a hat and a map well look and he's gonna sell her on the sea of Cortez look he has the map you know what what's wrong with a man and a plan yeah that this is the guy who's on CNN now like they're like this Coast Guard is still searching day nine Bill frequently came home drunk good man so he's he drank like a sailor too and and when Thomas was six Bill abandoned his family perfect I'm going to go where there's liquor goodbye well I'm taking the hat and map with me here's the thing about you guys you're a family and I

don't want to be that you know it's getting in the way of my life as a whino you guys goodbye so Marian was left with nothing Thomas his mother sister and brother moved to the small town of Placer Bill California okay now that's my grandparents out of house there it's a very small town okay foothill town during the gold rush it was a big place that kind of deal okay Tom loved to draw drawing made him stand out gain attention and approval and was a means of escape which he desperately needed oh boy howdy he used to draw caricatures in school there was a teacher that everyone hated and kids paid

Tom to draw a funny picture of him okay he started selling caricatures of all the teachers the kids didn't like and he realized that he could make money doing what he loved to do after that he was known as the kid who can draw catchy that's a really well how did they come up with that I don't know they put a lot of work into it the originality in this area is just spot on amazing I wish we could go back to that time such amazing ideas when Tom was 11 years old a local painter by the name of Charles Bell took him on as an apprentice and showed him the first basic techniques he needed to master in order to become a painter a

hat and a map quote there was a darkness in my heart whoa said Thomas Kincaid I had anger and frustration at the world around me I had a chip on my shoulder I was in a stinky little town and I wanted so badly to be raised in New York where all the museums were I was embarrassed by my home because it was so shabby and among my friends I was the only kid from a broken home poor little Tom Tom so he's not having a good time I like how he starts it yep in 1974 Glenn Wessels a fine art painter and a founding member of the Bay Area figurative school moved

to the neighborhood Glenn was in his late 70s and he needed help around the house and studio and a companion now 16 Kincaid gladly stepped in as a helping hand and apprentice to the artist. Wessels insisted that Kincaid study art at the University of California at Berkeley where Wessels had also attended and taught. Kincaid's roommate was a young artist named James Gurney who went on to do dynaetopia. Ah. Who became they became good friends and fellow pranksters uh-oh they dressed in identical workmen's overalls with the same name tag and called each other Jackson. Oh that's awesome you like that one. Oh that's just

straight up awesome. Jackson yeah Jackson people probably like what is happening. They would wear their uniforms into biker bars sit down and start sketching people without their permission or risking a brawl. The Jackson too. The Jack wow they were crazy we're gonna draw you without you knowing. That's fine goodbye. Okay nobody gives a shit. Another great prank Jackson. Yeah take that. Their stents included dive bombing into pools and pouring a shellac letter J on a friend's doorstep and setting it on fire. Okay you know. Yeah they're not great. They're not great. Cute. It's no cherry bomb in the toilet. After two years at Berkeley

Kincaid decided he wasn't the right fit for the school's liberal environment and decided to leave to continue his studies at the Art Center of Design in Pasadena. Okay. There he would sport a beret everywhere he went. Oh that's a bold move. Beret is the scooter of the head. That is a bold statement you're putting out there for people to judge you on. Yeah it's a lot of judgment. Oh my god you I had a set at the improv a couple weeks ago and there was a man in the audience with a beret. I couldn't do material. No you can't. No he's got a beret on. He wore a beret. It's saying so much. A non-Frenchman wearing a beret.

Non-Mime. Yeah not yeah. You're saying so much. It's bold. James Gurney followed him in the two rented apartment in a rundown complex in East Los Angeles on the side Kincaid delivered pizza on his motorcycle. Kincaid was still in love with his high school girlfriend Nanette. Okay. They had met when they were 12 in Placerville. Tom heard that her new relationship had soured and he wooed her back. Then one day in 1980 while sketching a nude model in an art class the face of Jesus appeared before Thomas. Okay. Which inspired him to become a born again Christian. Alright so I'm not gonna lie I think I got caught up in all

the good times we were just having and I forgot what the podcast is about and I shouldn't have done that. Okay so he's sketching a nude lady. Sketching a nude lady and Jesus is like bro what you doing bro. Hey look at her huh. Hey this is the J-man you know I made those. That's a vagina but seriously come over to my side. But for real my dad would love to talk to you about a couple things. Let's get down with Jesus. Take this pamphlet. When I talk about my faith in my art I see them as inseparable. I am a faith profession. I'm in a faith profession. If you think about it the world is full of darkness and you know what people need

is a little fight. The paintings are little worlds that people can step into. God became my art agent. How you doing? I represent Tom Kincaid. Hold this is God. Yes I'll hold. Good lord. Good me. Yep God's taking 20%. Just off the top. I'm getting Tom most of his gigs. We have an exhibition coming up. After two years at the art center Thomas and Jim decided to quit their studies and travel across the country riding train boxcars like hobos. Jesus these two should have not met up ever. How did they not become serial killers? Yeah no. It's sketching everything they saw so that's. It's hard on a train to sketch everything you see

too. Yeah. Whoa tree. Whoa cow. Whoa grass. Whoa fence. Look here's my new picture it's all blurry. Yeah it's just a bunch of blurs. But that's great so now they're hobos. Yep. Cobros it's called. Kincaid started calling himself the painter of light. Interesting. A name he would later trademark. No need to. Thomas and Nanette were married on May 2nd 1982 and moved into a small house in Placerville the stinky little town he hated. Nanette now a practicing nurse supported them both in those early days and he painted small landscape paintings which he sold in parking lots at local supermarkets. I mean she had like her friends had to

just be like throwing painter of light under the bus. So what's painter of light doing just sitting on his ass painting while you work a double. Did he sell did he sell a picture of a cottage. I can't tonight painter of light and I and I are going to the Gall of Gardens so. Can you just call him Thomas. No the painter of light and it's the painter of lights birthday in about a month but we do like birthday months so the whole month I'm making it about the painter of light. Okay but you can call him Thomas. Who the painter of light. Okay. Yeah I mean no. Okay. Yep. In 1987 Thomas Kincaid went off to the Carmel Sunday Art

