Thomas Kinkade... Artist?

Looking at Thomas Kinkade’s work is absolutely breathtaking. He really does know to create light within his pictures. Every image that he has created seems so serene and can just make someone at peace when gazing at them. The uses of color in some of his paintings make it seem cool but warm at the same times. All of his images are representational with his lines being analytic and expressive. His artwork is definitely intrigueing, and I caught myself looking at his work for at least an hour and admiring everything that he has created. Looking at his stuff really makes me realize why learning art can be so much fun.
As far as the allegations towards Kinkade, it is hard to tell what is true. If the allegations are true, I think exploiting religion is the wrong way to get people to invest in galleries that have his work. Using religion to sell art is offensive and a fraudulent way to represent something that some holds very close their lives. But many are very hard on successful people. The rich always get criticized on how they are really making their money and whether or not it is legitimate. When money becomes an issue, it becomes the center problem for everything.
After reading how Kinkade really isn’t the one who creates the actually image that is being sold in the galleries, made me think if he really is an artist. I see an artist as someone who creates their own image themselves using their emotions. When someone else tries to depict that image, it is just a mere replica of the original. It seems to me that Kinkade would rather have people think that he is the artist who painted that image in a gallery with his own emotions. When an artist truly uses his emotions to aide him in creating a piece of artwork, you can really tell when observing it. You can almost feel the same exact emotion the painter was feeling at the time. So in perspective you aren’t really feeling the emotions that Kinkade himself felt, but more the emotions of the one who painted the image that is in the gallery.
If the allegations are true about him, I do think that he is just out there to gain wealth. Obviously he saw something, religion, which connects to many people and took that route to obtain his wealth. Art should be something that one loves to do and does not care about the money. So hopefully Kinkade is not guilty and does continue to create beautiful images. I think he should be the one to actually paint the work that goes in the gallery so people can really see what Kinkade has created. Because now being an art appreciator, I want to the color, line, and emotions that the actually artist did and not a replica or the implied meaning from another artist.