Amazing--Spiritual Genius

Has the link to the item wandered off, or am I just not finding it?

s.
 
She's clearly very talented, but I don't know why people are so amazed by her. There are other very talented artists her age.


eudaimonia,

Mark
 
She's clearly very talented, but I don't know why people are so amazed by her. There are other very talented artists her age.


eudaimonia,

Mark

But it's her attitude and spirituality that drives her. Listen to what she said from her website in painting a picture of Christ:

Why did you paint the portrait of Jesus? It was God's timing; I had been looking for a Jesus model for two years, and I could not find the right face. Then one day I asked my family to pray with me all day. We petitioned God to send the model right through our front door. The next day a tall carpenter came in. He was so humble, and I was surprised that he agreed to model for me. But a week later he called back to say that he was unworthy to represent his master. We all prayed together again, and a few days later he called back to tell us that God wanted him to do it, but he had to cut his hair and beard in three days. So we took a few pictures and I studied his face for a long time. After dozens of sketches, I started painting. It took me 40 hours to finish the first Jesus painting –The Prince of Peace-- and I still remember I lost four teeth in that time!

The Prince of Peace

Isn't it interesting that the model for a son of a carpenter was a carpenter himself?

Here is how she gets her inspiration:

The inspiration for her art and literature comes from her visions, dreams, observations of people,
nature and God. Has the same goal with each painting: to be inspiration for others and to be the gift to God. Her poems often arrive fully conceived.

What Lou Dobbs of CNN said about Akaine:

“All of the young people of ‘Americas bright Future’ we have met have been remarkable in their passion and their achievement, but nothing has prepared us for this 9-year-old who has mastered the art of realist paintings and signs her paintings simply “Akiane.”
Now what sets Akiane apart from other child prodigies is that her paintings are so realistic and so full of emotion. It is much more common for child prodigies to produce abstract art . Realism of this quality in a child is quite unusual. To see this kind of detail, the flair is just incredible! It is a gift! Amazing gift! What a remarkable young lady!”
 
She's clearly very talented, but I don't know why people are so amazed by her. There are other very talented artists her age.


eudaimonia,

Mark

I'd be amazed by any kid of 6, 9, 10, 12, 18 that was able to make art of this caliber.

That said, although I don't identify as "Christian," I agree somewhat with Dondi in that her humility and clear awareness of the divine working with/within her is what makes her the most striking. To me, the art, amazing as it is, is the bait. "Whoa!!!! Damn! Look at that!!!" *Gasp!!* And then she starts talking. She may fumble with some words and her spirituality is at this point rather firmly set into the White Christian paradigm (a consequence of culture and upbringing rather than conscious choice, I assume), but the message is clear. Like the true Christ, she says, "Not me, but God." "Not my will, but my Father's." I do believe that this feeling (very real) of being guided by a force greater than her own ego is what empowers her. Take that away and she would be lost, crushed, unable to do any kind of work, artistic or otherwise. I have no evidence for this other than seeing/hearing her talk. In short, I think it is her intense spirtual focus and awareness that sets her apart and makes her fascinating for so many people--especially since we live in cultures where such directly tapped-into spirituality is so rarely achieved and/or exhibited.
 
Isn't it interesting that the model for a son of a carpenter was a carpenter himself?

No. Sorry to sound so negative, but I don't find any of this amazing. She sounds like a fairly typical spiritual Christian. There's nothing there to indicate "spiritual genius". At least, not to me.


eudaimonia,

Mark
 
No. Sorry to sound so negative, but I don't find any of this amazing. She sounds like a fairly typical spiritual Christian. There's nothing there to indicate "spiritual genius". At least, not to me.


eudaimonia,

Mark


That is typical? Are you blind, man? I know you are coming from an eudaimonist paradigm, but come on, the kid has unusual talent.

What is you definition of "spiritual genius"?
 
So we took a few pictures and I studied his face for a long time. After dozens of sketches, I started painting. It took me 40 hours to finish the first Jesus painting –The Prince of Peace-- and I still remember I lost four teeth in that time!

