Author Archives: Robert Holder

About Robert Holder

Owner Insky's Thomas Kinkade Art Gallery where you will find art that touches the soul and lasts a lifetime. Gallery opened in 2001 and in addition to being a Thomas Kinkade Signature Gold gallery offers original and limited edition fine art from a group of very talented artists.

Thomas Kinkade Vault

TK Valult logoThomas Kinkade was constantly immersed in the work that he loved. Working daily on sketches, charcoal drawings, the laying in of color and elements for future studio releases, and detailed rendering of artwork in progress, Kinkade was incessantly creating new works of majestic beauty that spoke to the great themes of life. Using a variety of mediums, from oils to acrylic to pastels and watercolors, Thom produced an immense collection of ideas, works in progress and completed artwork.
Kinkade was also a writer, poet and photographer. The author of numerous books, he wrote extensively in journals and private papers, while his photographs captured not only the story of his life, but also the story of the beauty he saw in the world that he would later recreate on canvas.
All of Thom’s artwork, writings and photographs were stored in a vault in his private studio, known as IvyGate. Immensely personal and private, The Vault has only been opened and fully explored by the family and trustees of estate in the time since Thom’s passing.
The Thomas Kinkade Family Trust is committed to continuing to share Thom’s vision and work through the ongoing release of this extensive collection under the name, The Thomas Kinkade Vault. By releasing this historic collection, along with unfinished artwork and projects that will be brought to completion by his very own studio, these images and ideas created by Thomas Kinkade, will continue to affirm Thom’s message of hope… lighting the way for generations to come.

The Purpose of Art, From a Biblical Perspective

Excerpted from an article in the May 2013, Table Talk magazine by Geoff Stevens titled “Should We Care About Art?

Certainly God ordained art because He created people with this talent.  But in His creation what purpose does it serve?

From A Christian Perspective: The Purpose of Art

What then, is the use of Art?  What purpose does it serve?  There are many, of course, but one that often goes overlooked in Christian circles is truth-telling.  For example, in the Scriptures we find art used frequently in the form of poetry.  Poetry is the creative use of language that attempts to express a reality or truth about the world and the way things are.  It employs pictures, metaphors, and symbols.  Consider Psalm 11:1-3

In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright heart; if the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do?”

We need communication that employs propositions and arguments while relying on reason and logic, such as we find in the epistles of the Apostle Paul.  But the realities about God and His truth are so grand, majestic, and transcendent that we also need communication that relies on metaphor, images, and symbols.  In other words we need art.

Artists are trying to communicate truths about reality as they see it. They are saying, “This is true, or this is beautiful, or this is good.”  The great conversation of human history is a debate over the definition of these terms.  Some Christians today disagree with people who are trying to answer these questions with art, but instead of joining the discussion, they decide to throw art itself out the window, or the define art so narrowly as to truncate its value.  But if we limit our minds, hearts, and voices to propositional argumentation only, we risk creating a deafening silence where there ought to be loud praise to God.

J.R.R. Tolkien referred to artists as “sub creators” who bring new worlds to life, worlds quite unlike our own.  He used art to display truth through a “strange and arresting lens.”  Tolkien’s art is masterful because it transports his readers to a platform from which they can see eternal truths in new ways.

What about artists who are not believers?  Can we learn from them in the same way we learn from Ben Franklin, Immanuel Kant, or Mark Twain”

A wise man one said that if you want to understand philosophers and the bizarre things they say sometimes, you need to understand the questions they are trying to answer.  In the same way, we may encounter art that prompts us to ask, “What was the artist thinking?”  That is exactly the right question to ask if we are to thoughtfully interact with our culture as it gropes in the dark for answers.

 

 

How to Hang a Painting

Hanging art, especially a painting can be very intimidating with all that has to be considered to do it correctly:  How high should the art be hung; what are the proper type of hangers needed to support the art; what tools will be needed; how do I hang a grouping of several paintings, etc.

