The Edge of the Wilderness, an epic work created while I was still in my twenties, reflects my early experiments with creating a sublime landscape style all my own. The painting was clearly inspired by early masters of the mythology of the American West, but it also displays the distinctive touches that would define my later works

    I placed my frontier camp under a majestic peak on the shores of a sylvan mountain lake. The presence of boats on shore suggests the harmony of man and nature, as it does in many of my mature landscapes. Smoke curls up from the tepee into the autumn sunset much as it will from chimneys of more conventional dwellings. The Edge of the Wilderness is a landmark from the earliest days of my career as the Painter of Light

    -Thomas Kinkade