Intro

At 8 years old, you had visions and you painted probably the most famous painting in the world of Jesus Christ. When I first received some of these visions, I didn’t know what Jesus was. I didn’t know what God was. I was so exhausted from searching. And I’m putting my hands up in the air.

I’m like, if you really want me to paint this face, just send him through the front door. And I heard a knock on the door. Showcasing this painting was very difficult. A lot of people despised it. They called it blasphemous.

S’s child told me to burn all my paintings. Akiana, who are these people? Professors, teachers, neighbors, and friends. There’s another event though that happens where the painting gets lost for years, decades, for decades. I am crying at this point.

Does this painting match up with the Shroud of Turin? It is one of the most accurate representations of the Shroud of Turin. Akiana, at 8 years old, you had visions of the face of Jesus, and you painted what is probably the most famous painting in the world of Jesus Christ. Why do you think God gave you those visions and that inspiration to paint Prince of Peace? I think he gave that to me because he knew that I was ready and he knew that I would not quit until his message would be shared.

And from the very beginning at 3 and a half, four years old when I got that vision, it was a very, it was so bright. It was such a very clear message and it was this unwavering faith, this unconditional love and eternal life. And that was that message that I wanted to share to everyone. There’s so much I want to ask you about how you received that vision, your childhood. Your artwork is absolutely stunning.

I first saw Prince of Peace 15 years ago walking into a friend’s house in Virginia and she had her family had this huge print out of Prince of Peace and I remember looking at him his eyes and just feeling seen by Jesus. That’s the power of what God inspired you to do and I know that’s touched millions and millions of people. So you said three and a half years old you had the first vision. Yes. Tell me what happened.

What What was that like? When I first received some of these visions and dreams, I knew that it was important, but I didn’t understand or comprehend entirely why. So, until I received a very clear portrait of this of this being, even my four-year-old self is I’m still trying to develop some of my little my my sketching, my doodles, but I knew in that ex very moment that oh, I need to draw this out somehow. I need to put it on paper because I can’t I want to show this but I can’t show what’s inside my head. So when I had that initial experience, I was so determined to draw it whatever and how how long how how long it will take.

It didn’t matter to me. I’m like I needed to draw it quickly before it would fade away. So, that was my mission. That was my mission. So, I’m going to go through some of that.

You call it doodles. It’s really phenomenal for a four-year-old what you drew. We’re going to look at it in a minute. But first, to set the stage, tell me about your childhood. My childhood was very different, very

Poverty and Imagination

unique in its own right. My mother was an immigrant from Lithuania and she was very determined to bring her children to this world very different than how she was brought up and her and my father who you know my father was an American from Chicago. He was also a non he was a non-practicing Catholic. My mom was an atheist and but they both mutually shared a vision of bringing their kids into the world with just lots of care and love and freedom to explore the environments. Even though we had no money, we we were extremely poor.

You would just say we were in poverty. Uh we had no television, no books, no um no barely any food on the table. We had no furniture. We would have uh we would all sleep on the floor and there were like our place was constantly flooded and with uh with w with um rainwater and my dad got severe sick. um lots of pesticide poisoning and the field that was next door and I got sick as well.

And so it was around this whole entire time of unpredictability of lots of lots of non-accessibility of foods and and environments. My family made it feel like we were made it it felt like we were the richest people in the world because they gave us this love. They gave us an environment. We felt it was an adventure. And I think that mindset is powerful for a child that doesn’t really have anything tangible, anything um like that.

So that was the starting point of my whole entire life where I had that strong foundation and I utilized everything that I we had on hand. I would go to the fields and braid the flowers and I’m like look at the flowers and I would try to um you know try to redraw them on my on on the floors or on my hands. I would I would just the whole world was my canvas and I think that was that was so powerful for me and and really needed for me as a child. That’s incredible. I I I’m so curious about your mother for a moment.

What did that look like and how your mother interacted with you guys? And and was she a stay-at-home mother? Was she She was full-time with us and she wanted it that way. And of course she had other startup businesses within her own home country in Lithuania. But the moment that she had her children, she was like, I want to spend every moment of my day with them.

Of course, my father worked three to four jobs and I barely saw him. Uh, you know, it was he was working extremely hard to make um ends meet. But my mother being there, she you we would wake up truly with this aspect of this day is going to be a new adventure. Let’s go explore. Let’s go.

And and we always had this anchor in the house. We always had wherever we would go run around the house and go explore outside, she would always be there. Anything, any idea, any dream, she would always be there. She would always listen. And she would always if we had some you know ideas she would okay let’s write it down.

So we she would write down our ideas and I think it was like that full trust that she is that anchor. She will always be there. So we that was truly very very important for us kids. I grew up with um at the time I had two older brothers but because of the lack of you know food and like finances my mom had this incredible she was an incredible genius in her own right. She was a businesswoman as well.