Fair taking his supplies to set up an easel at the fair so people could watch him paint and buy his art. Hey we've all said the most fun thing in the world is to watch paint dry. Oh my god. What a joy. There he met Rick Barnett a vacuum cleaner salesman. Hey want to buy a cube. Who offered to represent Kincaid's work if he would agree to make Rick his exclusive art dealer. Wait but. Yep you heard that all correctly. Isn't isn't God going to be pissed. Well I mean you're you're leaving me for a vacuum cleaner salesman. I created the goddamn universe. Look I just need to move on to a new agent. What. He must be very good. In the

summer of 1988 after net and Thomas had their first daughter Thomas and Rick Barnett met Ken rush at a wedding where Kincaid told can about his desire to create a business of reproductions with his paintings. Rick Barnett was selling originals to galleries but Thomas wanted to make lithograph copies and greatly expand the number of times he could sell an image. How Christian Ken was in. He decided to join the business. Jesus. He must have been great. It must have been open bar. I mean. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Sure. I'm a painter. I don't have saw just my paintings. Well I have a legitimate career going on. But fuck

that. Let's sell God drawing out. You want to dance. By 1991 after selling lithographs most at mostly art fairs the company signed a deal with the Bradford exchange and Kincaid's images went on sale on eight and a half inch collectible plates. Wait a minute. OK. So wait. So there's some lithographs. So but the lithograph is basically just like a. It's a copy of your painting. OK. But it is. It is. How big are they. They're the same size as whatever the painting is. OK. So just. He's just selling a copy. But a lithograph is just a copy. Yeah. Basically. OK. So now he's selling eight and a half inch collectible

plates which is always the sign of a great artist. That's that's what that's where you will. The goal. Look the goal is to either get on mugs or place. Right. Right. OK. You want to be something a fast food place gives away. Right. Or you're doing like a like a toilet or like a gas like a gas like something you could buy at a gas station your toothpaste. Yeah. Or a lighter something. Something really great. Someone that art belongs. What. Look. Art belongs on plates. The thing that you eat off of. Right now. This is the getter done of painters. Right. Yes. This is painter the light guy. With the eight and a half

inch collectible plate sales doubled overnight. That's so weird. Like it's just it's always a shame when like someone's dumb idea works and it shouldn't have. Like I remember watching this thing on the guys who started this clothing line called happy. Yeah. Or something like stupid like be happy. And it was just like a stick figure and watch and they made millions. Of course they did. And then watching them talk about it. They let you know it's just and you're just like are you fucking me. You stepped in shit. OK. Yeah. You stepped in shit. You lucky asshole. So made hundreds of thousands per year in that

same year Thomas and then that second daughter was born by the daughter of light by 1994. It's three years after the commemorative plates. The company had reached 30 million in annual sales. And for the first time an artist went public on the stock market. What. Because that's again. That's what all artists seek out. Dude. God must have been like you know what I guess we weren't the right match. I was the wrong gentleman. I was with the heaven was the wrong agency. I'm sorry. All I did was make the world. Anyway. But I didn't have the stupid thought process that you have. But I wasn't a drunk vacuum cleaner

salesman. Now was I. Can Cade said he wanted to do Christmas ornaments collections of miniature villages with cottages that would light up stockings tree skirts coasters wrapping paper and Christmas lights. I want to be the painter of Christmas. He'd tell a business partner boy. That's little grandiose. Yeah. I want to be the painter of Christmas. In 1995 the executive vice president of their company saw a demonstration of a new process called the canvas transfer system. Oh boy. In which a photograph could be transferred onto a canvas creating the look and feel of a real painting. The process created a

work of art bumps and all nearly indistinguishable indistinguishable from the original. OK. Can Cade quote will hire some artists to retouch every painting and make it original. Oh that's what an asshole. What it's got a little something. Because somebody just puts one brush stroke on it. It's unique. Hey now. Yeah. Hey now you. Hey now. Hey now you. Rick Barnett suggested they call them highlighters. Thomas nodded and smiled back at him. Master highlighters. Oh God. The highlighter artists were mostly Hispanic and Asian hourly workers who worked in a paint by number style. Oh cool. They would

add a red dot to a tree here or a dash of white to an interior light there. Some picturing like we're Kathie Lee Gifford had her clothes made. Except. Yes. It's a sweatshop for art. Yeah. They've created the worst thing you can do with art. Cool. That's nice. Yeah. Yeah. And he's a man of God. Yeah. OK. Very a very a boarding in Christian young man. Yes. Within a few months the company opened a large flagship Thomas concade gallery in the Valley Fair Mall in Santa Clara. Thomas and Annette had their third daughter from Cades biography written by a business partner Eric Husky who discusses a meeting with Hallmark

company representatives. Oh God. The Hallmark people were quite conservative and Tom and Annette complimented their values perfectly. They appeared to be the poster couple for what Hallmark stood for. Annette was the perfect wife supporting her husband and did it out of conviction and belief. She knew just how to present herself and support Tom and his role as the legendary Christian artist. She toned down his jokes if they got too boisterous. Oh Thomas. He had quite a tongue. He did. Did he say pussy. He didn't mean that. He meant kitty kitty cat. And she spoke of him glowingly as a husband and

father. After the dinner we shook hands with the Hallmark folks and said our goodnight as they left the restaurant. Tom nudged me and two other men toward the back of the building where there were two limos waiting. He told Annette we were heading out on the town. Confused I heard him tell her he would see her later back at the hotel. She got into her limo and looked out at me and I remember the look on her face. In fact I've never forgotten it. It left an indelible impression. I saw a mixture of sadness and concern but no anger. She spoke to me carefully and directly. Be careful. Oh shit. Then we drove off in