The Prince of Peace

To see this kind of detail, the flair is just incredible! It is a gift! Amazing gift! What a remarkable young lady!”
I don't know, something seems amiss. I looked at her work and thought it incredible. I look at this series of pictures start to finish...the amount of work completed...the changes in hair style (of the picture) and the right side of his face in and out of the shadow, the timing of painting the background...somehow in looking at all the pictures of the production of this painting an uneasiness comes over me.

I don't know what it is or what I'm feeling, but I think this story has more to unfold...
 
If you are talking about this girl, then yes, she's amazing. I believe she's 12 now. It's gotta be a gift from God.

Akaine


.... She can paint.... So she is a spiritual genius that can tap into pure love and knowledge... Gifted by a divine being called god?.... lol, she can paint, yeah, well done. Or am I missing something here? Looking hard here.. Struggling... But, all I see is a kid that paints... What am I missing?

Oh look, the Chapman brothers... Here is a bit of there work.. What a gift of god... They truly tap into love and knowledge....

chapman.jpg
 
well, looked at the pictures, and didnt believe they were hers, to be honest... wondered if her mother or father was doing the pictures, so I went and looked at her life history...

the kid rises at 4am 5-6 days a week, and paints for about 5 hours a day...

if the kid has been hothoused, deliberately, then by the age she is now yes, she should be a competent artist... I am also worried that her artworks look like Awake! covers and feel she may be given subjects to copy which okay, is difficult, but not as difficult as working from scratch.

I believe this to be the case because...

if u look at her six year old stuff, and her most recent stuff, there is not much in the way of change. If she was a naturally talented artist there would be some variation in her style, she would not be happy to churn out the same themes over and over again, she would naturally experiment. All artists do this, while they develop, children or adults, and I am not seeing anything which suggests that she is growing into her talent... from age six to now, the style, the technique, the use of colour, it is the same.

I also base my opinion that she has been hothoused on her life history.

Look at her earliest work. Yes, the average four year old child would not be able to draw like that, as they do not have the motor skills, and that's why we give them chubby crayons and let them do fingerpainting. They havent established the neural connectivity needed to put what they see on paper accurately yet, and as they develop their reproductive abilities become greater.

Fortunately, the average four year old doesnt get up at 4am and draw for five hours.

Faces and hands and feet are the most difficult for artists to recreate, yet, if you practise copying faces hands and feet over and over again then although on day one it will look like a rabbits foot instead of a maidens toe, by day 100, practising five hours a day six days a week you will be able to competently present a perfectly formed foot... if you don't believe me, try it urself, see what happens... If you add some parental praise to the mix, tell the child they are talented and special, they will believe this, and seek to make their parents/caregivers happy...

If you deliberately hothouse children, you can create child prodigies. The only problem with deliberately creating these child prodigies is, unless they have some unnatural talent, their genius will tail off...

and I think that for this kid, the genius is going to wear off at about 16, and she'll probably have a nervous breakdown or become a rock and roll rebel...

each to their own, though, hey..?
 
I don't know, something seems amiss. I looked at her work and thought it incredible. I look at this series of pictures start to finish...the amount of work completed...the changes in hair style (of the picture) and the right side of his face in and out of the shadow, the timing of painting the background...somehow in looking at all the pictures of the production of this painting an uneasiness comes over me.

I don't know what it is or what I'm feeling, but I think this story has more to unfold...


Are you saying there is something disingenious in her paintings?

It does appear that she changed the hair style between frames 18 and 19, but so what. It appear to me that she started out painting a conventionally "long haired" portrait seen in other pictures of Jesus, but maybe something told her it is more correct for Him to have shorter hair, which He probably did, though admitted she used a "white" model as a basis for her painting. As far as the shades of shadows, much could be attributed to the lighting, angle, and aperature settings on the camera, or maybe it isn't always the same camera used. Cameras don't alway capture reality.

Maybe it would be better if they put up a timelapse video of her work showing the progression, I dunno. But looking at all the other paintings in the Gallery, one can see her work mature as she got older.
 
