Who was Thomas Kinkade really?

Reading Thomas Kinkade’s birth chart to get clues

My own quick version of a Kinkaid, proving it’s actually hard to make his paintings

As a follow-up to a previous essay that addressed Thomas Kinkade’s controversial reputation in the art world, and whether accessible art should be allowed in the canon, I wanted to write a little something after having seen the movie about his life, Art For Everybody. This reflection is less about his art, and more about the enigma of who he was. I want to believe that he did in fact care about bringing art to people, but like many, am put off by the conservative values his art and empire espoused during its heyday. As a way to try and unpack some of the mystery of his personality, I do a not exhaustive astrological birth chart reading below.

First the movie. I was really moved by this portrait which centered around interviews with his wife Nanette and his four children, all of whom were the namesakes of his most popular paintings/prints and four styles of cottage homes that he would eventually go on to sell as part of the Thomas Kinkade village. Their stories were mixed with admiration and sadness, having been affected by his workaholism and the alcohol addiction that colored Kinkade’s later years. Plus we get to see some previously unreleased art by Kinkade made at art school and rehab which delivers on viewers’ suspicions that there was more than met the eye.

I spoke to the owner of the Guild Cinema after the movie and he said Kinkade’s story was “so American” which I hadn’t thought of before. But it’s true, he bootstrapped his way to a multi-million dollar fortune through his art and individualism. He built his empire on celebrating the taste of the everyman, and lots of everywomen. His business model offered people the sense that they could transcend their material constraints through their investments in his art, through the spiritual properties of his light, or through the promise of creativity that they could participate in at his stores. (You could go and get layers of paint put on his prints before you bought them.)

I was sad, like those interviewed, to see that whatever needed to come out, maybe his art maybe something else never came out. Instead of transforming, and most likely surprising and/or letting people down by changing his life significantly, Kinkade imploded.

But the most striking thing that you are left with after the movie is all the unanswered questions. Who was he really? How much of his personality was him, and how much of it was a persona? What would his real art have looked like if he could have spent more time exploring his other creative ideas? Did he really want to bring art to the masses, or did he just love the attention and money? How much of his Kinkade stuff was his idea, or did his business partners dictate a lot of it? At the opening of the Jeffrey Valance curated exhibition, Kinkade is shown as saying of some of the procured objet d’art, “Wow I haven’t seen a lot of this before. Where did you get this?”

Because I’m a freak, I immediately went home and looked up Kinkade’s birth chart to see if there were any clues to his double life- both the art he made and his public persona- and the extreme populist success he found with his art. I was not disappointed.

Thomas Kinkade birth chart bonanza

Below is an image of his birth chart, although because we don’t have access to his birth time, I am using the standard paceholder time of 12pm, noon.

The first thing that jumps out at me is his sun and moon conjunct his midheaven. His birthday was most likely on a new moon or even a dark moon, which would add to the intrigue. Unforutnately, without the birth time we won’t have access to that exact data. These two placements that connect self and ego (sun) and emotions (moon) to his midheaven suggest a higher calling in the public eye. The first thing it says to me is that his desire to be of service to others was a genuine and core part of his purpose here in life. He was born to reach people on the public stage as either a teacher or a public figurehead - and to many he was both.

From there you also see that his Venus (art, love) is conjunct (next to) Chiron (core wounding), suggesting a blending of energies between the two in the 10th house of leadership and responsibility. All this, again, says to me that it was part of his purpose to be a leader in his field, and that he would use art as a way to connect with and offer healing to others. The caveat with Chrion is that it only fully heals once the person has done the work, so while his art would come from his core wounding, it most likely will continue to contribute to his feelings of unworthiness unless he learned to heal from the inside out.

Adding to what is starting feel like a lot of weight on his shoulders is the heavy Capricorn vibes from having his Sun, Midheaven, Mercury and possibly Moon in the sign. (We don’t know the moon’s sign for sure because we don’t know his birth time). Capricorn is ruled by Saturn which loves stability, responsibility, and duty, and that reinforces the sense that his ability to provide and care for others was a main priority of his life. Based on these placements alone it makes me think that he would have had a hard time caring for himself under the weight of it all.