her own limo. Wait. Okay. For all the bullshit I've talked about this guy. What an awesome move. Who the fuck. What a fucking pimp move. It's just a Christian. It's two limos. Wanted to send the wife out. Yeah. Wanted to fucking go on the town. Which she is clearly used to. And she knows. And she's like oh there goes my child. And all the only things she knows to say is be careful. This is how the Hangover 2 should have started. And Tom looked as if he felt he could finally be himself. As he thrust a beer toward me he said we're gonna have some fun. Oh this guy. He called to the limo driver and asked him what the best bar

in town was. We ended up at Harpo's in the college town area of Kansas City. The place was jam packed with 20-somethings drinking beer and cocktails. The music was pumping and Tom looked like he was in his element. Isn't this fun? He laughed knocking back his scotch and ordered another one. Oh what. This is quite a turn. We're gonna do some great business with Hallmark aren't we. And we're gonna have fun doing it. Then he suddenly got up and jumped on the bar. He started dancing yelling at the top of his lungs. Drinks on me for everyone in the house. A huge cheer went up in the whole bar.

A hundred more kids clapping and laughing. Tom handed the bartender his platinum American Express card. I mean I'm I'm torn in all sorts of directions right now. I don't know which way is up with this fella. Thomas and Annette's fourth daughter was born in 1998. By the year 2000, Kincaid was everywhere. You could no longer buy his originals but you could purchase it. It's originals. Oh good woes me. He's probably not even paying anymore. I would imagine. He just painted like a hundred and I was like okay let's just sit back and watch this shit work.

Yeah. You could purchase a canvas back lithograph, a plate, a snow globe, or a blanket to cuddle under while you lounge in a Thomas Kincaid lazy boy chair. Wow. You could write letters on a Thomas Kincaid notepad and drink coffee from a cup decorated with one of his paintings. Wow. In California there were 78 signature galleries carrying only Kincaid's work. Jesus Christ. I mean literally. Okay so when I was this was around this time I was in a place called Larkspur and I walked in.

I was walking on this mall. I was waiting for someone and I walked into this gallery. Well the name is very familiar. Yeah of course. Is it because there's stores that you'll still that's what it is right? Still everywhere. But I walked in this gallery and there was a fireplace and it was just the cheesiest fucking horse shit. You had ever seen I was just walking around going what in the fuck is happening? And I remember very distinctly just being like

this is fucking nuts. It's almost like Scientology art. Yeah a little bit. It's like a cult. Like you just you're in you don't ask any questions just get the fucking collection and then 10 years later you're like what the fuck was I doing in the 90s? I'm sorry what happened? I was deep into the shitty artists. Oh yeah this was my grunge. His media arts group devoted solely to the art of concade was on the New York Stock Exchange. The art world didn't view concade as an artist. He was a brand. He was the

McDonald's of painting. His fans mostly Christian believed that his art was a triumph of populism and wholesome family values over the usual elitism and intellectual snobbery of art. I mean you really are so accurate calling him the Larry Cable Guy. Larry the Cable Guy fan. This is get her done. Yeah. This is the get her done of paintings. Well you don't get it. No no no you don't get it. No I get it. Yeah I get it. Oh I get it. Oh believe me all I do is get. Although concade said he did not by the way I

knew that guy starting out Larry the Cable Guy. He was a San Francisco comic and then one day he just went up in a cable outfit and then all of a sudden he was fucking off and running. People should definitely Google videos of Larry the Cable Guy before he was Larry the Cable Guy because it's fucking hilarious. Yeah. They're a very nice guy. I'm sure he's very sweet. Horrible Harper apparently. Good lord. Look at those fucking commercials we need to see. It's cool that they don't make sense. Yeah no what's cool about him is there's a jet ski and that's all I know.

The way he goes through a hoop of fire. Yeah uh-huh. Exactly. Much like the hoop in your esophagus. Although concade said he did not market specifically to Christians his limited edition canvas prints bear the familiar Christian fish symbol and are inscribed with a biblical reference. John 316. Oh boy. Yeah he is also fond of quoting Matthew 516 let your light shine before men. Well those are clues that they might be Christian leaning. I believe in a very simple way of life

concade said in 2000 in his home a short drive away from the San Jose factory that employs 450 people who mass produce his lithographs. This is already a fun statement. I am a symbol of good life that people dream of and maybe haven't been able to achieve. I'm not perfect but I have a happy family a happy life my paintings are illustrations of that. The disintegration of culture starts with the artist. I'm on a crusade to turn the tide in the arts to restore dignity to the arts and by extension to the culture. I'm gonna paint our way out of this

shit. Good luck. I'm gonna paint our way out of horrors. Good luck. And and fornication. But yet he's. Hey what. He's getting a limo for the wife. What. You don't mind your business. He really is just like an evangelical preacher. Will you just look at the pretty picture of the cottage. He's like the guy who wanted the 400 million dollar private jet because God told them to get. Okay you want to take him down because you don't believe in Jesus. I also want to maybe go to Harpo's with him.

Kendall Kincaid's devoted fans made him a wealthy man. In fiscal 1999 media arts posted revenues of 126 million. Kincaid and Annette who owed 27% of the stock which made them worth an estimated 30 million. Kincaid's appearances on QVC Home Shopping Network to sell his prints to sell his prints or his book Light Post for Living. It's a great book. Yeah. We're very successful. One 1999 QVC show. 10,000 copies of a book were sold every minute. What.

