If you could make a case for destiny, Akiane Kramarik would be a good example. At just nine years old, she appeared on the Oprah show, presenting her realistic paintings, among which was a heartfelt portrait of Jesus. 

“You’re obviously gifted. Where does this come from?” Oprah asked Akiane. 

“It comes from God,” the young prodigy replied with a smile. 

Akiane is now 27 years old and her priceless paintings are displayed in art collections around the world. Since that Oprah interview, the artist has travelled to 30 countries sharing her spiritually-themed art and messages of peace and unity. 

Below we share a few of the touching stories behind her endearing works of art.

Lilies of the Valley

“The earth proudly guards us, her most fragrant and priceless treasure, displayed by the most vulnerable place, her own pulsating heart,” Akiane says. In Lilies of the Valley, Akiane explores Mother Nature’s relationship to humanity, depicting us as the delicate flowers growing from her necklace. 

In the painting, a tear falls down Mother Nature’s face, possibly representing her sadness at the pain and suffering inherent in human life. The colours of the painting show the changing of the seasons from summer to autumn, alluding to the cycles of life and death under the guardianship of Mother Nature. 

Read Akiane’s interview with Magnifissance to learn how nature was the catalyst to her creativity. 

Prince of Peace

“For many years a blurry image of the Prince of Peace appeared to me in my dreams and visions. Only after a mysterious carpenter came knocking on our door one afternoon that I knew it was the right time to paint the story of hope,” says Akiane. In Prince of Peace, painted when she was only 8 years old, Akiane portrays Jesus as the bringer of peace to the world. 

Remarkably, the story of this piece is a real story of hope for Akiane. The painting itself has gone through many tribulations, including being stolen, recovered, then accidentally sold and hidden for many years. 

Read our Magnifissance interview to see what Akiane learned about divine timing after her 16-year-long wait to see her prized painting once again.

The Messenger

The title of the piece came to Akiane one day and she sat down and began to paint ‘the messenger’ as a white owl. But the messenger began to take different forms—a moose, a wolf, and a Native American man on a horse. She would paint the protagonist and then paint over it as the story changed and new characters and details were revealed to her. 

“I decided to just be guided by the sounds and figure out the story through purely spontaneous strokes of paint,” she says. In the end, she found ‘the messenger’—a bald eagle guiding a lost traveller out of the cave. 

Flow of Time

The giant trees “have seen storms and tranquillity, droughts, and regeneration, wars and celebrations. They are living witnesses to countless lives. They’ve never retreated and never gave up. They stood the test of time. Even though their worlds were apart, their hearts were not.” 

“For centuries, against all odds, the giants have been reaching out to each other to be together, creating their own bridge, their own destiny. I believe that only time can reveal the real value of love, because only love can create peace. And I feel that each brush stroke in this misty landscape is my own prayer for peace: peace for every nation, large or small; peace for every family, in the West or East; peace for every heart, warm or cold; peace for every faith, strong or weak; and peace for every soul, young or old,” Akiane says.

Divine Compass

“I travelled to many places but I have not found one place like the earth where faith can find any heart on the very anchor of the ship,” Akiane says.

Dharma

At a crossroads in her life and living in a new area, Akiane decided to study children from other cultures. But every time she sat down to sketch a face, the child would run off to play. Yet she did find one boy, her neighbour Arjun, who would sit for her as he daydreamed and contemplated.

“The boy’s spirit helped me define what I wanted to share for so long—the story that at first glimpse would appear simple and serene, but upon a closer look would reveal time-released messages of our true essence and purpose,” she says.

Akiane condensed all feelings and thoughts, seasons and landscapes into this one work. She added people and animals on the shore, showing “the power and influence of the environment on our lives,” she says.

Once she finished, she put the painting aside, thinking it wasn’t yet meant for public display. A few months later, she reopened the crate to work on the boy’s face. But when she set out to paint him, the brush fell from her hand. Akiane put the painting aside once again. Months later, she realized she needed one more detail—a shawl around his shoulders. 

After the unusually long delay in finishing the painting, Akiane found she gained a new perspective on life. 

“This is the story of Dharma, the awareness of our moral duty and responsibilities, and the harmony between the spiritual purpose and the freedom to live our dreams. Dharma is not complete without the journey we take through it. And that journey cannot be rushed, shortened, or simplified. It has to be experienced,” Akiane says.

The Light

“Our eternal path is a narrow path where we need to wait for others to pass us. It’s a bridge to all infinite possibilities. On this bridge, someone always waits for us. Always. It’s the Light,” Akiane says.