This, after seeing Kinkade self-destruct towards the end of the movie, reminded me of my own people-pleasing journey where, time and again, I would burn out under the weight of trying to meet what I thought were everyone’s expectations of me. Closeting in any form is exhausting, and being constantly available to others while neglecting your needs is a recipe for disaster. Ok, let’s continue.

The next placement that jumps out at me is his Pluto in the 5th house, the house of art, individuality, romance, creativity, and children. Pluto is a wild planet to have in the 5th house, which is typically ruled by fire-sign Aries. Wherever Pluto lands it sows destruction and renewal. So if you mix an unruly, mysterious force like creativity with the Phoenix-like energies of Pluto, you get drama, baby.

It is no surprise, then, that Kinkade’s art launched him into a major opportunity for growth, and even less of a surprise, perhaps, that there was a secret vault containing all kinds of dark paintings made out of the public eye. Pluto, until it burns you to the ground, often comes with secrets, shame, obsession, and addictive behaviors. Add to that its placement in Virgo, the sign of serial killers - well, that would help to explain his double life. (Love you, Virgos.)

The missing piece so far is what his friends and family often described in the film as his restlessness and almost child-like behavior. In the movie we see him pulling pranks, donning costumes, testing limits of acceptability, and even putting his children in slightly dangerous positions in the spirit of adventure.

The placements that speak to this combination of energies are his Pluto, and also his Uranus in Leo in the 4th house, which is the house of family, privacy, and home. Uranus is erratic, exciting, spontaneous, and often a bit alien. Combine that with effervescent, attention-seeking Leo, then try to squeeze them all into the domestic sphere of the 4th house- you are going to get some energy leakage.

To me, this at least partly explains why he comes off as a bit manic, if not actually manic as they describe him at one point in the film, around his family and home life.

His brother and sister speak to their childhood, attributing his restlessness to an abusive father and a dramatic divorce, which they say led to him to long for the perfect Rockwellian home. Add to this a North Node conjunct the Descendent and dissociative Neptune in the 6th house, a combination that connects your soul’s eventual evolution with partnerships and the quotidien, and it reinforces this tension between the everyday and his escapist tendency, especially around his home life.

This dichotomy of responsibility to others outside of the home, and an inner tension around stepping into responsibility and reliability in his home life, is interesting given how many of his paintings depict cozy homes and wholesome family values - as if painting them could somehow make those feelings a reality- or perhaps even something that he truly wanted, rather than what he did actually want. It’s hard to say given his conflicting behaviors.

At this point you might be wondering, why am I writing about this guy who became a multi-millionaire with a beautiful family, and then lost it all through his bad behavior, as if he needs defending? Similar to my recent thoughts on Trump as shadow self, I think there is a little Thomas Kinkade in all of us.

Not only do I believe he genuinely wanted to bring art to the masses, an admirable cause, I identify with his people-pleasing tendencies and the way that he seemed to find self-worth through work and acts of service, potentially sacrificing his creative integrity as they insinuate in the film.

As a Capricorn moon, acts of service are definitely my love language. I also have struggled with my desire to be of value on the public stage, and knowing when to create boundaries between myself and the world. When is it ok to say enough is enough, and rest?

Seeing his downfall was a stark reminder that if you don’t set boundaries for yourself you will, like a wolf, gnaw off your paw trying to get unstuck from whatever trap you find yourself in - like Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck.

I have also wrestled with finding a sense of belonging and home, while wanting to be free and unencumbered by the constraints of domestic responsibility. I attribute this a lot to being queer and trans and not being able to be myself for many years, and with that having a fear of getting stuck somewhere, overextending myself to benefit others at the expense of being true to myself. Boundaries! Validation! It’s all so complicated.

Either way, I highly recommend you check out the movie.