His art sold upwards of one million dollars an hour. Oh my god. He had to reduce his personal appearances at galleries and bookstores because so many fans were arriving days early and camping out in RVs and in convincing the neighborhood. It's when you say honey we're gonna go say Kincaid. Just driving their RV. When you tap into the RV people. Oh. You're an artist. Yeah. You've you've found. You're an RVist. Well done. Thank you. Second you started talking about him I the first thing that popped in my head was Home Shopping Network.

Yeah. Like I yeah. He's the Kardashians of painting. Which just shows you the level of quality we're talking about. Exactly. It's just shitty enough for the morons. It's for it's for grandmas. Yeah. I would like that. Oh that's the pretty college. That makes me feel good. Not like that. Dare you hear me the phone in the credit card. I'm gonna buy this book about light posts. In 2001 Kincaid was asked about his opinion of Picasso. Oh boy. I don't believe in time. What. It's a great opener. I think I'm good there. I don't believe in time.

I don't believe in time that he will be regarded as the Titan he is now. He is a man of great talent who to me used to create three Picasso's before breakfast before he could get ten thousand for each of them. Yep. What is this slam against Picasso that he didn't have migrant workers putting red dots on trees? And then he would crank out three so he could get money. He's he basically he's basically basically saying that Picasso is a junk artist who's just selling it for cash. Well ironic pot kettle. Why don't you guys sit down have a talk huh. About his galleries. He said our galleries are soft. You don't echo when you walk in.

It's comfortable. There's a fireplace burning. There's a person sitting here who's not an art expert. We don't hire art experts. We hire people who love art and love people. And when you walk in you're greeted and the experience is entirely different. Oh this is just. We hire. You know what a fucking idiot is. Okay. So we got carpet and a fireplace and a fucking idiot. Okay. And then you come into our gallery and you walk in and you go hey I'm a fucking idiot too. You're not going to hear an echo on that statement. You ain't going to hear someone talking shit about oh this art is different because blah blah blah. If you're just going to look at a painting goes that make you feel good Tom. It's kind of like Bieber fans. Yeah. All right. That's all I got.

My wife and I do pray over these paintings and we do believe that God can speak through beauty. What I paint touches on foundational life values. Home family peacefulness. Of his fans he said they're like a cult. I just said that in my face. I said that. I just said that the cult of concave my fan my fans named babies after me. People are moved by what I do. If the critics want to attack let them attack. I must as Christ himself said be about my father's work. Larry the cable guy. Larry the cable guy cable guy. And of course like Christ the next thing to do was to build a Thomas concave subdivision. Oh my God. He's doing Christ's work. No he's not. He's doing concage work. He's doing home building that he's being home for the poor.

He's building a cul-de-sac for the poor. He's building a subdivision of homes. For people to have for free. Well no. I mean yeah no he's building he's making money. Well they're going to pay for them. They're going to buy a house but he's but he's doing it for. Oh yeah in the name of God. Maybe they wouldn't have a house if they couldn't. Well they'd probably buy one somewhere else. Okay. I mean it's a valid point but yeah this is for Christ. No that's not a valid point. More than 100 homes all modeled on his cottages were built in Vallejo California outside San Francisco called The Village at Hidden Brook. Where the hell is it? Brook is where is the brook. Kincaid said my goodness Walt Disney wasn't satisfied just

making a movie. He said I want to invite people to step into that world and he built Disneyland. We view my work and my cultural identity in a way as a heir to the Walt Disney kind of tradition. It's a subdivision. Yeah just like Walt Disney did. He built a subdivision of theme park. Yeah. With rides. This is the same thing but it's. I don't think it is Tom. It's the same thing but it's houses for God. Okay. Oh man this is just like the book. Thank you. Thank you very much. To reach The Village at Hidden Brook a Thomas Kincaid painter of light trademark community. You drive 30 minutes northeast of San Francisco. There is a freeway sign board with a slogan

get away every day. The Village at Hidden Brook which features photographs of green grass golfers and steak dinners. Just really it just sounds like a hotel pamphlet. Yeah I haven't I heard you. Hidden Brook is a. I didn't say heaven. Hidden Brook is a development of 10 communities clustered together on 1300 acres with a golf course at the center. The Village was marketed as according to its marketing material quote a neighborhood of cottage style homes that are filled with warmth and personality and quote garden style landscaping with meandering pathways benches water features and secret places meandering pathways. Thomas Kincaid's Village opened in September 2002 and drew a crowd of more than 2000 people. God. I mean we just leave this country

already. Jesus. Kincaid said this is a dream come true. We have believed for many years that the attachment people feel to the paintings could be embodied in a real place. He also led a prayer where he asked God to make the subdivisions a home to quote all face all backgrounds and all family descriptions but only Christian but not the blacks not the blacks or the Jews. And everyone got a look at the generic track housing a bland collection of homes with no church no cafe and no town square just like the paintings. That's what he said. None of the homes look anything like Kincaid's paintings. Hello. The only store in the neighborhood is a Thomas Kincaid gallery. Do you have food. No. Kincaid painting. Kincaid did not actually design the homes. Well

well well this plot thickens. Instead he licensed his name to a development firm called Taylor Woodrow which designed the homes. Fran Leach marketing director for Taylor Woodrow said we couldn't build the Thomas Kincaid home because it'd be priced prohibitively when we had to pick and choose Kincaid like details we chose gobbled roofs dormers and white picket fences. We really tried to incorporate a 1920s look older feel a slower time those sorts of things. There it is looks like shit right. Yeah I mean really that's what they're saying like right shittier right shittier times. I mean if you've ever seen if you've ever been a Vallejo it's just all tracked housing and it just all looks like garbage and if you have a vision of tracked housing in your head