How To Hang a Painting Graphic

Well, we have recently discovered an excellent guide of step by step instructions for hanging a painting from the Xanadu Gallery in Phoenix, AZ, and wanted to pass it along to our readers.  Just click the graphic above to open a pdf version of the guide.  Hope you will find it helpful.

Please note as well that Insky’s Thomas Kinkade Gallery offers no charge hanging service to our collectors.  We also offer free delivery and in-home showings.  We hope you will take advantage of these services.

“We are Inspired by Art”

Robert Holder

Art Collectors Extraordinaire- Herbert and Dorothy Vogel

A great story about the passion of art…Herbert and Dorothy Vogel, a retired postal worker and librarian, are among America’s foremost collectors of Conceptual and Minimalist art. They lived in a one bedroom apartment in New York and for decades amassed a collection of art worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

About 15 years ago they announced plans to begin donating art from their collection of nearly 5000 pieces.  The program was called “Fifty Works for Fifty States” and the Birmingham Museum of Art was the recipient of art donated from this program.

For the full story on the Vogels:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/abigailesman/2012/07/22/great-american-art-collector-herbert-vogel-dies/

New and Old from artist Thomas Kinkade – “Old Watchmaker”

Something new but also something from the past with this new painting from Thomas Kinkade.  And both are something unexpected from the normal scope of the artist’s work.  Thom’s portrait work was very limited and confined mainly to his early years as an artist and a student at UC Berkeley, where he painted portraits of his friends. Other than “Prince of Peace” this is the only portrait published by the artist and perhaps is an essential painting for any Thomas Kinkade collection.

In the “Old Watchmaker”, Kinkade captures the master craftsman.  The Watchmaker in his twilight years, seems to b viewing the newly completed timepiece and reflecting on the learned skill that perhaps became extinct with his generation.

OldWatchmakerWeb

Artists Notes:

As a mature artist, I seldom paint portraits, preferring to consider human personality through its cultural expressions – home, family, village scenes, and cityscapes.

But character studies like “Old Watchmaker” confirm that this was not always the case.  Early in my career, I was fascinated by intimate descriptions of the human spirit – much in the manner of my artistic heros Titian and Rembrandt.

My “Old Watchmaker,” painted in oil when I was in my early twenties and just learning my craft, is a warm portrayal of a human type that was dear to my painter’s heart, but remote from my world – the master European craftsman.  The watchmaker’s patient skill is inscribed in his careworn, wrinkled face, in the intense concentration of his gaze, in his wonderful, supple-strong hands.  This is a man whose diligence and steadfast character has allowed him to endure the many obstacles he has faced in life.

In this tribute to the watchmaker, I think that I anticipate the depth of my developing commitment to my own craft.  Like the “Old Watchmaker,” I somehow knew that God lives in the details, and that as scripture affirms, it is good to work well with one’s hands.

 

Need Art? No Interest Financing Makes Art Affordable

Are you remodeling or planning to redecorate?

New art adds the perfect finishing touch to the new look you want to
create.  Quality fine art enhances the décor of any space by making
it look and feel “finished”; more warm and comfortable.  In
addition quality art is fun to collect and will be enjoyed for a
lifetime.  Insky’s Thomas Kinkade Gallery offers no-interest financing
options to help facilitate the purchase of original and limited edition
art for home or business.  An in-gallery ninety day layaway program is
available for short term financing and 6 month and 12 month no interest
financing is available from GE Credit for longer term, larger dollar
purchases.  Visit the gallery to see our great selection of fine art and
let us give you the details on our financing options

Old Masters to Monet Art Exhibit / Mississippi Museum of Art

 

 

Want a great art experience and see first hand the original paintings that birthed the French Impressionist movement?  Then you will not want to miss the “Old Masters to Monet” art exhibit at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, MS March 23 to September 8, 2013.

