From the San Francisco Chronicle:
In its February 2006 decision, the arbitration panel said Kinkade and other company officials used terms like "partner," "trust," "Christian" and "God" to create "a certain religious environment designed to instill a special relationship of trust" with the couple.
What the company didn't tell them, said their attorney, was that they would have to sell Kinkade's works at minimum retail prices while the artist undercut them with discount sales, some of which he made himself on cable television.
It was part of a plan, they claimed, to lower the value of the publicly traded company before Kinkade bought it in 2004, at steep losses to many investors. Hazlewood and Spinello put their $122,000 savings into galleries in Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, Va., that opened in 1999 and 2000 and closed in 2003.
Kinkade's company denies everything. "We are confident that before this is over, we'll be vindicated," said a lawyer for the firm.
]]>Anyone that actually formed a partnership or "trust" with this talentless goon had it coming, frankly.
]]>@JadoJodo: Umm, unfortunately that's not "ironic" . . . coincidental,maybe, but not ironic.
]]>Mary's got junk in the trunk YEAH!
]]>But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
-- Matthew 6:5-6 (KJV)
]]>@Kth Wlch:
Y frgt gns. Ths rght wng fndmntlsts hv gt t hv thr gns, gd (whch s grd), nd sx. Thy prtclrly njy ny 2 f th 3 t th sm tm.
@Dk_Nwcmb: Tht's K. W thsts hv t wt ntl y Chrstns sht p bfr w strt.
]]>(psst: it's crap)
]]>Oh, I called--but the cost was way more than a little operation can afford.
So I took the matter to the Court of Public Opinion: [simplifyyourholidays.com]
Explain that, kids. Explain it to the folks who've used the site since 1998 ...
]]>I recall an article in my local paper from a few years ago about a Kinkade franchise that was headed into bankruptcy. The owners seemed to have some very legit complaints about Kinkade not fulfilling his side of the franchise agreement.
]]>Combine crappy art with a crappy real estate market and there's got to be some juicy lawsuits swirling around that bad idea.
]]>"Some people hate ANYTHING that is even remotely related to Christianity because it thrashes against Aethism, agnostism and evolution."
You fail: 1) even Christians hate hypocrites, and 2) being a Christian does not mean you can not believe or entertain the possibility of evolution (or are you saying that God is omnipotent and can therefore do any & everything, except for the possibility that he created us via evolution? (he can do anything except that), and don't give me that day = 24 hours pedantic crap either).
]]>@Shoelace:
I also boycot any business that pulls the religious crap. As a Christian myself, I KNOW this is dangerous territory: one should not put them self out as an example. If you practice true Christian beliefs well, people will know. Likewise, if you advertise being a Christian and really suck at practicing it, you are doing a disservice to Christianity & will be viewed as a hypocrite (also, do you really want the fundamentalist nut jobs as customers that this nonsense attracts?). There are several businesses here that I will not do business with for that reason, and have told them so when solicited or asked why I no longer use them. I also have a "hit list" of businesses that support right wing causes & politics.
]]>@chazcarr: Well, back in the day, before he sold out like crazy (mugs?!?!?! mousepads?!?!?! QVC?!?!?!) his stuff was actually worth something. Assuming you could get past all the, IMO, phony God BS. But yeah, then he undersold his own stuff and made it near worthless.
]]>I don't think it's necessarily wrong to mix faith and business, just unnecessary most of the time.
I also don't think boycotting all Christian businesses is necessarily the best thing, either. I would look past that to the things that matter in business transactions (see previous comment). Any other labels aren't that important.
]]>Besides, mixing ones personal beliefs with their business is not only tacky and unprofessional, but its pretentious to think people should be so trusting because you are a "Christian" businessman; considering Christianity's past history... (crusades, inquisition, etc)
I just plainly don't deal with people that are "Christian" businessmen. If you aren't mature enough to keep your religious beliefs to yourself and out of business, then you don't need to be in business.
]]>Whatever you do, DO NOT GOOGLE:
"The Second Cumming of Jizzus"
Personally, I can't stand the religious BS, and the paintings are just bad. He also only sells prints touched up by an army of assistants, pure commercial art with no soul.
Did I mention he was caught publicly urinating on a Winnie the Pooh figure at the Disneyland Hotel?
]]>@razremytuxbuddy:
Amen from this Christian, these frauds with their fish stickers suck!
I saw his gallery in Carmel a few years back and what struck me was how cool his art would look if there was - let's say - a mech or an orc or maybe a lamborghini or wizard in them.
]]>Normal business should possess integrity, generosity, honesty, and courtesy. When those and other qualities are present in business transactions, everyone wins and everyone is happy.
To me (a Christian), there is "good business" as above, and "bad business", where the opposite is true (extortion, misleading, lying, rudeness). I guess I don't see the need for the qualification. The "faith" part is what happens *after* you get the money anyway.
]]>Then soon after that, one of my subordinates showed me a TK painting that was printed on a sofa throw she'd just purchased, and she bragged about all of the TK paintings she'd collected. Apparently people collect them like Hummel figurines or something.
]]>Shady dealings from another 'faith-based' businessman doesn't surprise me though.
]]>Jeebus ****ing Christ . com
]]>I hope you called your lawyer.
]]>Her print book looks so much like my own stuff, it turned my hair white. I'm not just talking "concept", but the entire layout, color scheme, format and style just happened to pop up in this 2008 book.
Of course, her "Christian" publisher is the same outfit that brought us Jamie Lynn Spears' faith-based parenting manual, so go figure.
]]>The Placerville gallery is spooky too, just like a mortuary.
]]>@Nicole Jordan: Which equals producer (painter) of crap. I don't see a problem.
]]>Personally I think his work is from a completely different, grossly naive universe, but it is not without value; if it had been painted a couple centuries ago, it would have been regarded extremely well. The art "culture" in our society is just a ravenous beast consuming novelty and regurgitating hideous caricatures of itself.
]]>Where's my broom......
]]>Kinkade better start painting more crap if he wants to pay off this settlement!
]]>Arbitration snow globe?
I rest my case.
]]>@amandaramirez: Chihuly and Koons do the exact same thing.
]]>Kinkade is the biggest fraud ever. He has his students paint his work and he just signs the bottom. Fuc*ing liar!
]]>NSFW: [www.somethingawful.com]
]]>His work is much like the Velvet Elvis they sell at gas stations on holidays. I do not understand how people thought they could have a succesful business selling only one artists "works".
]]>