that's exactly what these looks like. Gorgeous just like heaven's gonna be. It's like when Glenn Beck built his own little city. Oh my god it's exactly like that. Yeah Glenn that that's another googleable thing where he's like this will be the town center where we'll all sit and talk you're like what buddy you you didn't go to college. The Samsung Chronicle visited the village in 2012. Residents see their homes and neighborhood as a unique and distinctive Terry Booth an original owner said she brought her home because quote it didn't look like every other McMansion. It was shitty. We like the ambiance. It's like one of his little villages the lights have to be on at night we feel safe. Lights have to be on at night. I mean literally the only good fact she

gave was that the lights have to be on at night and I don't know what the upside really is. That just means that the lights have to be on at night. Well especially if you're in if you're in the Christ area like if you're in the Christ the sack well who you don't need the lights on there's no crime. No it should be shining all the time. Yeah it's true yeah God's lot will make the streets bright. From the Hiddenbrook Times published by Hiddenbrook Property Owners Association spring 2015. Newt Hiddenbrook you have chosen to live in a wonderful community. There's no there's so much going on here. We have four book clubs a mother's group a knitting club a car club regular golf groups cocktail parties three times a year and special dinners at the clubhouse

at an annual charity golf tournament. Renters can now find important information about living in Hiddenbrook on our website. As far as graffiti Maria and Brett Andrews will continue to monitor and aggressively respond to any graffiti problems in Hiddenbrook. We are very lucky to have such dedicated people to do this work. The Hiddenbrook golf course comedy night Friday March 27th 2015 $40 per person includes an Italian buffet. Okay we've got some stuff to talk about. What's it's a big they're okay. First of all their list could not be in a worse order. You don't lead with book club and then put cocktail party towards the end. I agree. That's a no go. I agree. Also so clearly there was a graffiti problem. Right. Let's play. Oh there's a lot of gangs up

there. So I wouldn't get in the house. The house are getting tagged just like America. So I wouldn't brag. That was that's something I'd leave out. I'd leave out the graffiti you know that's just like being like it's a little too upfront. Look they were they were just explaining what's going on with the place. And by the way we need to go to their comedy night. Oh fuck. We need to go. We need to get booked on our comedy night. Oh god getting booked. I can find out who books it. Oh my god. I can find out who books it. I listen if what we're talking about is going to do their comedy night. Yeah that's what we're talking about. I couldn't be more in. Hopefully they don't listen to the podcast. Yeah I doubt they do. All right. We'll figure it out. In August 2002 Larry

and Susan D Giovanni owners of Minneapolis Twin Cities Concade Gallery claimed media arts group Incorporated deluded the value of their holdings by saturating the market and selling so much of his work on QVC. The couple father lawsuit claiming that that concage company misled and defrauded them of more than one point three million in life savings. Oh my god. This was just about one of ten suits filed by Kincaid's galleries across the country against Kincaid's company. So I'm sorry though but what what so these galleries are independently right. So yeah so each guy it's like a franchise. It's like a franchise. Yeah he franchised out his art. And now these people are suing him for having a bad franchise. So he he franchised like he

franchised McDonald's right and then he went on television and sold McDonald's right. So no one wanted to go to McDonald's. Yeah right except this McDonald's is edible forever. Isn't it for your heart. Yeah it's it's a happy meal for the soul. It just makes me glow and you get a toy. You get a toy. It makes me glow. So they filed a one point three million lawsuit out of ten other more than ten other did in 2003 a private group led by Thomas Kincaid agreed to buy media arts group incorporated for thirty two point seven million media arts posted a six point two million in losses for the first half of 2003 as revenue declined 49 percent. That's a lot to twenty seven million from the year earlier period. Its stock price fell 12

percent media arts first sold shares to the public in August 1994 at seven twenty five each Kincaid bought them all back for four dollars. Jesus a three member panel of the American Arbitration Association ordered his company to pay eight hundred and sixty thousand for defrauding the former owners of two failed Virginia Galleries. The litigation also revealed ex-employees and other experiences with Thomas Kincaid. So he's a good guy. He is a good guy. Though the panel said that Kincaid and other executives had created a certain religious environment designed to instill a special relationship of trust the company often used terms such as partner trust Christian and God to convey a sense of higher calling. Is that why he was so sort of wishy

washy as to the association with religion in his stuff because it is. I personally don't know if he was a Christian or if this was just all bullshit because it seems like a big marketing thing. What I would think is that he was a Christian but then like any evangelical preacher once you realize there's money that you can make you become a businessman over a man of religion. Well that that definitely is the case. But then so but that's why he was almost a little like sensitive as far as being like these are Christian paintings. He would put Christian quotes on them or biblical verses. Yeah. But that's. That's all marketing. That's marketing. Yeah. And you can't get on the hook for saying that you're selling like religious. And then you're opening galleries telling people

that this is for God. Right. It's a higher. Right. He's he's spreading. What are people going to realize when are people going to realize God doesn't need money. Oh no he needs he doesn't need money. He takes a cut. He needs a he needs so fucking broke right now. And he needs God needs a lot of money. That's the way to go get some soda and chips. He's so into cash. I just laid it all out there for Earth and the rest of the universe. He's so into cash. I love to talk about my faith. Can Kate said in a deposition I try to embrace people with love unconditional love like Christ did the gallery owners alleged that can Kate allowed them to sink in order to drive down the stock price so he could buy back the company at a bargain basement price. Company executives

and lawyers said that the steep drop in the number of signature galleries which had dwindled dwindled to fewer than half of the 350 that that existed in 2003 was the result of the dot com crash a shrinking economy and the September 11 attacks. Although can Kate and others in the top positions prospered boy what does this sound like a painting pyramid scheme I mean it's just really I just sound so familiar from 1997 through May 2005 can Kate earned 53 million for his work Rick Barnett executive vice president yeah I know who Rick is and former vacuum cleaner salesman it's weird because now he's just sucking up profits Rick also made millions as the signature galleries were failing unbeknownst to the dealers he got commissions on all art sold to them average