Hi All:

This is a phenomenon that is taking hold among the younger generations. I have experienced some of it and so have my children. It is a sort of amplification of human abilities to envision alternative realities and to render them into understandable works of interpretive artistic importance, be they writings, graphics, music etc.

IMHO, this is intensifying with the succeding generations as time goes on and may be an aspect of the "Indigo Children" phenomenon. This may also be a driver for chemical addictions as some who wish to emulate these inborn talents of a select few try to induce altered states and unique visioning by taking drugs, etc. My two cents.

flow....;)
 
well, looked at the pictures, and didnt believe they were hers, to be honest... wondered if her mother or father was doing the pictures, so I went and looked at her life history...

the kid rises at 4am 5-6 days a week, and paints for about 5 hours a day...

if the kid has been hothoused, deliberately, then by the age she is now yes, she should be a competent artist... I am also worried that her artworks look like Awake! covers and feel she may be given subjects to copy which okay, is difficult, but not as difficult as working from scratch.

I believe this to be the case because...

if u look at her six year old stuff, and her most recent stuff, there is not much in the way of change. If she was a naturally talented artist there would be some variation in her style, she would not be happy to churn out the same themes over and over again, she would naturally experiment. All artists do this, while they develop, children or adults, and I am not seeing anything which suggests that she is growing into her talent... from age six to now, the style, the technique, the use of colour, it is the same.

I also base my opinion that she has been hothoused on her life history.

Look at her earliest work. Yes, the average four year old child would not be able to draw like that, as they do not have the motor skills, and that's why we give them chubby crayons and let them do fingerpainting. They havent established the neural connectivity needed to put what they see on paper accurately yet, and as they develop their reproductive abilities become greater.

Fortunately, the average four year old doesnt get up at 4am and draw for five hours.

Faces and hands and feet are the most difficult for artists to recreate, yet, if you practise copying faces hands and feet over and over again then although on day one it will look like a rabbits foot instead of a maidens toe, by day 100, practising five hours a day six days a week you will be able to competently present a perfectly formed foot... if you don't believe me, try it urself, see what happens... If you add some parental praise to the mix, tell the child they are talented and special, they will believe this, and seek to make their parents/caregivers happy...

If you deliberately hothouse children, you can create child prodigies. The only problem with deliberately creating these child prodigies is, unless they have some unnatural talent, their genius will tail off...

and I think that for this kid, the genius is going to wear off at about 16, and she'll probably have a nervous breakdown or become a rock and roll rebel...

each to their own, though, hey..?

Having married 2 artists, the 2nd of which had a style very like this girl, I have to say I am in complete agreement with you Francis. Her poetry also can easily be veiwed in a similar context. Perhaps even greater than her ability to paint and write she has learned to please. I hope if this is the case then its for the carrot.
It seems to me that America has a taste at present for creating these little child prodigies. Something I think we over the pond here in the UK find at best bizarre and often outright sick.

TE
 
LMMFAO.... The kid can paint... Whoopty freaking do....

:p Thbbt. What a room full of Debbie Downers, man. Listen to her speak. Something is there.

I think Francis is on to something, though. The kid very well may be on a fast track to pigeon-holing. Her paintings do seem to be on a theme, and I think the real danger towards her getting "stuck" in a certain mode of self-expression is the limiting framework of "Christianity." Someday that bubble will either pop because it's not big enough to contain her spirit and vision, or it will stretch and invite many other traditions in. If it pops rather than stretches, then yeah, along the way she might flip out for a while, get a tattoo and a nosering, drop out of society to grow hemp and make her own paper, and just generally become something besides the little darling of White America that she is now. That ain't a bad thing.

On the other hand, if she's nurutured in an environment that aligns with who she is and what she embodies, things might not be quite as bumpy. Maybe as she develops healthily, Jesus will not be a white man but a colorful woman. ;)
 
Yeah I wouldn't say she’s doing anymore then painting, it’s not rare to find an extraordinary talent even at that young age. Great imagination with her paintings that she dreams up but even I remember dreaming of monkeys with angel wings at the age of 3, and still have no idea why I've remembered that dream all my life quite bizarre but human nature I guess?
 
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