Painter, Thomas Kinkade | featured news

Artist Thomas Kinkade's girlfriend says two handwritten wills entitle her to his home and $10 million, but his estranged wife has a different take. Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light™, spent his last two years legally separated from his wife of nearly three decades and struggling with alcoholism.

A family member says painter Thomas Kinkade battled alcoholism over the past several years and had a relapse just before his death at his home in Santa Clara County. Kinkade's brother, Patrick, tells the San Jose Mercury News (http://bit.ly/IxRfr0) that decades of attacks on Kinkade's work and a split with his wife two years ago had taken a toll on the famous "Painter of Light."

Thomas Kinkade’s paintings of bucolic landscapes and light-filled cottages have been scooped up by collectors nationwide ever since the artist’s death at 54 on Friday.