averaging more than two million a year in 1999 2000 2001 wow so he was just they would they would fucking jack up the price on the paintings and give him a fucking cut yeah gallery owners had to attend a program known as the Thomas concave university what universities really get tossed around it's like the in and out burger college yeah yeah it's like the legal seafood you which told them how much money they could make and how great Thomas was I mean Dave this really is a pyramid scheme fucked Scientology I took a bloodbath an absolute bloodbath said a Los Angeles dealer for our sins we were told success story average success story and of course the Tom story and his Christian views and the way he runs his life it's I don't mean to keep comparing it to

bullshit yeah you in the middle of a quote no go ahead is that it's like those late night commercials where it's like a guy who's like I made millions of dollars by playing the stock market let me show you how and it's like no he's making money by lying to you and you're paying him to hear his lie you're not even getting paintings yeah he's not even giving you fucking pain no he's saying you can make tons of money by opening up a store I am gonna give you a bunch of fucking posters yeah yeah yeah you're the back section of a Spencer's gifts essentially oh my god welcome to poster town yeah you know hallmark you're the same thing yeah litigation and an investigation by the LA Times revealed a new side to concave former employees said they often went with concave to

strip clubs and bars where he frequently became intoxicated and out of control and here he goes crawling back at my good books again Mike Dandios midi art groups senior director of retail operations recounted that the artist was so intoxicated during a performance of Siegfried and Roy in Las Vegas that people nearby moved away from him I think it was Roy or Siegfried or whoever had a cod piece in his leotard so that was a Siegfried and Roy so when the show started tom just started yelling cod piece cod piece cod piece and he finally had to be quieted down by his mother and the net he might have ordered the fish in his defense that is true he was probably just asking for the cod he just wanted his fish he was just saying I want a piece of cod so he's

just getting shit canned yeah at Siegfried and Roy yeah and distracting the show yeah pretty much it's guys hey that's the painter of light I think we got to make a good and a bad list about this guy because there's some great shit in here at other times can cane could be downright nasty uh Daniel I testified recalling an incident in which his wife tried to help the allegedly inebriated artist to his feet in a bar quote he had been falling down and he fell off the stool and he was laying on the ground and just looked it up at her and flipped to the bird and told her fuck you several times oh my god ah paint this oh here's a painting for you fucking bitch here's a finger painting yeah

fuck you ah you asshole tom tom this isn't very christlike christ would have told you to go fuck yourself I love when people get drunk like so drunk and like you're trying to help them they're like you're fucking are you trying to hurt me I'm just trying to get you off the floor you don't know me I want to get you off the floor you're trying to fuck with me I'm not falling for your bullshit okay I just want to get back to the now help me get off the floor you fucking bitch can kate also enjoyed what he called ritual territory marking oh boy according to terry shepherd a former vice presidents that's what can kate called ping on things outside it yeah I figured as much I didn't think he was going around with like ribbons

in a deposition the artist alluded to his practice of urinating outdoors saying he quote grew up in the country where it was common went pressed about the allegedly by the way the placerville is not the country well it's everybody knows just a small town it's not an excuse either like I did it when I was a child that's not an excuse you start to use toilets up yeah you grow up what pressed about allegedly relieving himself in a hotel elevator in las vegas can kate said it might have happened quote there may have been some ritual territory marking going on but I don't recall it wow now it's creepy now to hear that that was a ritual territory up a hotel elevator yeah man take the next one I've been marking this I've already marked this one concave goes a winner

this also happened in the late 1990s outside of the disneyland hotel in anaheim now that's an extremely expensive hotel to go to it's a very fancy it's an even a more expensive toilet and this was witnessed by shepherd quote this one's for you walt can kate said late one night as a urinated on a winnie the pooh figure oh my god winnie the p oh my god well that's classic air to disney stuff yeah yeah he was probably just making the big d with his piss over and over here you go walt you son of a bitch yeah drink my piss pooh bear psychologically if you really broke this down if I say I'm the air to you that I'm peeing on my own work you want some honey pooh bear basically I'm peeing on myself and how I feel about me

pooh bear want dick honey concade's memory was also funny was when he was asked about a signing party in indiana in august 2002 oh boy after the larger group dispersed concade and others moved into a smaller room for private signing with a michigan gallery owner and some of his employees oh man champagne was served and then hard liquor at one point concade pulled the the men in the room about their preferences in women's anatomy oh boy quote he was having a conversation with the men in the room about whether they like breasts or butts a woman who testified about the party a woman testified about the party there were only two women in the room and I was very uncomfortable at that point it was during that discussion that concade turned his attention to another woman

he approached her and he palmed her breasts and said these are great tits oh what's Jesus the painter of light says these are great tits in the name of christ oh my god man it's like god maize ease i'm gonna put him in my mouth is that all right oh man this is how i get inspired to paint he's becoming Bill Cosby a little now these are some of great tits concade he testified in a deposition that excessive drinking and some normal rowdy talk had taken place but he denied touching the woman look you gotta remember i'm the idol of these women who were there they sell my work every day you know they're enamored with my any attention i would give them i don't know what kind of flirting they were trying to do with me i don't recall what was going on

that night he described himself as an average hard-working guy who just happened to be a famous artist yeah and he said he doesn't take himself too seriously the book of eclestacy eclesto i don't know this one whatever eclestia tis and now my friend michael who who we might have on a podcast okay okay so michael who's a very smart man reads a lot of history listens to the podcast sounds like me and he wants to come in and just have a third mic and he'll correct every time oh yeah that's fun that'll be a fun one maybe we can have a live one and he would just correct every time oh that'd be great because i get drunk of those and i really fuck yeah yeah yeah i mean i should know this because i've heard it said before by christian people but i i i know what we're ecstasy ecstasy ecstasy

