Valley Chapel

Art Notes

In my brother’s writings he often referred to the natural world as God’s greatest cathedral. Thom honestly felt that you could see the Creator’s face in a mountain vista, hear His voice in the babbling of a brook, and feel His presence in a gentle mountain breeze. He felt God, as experienced in nature, would envelop the human senses and reach down through the body and into the eternal soul. Thom was raised in the mountains and held this belief from an early age; and returned there often to commune with his God and receive His grace. He would also routinely take the inspiration received there back into the studio, and with oil on canvas reach out to all those who loved his work. Indeed, Thom’s landscapes are spiritual statements in the form of art and work as his personal testimony to the reality of God.

The Valley Chapel is no exception. This small historic church was built in the face of all of God’s grandeur in Yosemite Valley and has been a spiritual resource there since the late 1800’s. In the distance, Half Dome rises above the chapel giving perspective on man and our accomplishments in the scope of God’s universe. God is limitless in time promising an eternity without beginning or end, and He is boundless in size granting us view into all that is and all that ever will be. The size of the granite monolith, and the time it took to carve from the earth, exists in stark contrast to the idea of the history of man or in terms of man’s simple creation. We are humbled in the face of God and yet exalted in His acceptance of our love. We at the Thomas Kinkade Company invite you to walk with Thom in the beauty of the Yosemite Valley. Experience a boundless God in Yosemite, His most sublime creation and the intimacy of His love in this small chapel nestled in that valley. For Thom, his family and all those that strive to continue his vision in art, I thank you for sharing the light. God bless!

–Patrick Kinkade