Poetry and Art, Akiane

http://www.artakiane.com/home.htm

Maybe this is cheating a little, maybe this isn’t exactly what you expect of poetry Wednesday but, this is not so much about the poem as the girl who wrote it.

Love

Love is never alone

Love is always crowded

Love is the shared self

We cannot own our love

And we cannot teach our love

The longest breath of love

is the shortest distance to heaven

The deepest life is love

The deepest love is an embrace

Love is not rest

Love is peace

Love is the purpose

-Akiane, age 11

I am quite sure many of you have seen this young girl in the media or on TV. I have been thinking about showing her work for a while now but couldn’t quite make up my mind and I couldn’t decide if I should show her paintings or her poetry. Truth is; I don’t know what to make of her, so I thought I’d ask for your opinions.

I could say all sorts of things here; I could say she is a talented and gifted artist, a child genius, a prodigy; a poetess, an author; all of these things have been said many, many times before by both the famous and the not so famous.  I don’t want to colour your opinion in any way, I would really appreciate your own opinion, with out influence. If you have never seen or heard of her before, first impressions would be valuable.

The facts, as far as possible uncoloured by opinion are; she was born in Illinois in 1994 and is of Lithuanian descent. Her parents were atheists; she claims to have had a life changing religious experience at the age of 4. She began showing an unusual talent for drawing at the age of 4 and painting at the age of 6. She began writing poetry at age 7. She is self taught in both art and her poetry. She claims the inspiration for her poetry and her paintings come directly from God.

Her Art

Prince of peace age 10

Forbidden fruit age 10

Inspiration age 12

found age 9

So………………….Please check out this girls web site

http://www.artakiane.com/home.htm

AND,

Your opinions please.

In interview

  

Add a Comment

delete reply skeezicks1957 wrote on Oct 12, '08 There are many things we have yet to understand and whatever explanations people find peace in are okay with me as long as they do not insist I come to the same conclusions.

delete reply danceinsilence wrote on Oct 9, '08 First thoughts? Impressive. Is she talented? Yes. Can she have actually written like this at a young age? Yes. Paint? Yes. It's been seen, heard and noted that certain children become the "prodgidy child" from a very early age. She is one of them. Her own words explains to us she doesn't understand why she does what she does, until she gets the flowing feeling from God talking with her. Most of us talk to God in our private moments, so this isn't unusual. She has the vision, knack and talent to aspire to be an exceptional artist as years pass. She writes and paints with a conviction blessed by the I Am. End of story.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Oct 9, '08 Thank you for the invite. Thank you for posting this young person's lovely poem. This is the first I have heard of her. Thank you for the link to the wonderful art. I like the poem, I love the art. Young children often display the deepest insight. If they are all her work (and I see no reason to doubt it) she is indeed blessed and inspired.

delete reply elizelizeliz wrote on Oct 9, '08 Thankin u 4 invit & kint comant. I tinkin tis gurl is bin tren by parenten & so can sayin vat peples vantin hearin. So all so mit pentin. In mani contris lik INdiya & indonsesiya is vari pour pessons peples doin tis sam vari bad pentins in milyonen whu nevar bin in eskool & nevar havin pentin leson.

delete reply gileson wrote on Oct 8, '08 I tend to take a cautious view of things I do not profess to understand. I would rather error on the side of acceptance that things are as they appear rather than to be known as one who stood on the side lines and yelled, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" History tends to be unforgiving ... there are no do overs, no rewind button on the camera of history. WYSIWYG ... What You See if What You Get. If 1000 years from now it is proved that you were duped, who cares? I have an old violin that has been handed down for numerous generations in my family. For a variety of reasons, too technical for me to comprehend, there are some experts who believe that this may be one of the 2 or 3 "lost" violins, i.e., Unaccounted for, made by a fellow named Amati in Italy. If that is true, the violin changes from a family heirloom to a priceless instrument made by the man who taught Stradivari how to make fiddles. Who cares who is right and who is wrong. There is not enough money In the world to pay me for the pure joy of seeing my grand-daughter at six years old scratching away on that fiddle and envisioning the smiles on the faces of my known ancestors who played this same fiddle for at least five previous generations going back to Ireland in the days before George Washington and the American Revolution when the fiddle was only a mere 200 or 300 years old. If the little girl who writes the poems and draws the pictures is authentic. great. If not, who cares, Until and unless we find the true source, we accept hers as the reality and not the illusion.

delete reply dianahopeless wrote on Oct 8, '08 Her story, poems and especially her art are truly amazing. Thanks so much for the link. I had never heard of her before today.

delete reply zafreud wrote on Oct 8, '08 She's amazing! Surely blessed!!! The site dedicated to her is full of awesome surprises! Her statement: "I have been blessed by God. And if I'm blessed, there is one reason and one reason only, and that is to help others", requires mature and deep thinking. Taking her age under consideration, this is a big accomplishment itself! Thank you for the presentation!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 7, '08 had to delete a couple of comments that had accidentally been left not once but several times,

Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.

Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.

Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.

Comment deleted at the request of the thread owner.

delete reply lonewolfwithin wrote on Oct 7, '08 i visited her site, and i have to admit, i'm very impressed! thank you for introducing her to us! ^. .^

delete reply acousticeagle wrote on Oct 7, '08 I suppose my first thought was of the child prodigy Mozart. He, of course, wrote 'twinkle twinkle little star' and could read and write music as from age 5, as well as play keyboard and violin. There have always been child prodigies, they seem to pop up in the media every now and then. Media beats it up for whatever purpose and then if there's a buck to be made, someone will try that. I know this sounds cynical on my part. But aside from that I think we are a trifle wary of child prodigies because as children they have not had the life experiences that humble a person. A child prodigy (like an actor) can be spoiled by all the attention. The paintings are certainly startling.

delete reply sanssouciblogs wrote on Oct 7, '08 I think I amy have seen her on the Oprah show--never really know what to make of these things, but, the poem is pure and simple with a basic message. So why not for Poetry wednesday? the rest is gravy.

delete reply billatplay wrote on Oct 7, '08 Sticking to the poem. This must be her second time around to have knowledge of the detail displayed. It is not possible to write with this experience at this young age.

delete reply lauritasita wrote on Oct 6, '08 Loretta, I've not heard of her, but I do love her art, although I like her poem, too, I'm more impressed with her art. Quite advanced for someone her age, don't you think ? wow. Thanks for participating and sharing this. Amazing !

delete reply esoterika713 wrote on Oct 6, '08, edited on Oct 6, '08 Wow, her art is amazing. Her poem is not bad but I like her art much more. I am not an expert and I am a self taught artist and I go into the zone to do art but if I were to compare her art with mine I would think hers is much better than mine. Fortunately I try not to compare my art to other peoples because that would give me the sense that my art is in some way inadequate. I like poetry but I know very little about it. She is very young so I don't know where her ideas about love come from at the tender age of eleven. Possibly she is so good because the number eleven is a power number. 11, 22, 33 and so on are all power numbers. If you believe in numerology like I do then you will know that power numbers are numbers that are close to god. My son did a very good but short poem in grade three when he was just eight years old. It is called, '"Two Food Groups". Meat Meat is good And potatoes But not vegetables Hamburgers fries Vegetables bad Meat Meat and potatoes Are good This poem could explain why the kids today are over weight and getting diseases like diabetes so early in life. My son is now eighteen and fortunately he has improved his palate somewhat. Just today he made Potato and Leek soup in his cooking class. I will check out her other work but I just wanted to mention that today is not Wednesday.:)

delete reply starfishred wrote on Oct 6, '08 Well I am always very wary of these kind of things and I personaly would have to see it to believe it.