i think it doesn't look like that but whatever well let's just look at the ecstasy says enjoying yourself have a glass of wine for this is god's will for you it's never consistent with god's will that we behave in a sinful way however god loves us and accepts us and understands that at times we have our failings yeah so i might grab a woman's tits and have a shot it's such bullshit to be able to use religion as your cape you know i'm just saying i like titties look god accepts us for our faults i know i made millions and millions of dollars off of representing the good christian faith but so what a tick god grab now god still loves me that's what's great about god that's what's going on he used to be my art rep before i'm in a vacuum you know who you should bring into this deposition

is god he's my art rep for four years before i got involved with the vacuum gentleman the bailiff just holds the bible and god just gives him a glare like really really sits down you want to do this in uh march 2006 after the new york after the la times article came out along with the testimony concade accused quote disgrunt disgruntled x dealers and a former employee of launching quote media tax on him but he also said he might have behaved badly during a stressful time which is now behind him during which he had overindulged in food and drink and gained 50 pounds nobody's worried about the food you ate the good news is i learned many valuable lessons from that phase of my life with god's help and the support of my family and friends i have returned balance to my life and if you've

seen me lately you know i've lost over 50 pounds and i feel terrific and 50 million in 2009 nanette staged an intervention for concade with ken rush one of the founding members of the company no one knows what the result of the intervention was oh god after the first tick god grab but we know it failed yeah after the first intervention failed nanette staged a second one in the spring of 2010 this time bringing her daughters with her as well as ken and tom's brother patrick with everyone present she confronted tom with the message get sober or lose us tom was more than devastated he was furious oh boy he was then forcibly led away by medical assistance and taken to a rehab facility literally kicking and screaming oh boy that's how i want to

go within a month tom was back to drinking even worse than before oh man nanette filed for divorce and they became legally separated oh in june 2010 concade was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in november of that year concade was at the denver broncos stadium to unveil mile high thunder his painting for the tim tebow foundation oh god oh my god i feel sick i mean and he must have gotten shit can't denver's a real fun place to get drunk if people don't yeah right because of altitude because if people don't know tim tebow is he is a guy who's not that good at football that is a christian that just keeps getting jobs well i will almost say counter to that he's also the problem with him is that he is like a media like the media will go wherever he is because he

has this christian fan base yeah but it that that's also part of the reason why teams will not have him on their squad because he's such a fucking distraction because of this any sort of issue he's created no and his game doesn't translate that well to the NFL uh so this is his uh denver and fans in denver have been promised a 30 minute inspirational speech uh presentation from kinkade oh boy dav i feel like they might not have gotten that quote this is how we started it you ready this is the start of his this is the opening of the speech oh boy i sneeze in public and i make a headline oh my god yes america's most known most beloved artist shows up at orange county hospital he threw in all day kids event we hosted our contest we give our packages to all the kids

i talked to them about journaling their life and about creating something every day that makes statements and we sent word out to every newspaper coming down since they enjoy this kind of celebration no one showed but make one wrong step in public and they put it on the front page get out of love jesus was that no i didn't think he went on but oh god i thought that was it too i was like there's a lot get out and pray for you all you pray for me god can you imagine i mean you can't market yourself as the everyman when you say that you sneeze in public and you make a headline yeah you just sound like a prick oh yeah he almost sounds like the kenny powers of religion he is the kenny powers of religion oh my god holy shit oh fuck no at this point he's he's no longer

there are no longer two concaves there is one concaved yeah it's just the bad concaved yeah okay yeah it's just we just have mr hide now yeah he's gone okay dom he's gone in december concaved entered a no contest plea on his dui charge his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and he was sentenced to 10 days in jail with a mandatory attendance at a nine-month dui offender program a fine of a thousand eight hundred and forty six dollars and five years of probation in 2011 concaved took a trip to italy business partner and biographer eric kusky wrote a few days into the trip concaved took to italy in the middle of 2011 ceo john hastings received a phone call at his office okay all in the other line was a young girl crying so hysterically that he could

hardly understand what she was saying he finally managed to grasp that something had gone terribly wrong tom had been drinking heavily and he was out of control apparently he hadn't moved in his bed for two days and the girl was afraid for his life okay a couple of things here a couple of things two days two days two days he's been passed out for you didn't think after i don't know 10 hours or whatever eight hours that you might call someone also how about a hospital you're fucking calling this the fucking ceo of the company she must be in america here in italy she just read ten kennedy's biography she probably tried an exorcism first though in her defense hasting asked the girl if tom was breathing and she said yes john hastings drove straight to the san francisco airport to

take the next non-stop flight to italy as john entered tom sweet he was hit by a smell of booze sweat and urine well he was marking well that's all god's territory market but yeah he's marking but also god made all his room he's allowed to market i'm gonna i'm surprised there wasn't shit yeah the curtains were drawn and the girl was huddled in a corner curled up in a fetal position quietly crying oh my god this is just a good date this is not a good day hey you want to go to italy with me we're gonna have some fun let me know what this girl pictured oh my god italy we're gonna see that italy we'll see the bat again we'll see the colosseum oh my god he's just dead from wine what the fuck it's hunter s tobson um john approached the bed where tom lay naked motionless

and soiled oh god two empty whiskey bottles stood on the bedside table and one nearly empty was clutched in his hand oh jesus john picked up tom's 300 pound frame and dragged him naked into the bathroom where he began to wash his body in the bathtub like christ would have done yeah just like jesus went like yeah this is a jesus moment tom slowly came to as the girl hardly packed their belongings in the other room john got him down to the lobby by pushing him on a luggage cart i mean that's awesome i mean again as dislikeable as this guy is if you picture the movie it's pretty good when the valet this is a great comedy starring zack elf yes isn't it yes when the valet brought up the rented Mercedes it was covered in dent dancing scratches on all sides