Old Masters to Monet features
fifty masterpieces from the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum in
Hartford, Connecticut. The outstanding artworks provide a history of
French painting, ranging from the 17th through the 19th centuries and
into the beginning of the 20th century and include religious and
mythological subjects, portraits, landscapes, still lifes, and genre
scenes. Théodore Géricault, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Camille
Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne, Vincent van Gogh, Henri
de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Claude Monet are among the masters represented.

Admission to the exhibition is $12 adults, $10 seniors, $6 students (includes admission to Symbols of Faith, Home, and Beyond: The Art of Theora Hamblett). Free for Museum members and children under 5. Group tours are available. Schedule a group tour here or call 601-960-1515. More information about programming and special events related to Old Masters to Monet coming soon.

This exhibition was organized by the
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, and is supported by an
indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The
Mississippi Museum of Art and its programs are sponsored in part by the
city of Jackson and the Jackson Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Support is also provided in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts
Commission, a state agency, and in part by the National Endowment for
the Arts, a federal agency.

 

Old Masters to Monet is made possible through the generous support of the
Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation.

 

 

How do you measure the value of art…and why you should collect it.

How do you determine the value of art?  Is it more than monetary?

A wise old art collector once said: “what does it matter if my children inherit a few digits less, if I leave them the art that touched my soul?  What was
important to me will remain in their homes all their lives.  I know of no greater gift.

Art does touch the soul and gives its owners a lifetime of enjoyment.  Quality art collected over one’s lifetime more or less chronicles that life and marks its memorable moments.  Art not only brings enjoyment, it also generates memories of places visited or wished to be visited, stories of how the art was obtained.  And when art is passed to the next owner its linage continues for the next generation.  Art creates a sense of place and reveals our
passions.

And through it all an appreciation for art is gained, a life is enhanced by the talents that God has given those He has created.  Art has existed
throughout the history of man and yet new art is still being created.  Man continues to create something revolutionary, something new, not yet
created. Something new that touches the soul!  And so, the searching, the passion for collecting art continues over a lifetime.

The true value of art is much more than just it’s monetary value, and that is why you should collect it.  Not only will your life be enhanced, it is also
something to be handed off to inspire the next generation; something that will define the past as well as be enjoyed for the next lifetime.

So collect art that you like; that says something to you and about you.  Collect art that is creative and well composed.  Collect art that will last a lifetime and that you can see enhancing someone else’s life long after you are gone.  And collect quality art from a quality art gallery.

by Robert Holder

Insky’s Art, Birmingham, AL

Take a fresh look at life through the eyes, and Art, of Emery Franklin

Take a unique look at life through the eyes, and paintings, of Memphis artist Emery Franklin 

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The subject matter for Emery’s art varies from landscapes to portraits;
from folk art to impressionism. His fresh perspective and unique use of
color separates his art from the mundane and makes it very
collectible. American Art Collector magazine recognized Emery as one of 5
up and coming artists in the Southeast in their February 2012 issue.

Experience Emery’s art in our Gallery…you just might find yourself making one of his paintings a part of your life!

BIO:

Emery   Franklin grew up in an impoverished area in South Memphis. The youngest  of six children, he always aspired to be an artist. His first realization of his artistic talent was realized when he attended Vance Junior High School in Memphis. His art teacher would assign him projects  to create drawings and paintings that were used to teach his classmates  the techniques and skills of creating art.

Throughout   Emery’s years of drawing and painting, his artwork has become an  expression of his rich cultural heritage. There are certain principles  that Emery has carried throughout his life that have greatly influenced his work. He believes God has guided his hands, as he always prays  before starting each new creation. His family values are deeply rooted  in religion, trust, and honesty.

Emery  has always felt he needed to give something back to the community. He  feels that young people need a positive role model, so he likes to spend  time motivating and encouraging youths by setting a positive example  for them. With this type of enthusiasm, they realize all their dreams  are reachable with prayer and dedication. As an artist, he loves to draw  and paint beautiful people and places that touch the heart and soul of  the collector. .

Robert Holder, Owner