the girl explained that tom had driven the winding coastal road drunk for days a bottle wedge between his legs repeatedly smashing into low stone walls and guardrails of steep cliffs in portofino natively plummeting them down to the shore tom john hastings and the girl boarded the next plane and flew back to california where hastings made sure to get both tom and the girl safely home only weeks later tom ended up in a hospital bed from alcohol poisoning really tom concave i know what for two weeks he had no use of his limbs and no sensation in his body which had gone into toxic shock he drank himself to the level of coming back from space that's a lot of bourbon uh it took two weeks of detoxing before he slowly regained the feeling

in use of his arms and legs what i didn't know you could do that by drinking i mean that's an alcoholic oh my god that is all hail king drunk i mean he wins alcoholic of the century yes i can't feel how drunk am i it's not drunk i am i can't move son of a bitch i ain't got no arms and legs that do nothing how do you they're floppy you numb your they're floppy god damn it from the la times april 6 2012 thomas concave whose luminous paintings formed the basis of a wide-reaching commercial empire has died concave 54 died at his last god us home friday according to his spokesman for his family tom provided a wonderful life for his family his wife to net said any statement to the san san jose mercury news she's good we are shocked and saddened by his death

family spokesman david satterfield said the death appeared to be from natural causes yeah mm-hmm yeah mash uh la times may 7th 2012 famed artist thomas concave died of an accidental overdose of alcohol and valium according to autopsy autopsy findings it also revealed chronic ailments and a large heart and a fatty liver along with numerous blunt force injuries probably caused by frequent drunken falls oh my god january 14th 2015 the thomas concave company announces a change in ownership from the concave family trust to art brand studios an affiliated entity of next point capital a los angeles-based private equity firm the managing partner of next point capital mark nicholson has a long-term relationship with the concave family and the thomas concave brand he has uh he

had also previously been an investor in the company february 9th 2015 the star telegram fort worth texas executives with the dream vision company revealed conceptual plans monday for a 3.5 billion park in north texas but left some big questions unanswered ceo rick selencus said dream vision has chosen a site but he declined to say whether the land is under contract he wouldn't say where the park will be built but said it's slated to open in 2020 after three years of construction paintings from the late thomas concave will influence how the park is designed and dream vision has partnered with the concave company concave had met with them in 2011 said john hastings ceo not one of the company's licensing partners ended its involvement with the brand following concave's

death hallmark has seen double digit growth and kikade remains the top-selling painter of disney images the may 2014 issue of global license places concave at number 81 on the list of best selling licensed brands with 425 million in annual sales sorry okay they're building the disney land of him yes he already did that with a cul-de-sac oh my god i almost spit all over the microphone well what is the theory behind this they're building a 3.5 billion park for christ for it's a christian disney land but you know it's fucked up it's gonna be great it's gonna be great it's gonna do great they're all acting like none of this happened they're there they just see the paintings and they go oh christ made this and they don't give a shit about the monster that was behind it

the alcoholic that the guy who drank the wc fields behind the magic yeah the guy who was in so much pain from his daddy leaving him when he was six who was also an alcoholic the guy clearly has an inherited alcohol disease yeah who just lived who drank his limbs numb who lived a double life and even and even when he wasn't drinking he was just fucking running a ponzi scheme on all these gallery owners and bilking people out of millions of dollars they're gonna build a fucking christian theme park around that guy they're not stopping they're just gonna go forward like none of it fucking happened yeah no i i mean there should be the wing of truth in the park there should just be a nice little wing a copy of his bloated corpse yeah there's just a fucking

halfway down to some stairs there's just they what they should do is recreate the scene of the shower in italy they should just have a shit-soaked piece of garbage in a shower with his best friend trying to clean him with a luggage cart waiting to get him downstairs like a wheelchair while a girl cries in the fetal position in the corner amongst the bottle of empty booze empty booze bottle and there's a mist that sprays odor into the room yeah you just have a little button if you want to smell what the room smelled like hit this button it should be at the very end of the park but you go through all the park yeah one thing and then at the very tail end there's just a little door and you go in it's just a hotel room yeah yeah yeah yeah where you just get to see the last scene

oh my god fuck me i mean seriously well i mean it it'll do great it will do great that'll do great it's gonna fucking do great it'll do great it's just get us booked at this fucking comedy club already what's taking so long it's weird that a bunch of people who basically believe in jesus who was a real person who did change water into wine and who did heal the second who did come back after uh dying it's weird that they would then put all their belief in a guy who was just adjourned yeah it's not saying that you can't be religious it's saying that you have to be real and you just have to like like if we live in a society where religion is available for any any wrongdoing it's that's when religion is problematic that's

why it's that's it's just right there like you could easily have your faith and buy all these dumb fucking paintings that you want but you also need to acknowledge that this guy ended his life like jim morrison but i would argue that this guy killed himself because because he created such a false image of who he was and and each thing he did that got revealed put another crack in it and he couldn't fucking take the lie he'd created i would i little did he know he was in a crackless fucking eggshell that it didn't matter that any that no matter what he did it didn't it really didn't matter at the end of the day they're gonna build a fucking theme park about you yeah he could have been caught the fucking monkeys on the top of the empire state building and people been like

oh it's okay thanks jesus oh he's doing it for the lord i hope you feel better about oh i feel great dav yeah and everyone get ready for pool tails pool tails coming on and coming this week the small up all right uh please do leave a review of the dollop on itunes it turns out that does actually help someone lied to us uh so please thomas concave thomas concave so please go leave that uh it'll help us out a lot with a bunch of you know the fucking nonsense shit but it it jacks up our our ratings and all that when you leave review that's stupid what are you saying that are you saying that ratings should just be based on how many people listen to you no no no it's not it should be the diligence of the listener yeah the diligence of the listener so please

go leave a review in the itunes uh store uh thank you gary loves you it's garith