So she had this idea to start up uh a business during when when we were young and and through the both uh both support of my mom and my dad they both came together and we were able to come out of that environment that poverty environment we were able to get finally a place to have a bed and play and and a home. How old were you when you first

Started Drawing/Painting

started to paint? I first started to paint. So painting with actual paints came a little bit later around like 7 years old, but I started drawing at three. And I knew I had to almost like in my mind I knew I had to perfect black and white before I went into color. I know this is sounds really strange but like I had this um determination and I challenged myself like I need to first perfect black and white and color will always come easier but black and white is in is a lot harder if you because it’s the shadings you have to almost translate colors into grays into all these different white to black spectrums and that’s hard to do.

So, I was trying to challenge myself to do that. And so, I made a determination before I got into colors. I’m going to go black and white. If I did not have black and white charcoals or pencils, I would I would use food in the house. Yes.

I would use food. I would, you know, have there was like um a fireplace that we used to have and I would take some of the burnt wood and I would use that and I would um draw on the fireplace mantle and yeah, whatever I had on hand I would I would use. But But you had in your mind I want to perfect black and white before I go to color like even and you were like three or four. I was Yeah. Three and a half four.

I I know it’s strange. Where did that idea where do you think that idea came from? I wish I could tell you, but I I feel like it was just ingrained in me. I I think it was um I think it was just a step that I knew that I needed to to over overcome. I don’t know.

It’s it was installed in me. I in my DNA. I just felt it. I guess that’s probably the best way to say it. Did you have a model as a young girl of an artist, a painter, someone that you looked up to that was accomplishing these beautiful works of art so that you even knew that that was something that you could strive for?

The short answer is no. I did not have any role models or anybody that I could truly look up to or this this idol of this painter, this artist. I just knew that I just I just had my own world. I had no TV, no books. So, I I had no representation of what it would look like.

I just had this yearning though, this un this such this um indescribable desire and this curiosity for that world. But I didn’t have any book or TV or any kind of magazine reference of the what this person this this uh this idea would look like.

The day 20 cops showed up…

When do you remember first meeting or experiencing God? For sure that there was a pivotal moment of my life. I think I was 5 and a half years old when something did happen where both my parents to this day they still felt that this was a a miraculous event and coming from my experience it was an event that took place on a very very simple day. I was uh it was a very sunny outside and I just remember being inside and this this feeling felt like my my I was standing or I don’t remember I just felt like my soul just being like like drifted upwards and cut to about 7 hours later there are 20 to 30 police cars around the whole house. My parents frantically looking for me and long story short, I was gone.

I was missing and uh a lot a lot of the the police dogs were called, the police was go called, the neighbors, there was a search for a potential kidnapping. There was my parents was my brothers. They were all searching for me and I was nowhere to be found. And my dad is a I would say he’s a very very good at finding things. He could find a little a little mouse in the in the middle of a field.

He’s extremely gifted in that and he could not find his only daughter. That that totally brought their world upside down. That’s that day was one of the pivotal moments because I remember after this whole 7-hour ordeal, I remember just coming back into reality, I guess, and just walking walking towards my mom and I see her talking with a a police officer and she looked at me and then she couldn’t believe it. She looked at me twice and then she just bolted towards me and she shook me and she was like, “Where have you been? Where were you?” And I was very exhausted.

I was I was 5 and a half at this point and I was super exhausted. I just remember just telling her, “I have so much to do. I’m tired, but I have a mission. I have so much to do.” To this day, that that experience was we don’t know exactly what happened, how it happened. My parents and everyone involved said I was not there.

I was nowhere to be found. I remember telling her though right after the incident that I was shown many things. I was shown many doors to different lives and I was shown very various events I guess the best way to describe it. Uh I still don’t know the answers of what truly happened but that experience was a huge catapult to a domino effect to what my life would transform to. And since that day, my mom and my dad, they truly got down on their knees.

And after hugging me, and they didn’t stop hugging me for like an hour, they truly felt that this was in a way like a message from God that, you know, I’m there with them again. and and they decided to whatever mission I was meant to do, they would support it 100%. And that was a very pivotal moment for my parents to stand by me. Akiana, where did you go? You just shared how you felt like this power, this warmth lifting you almost from your body.

7 hours later, you were missing. They couldn’t find you anywhere. They looked everywhere. You were nowhere. And then you were very tired and you walked into your mother’s arms.

Where where were you in during the seven hours? I wish I could tell you the answer, but I just remember I remember there was just it felt that I was gone for like hundreds of years. I know it’s very hard to wrap your head around, but there was no specific place. I couldn’t tell you what this place was. It was a it was a timeless place that had all the answers right in front of me.

Had a lot of doors. It had a lot of events from the past, present, and the future. And I could not wrap my vocabulary enough to describe what I was experiencing to my parents. All I said was like I felt that I I had so much to do. I seen so much and I I needed to do a lot of things.

Was Jesus there? it. God was there and Jesus was all around like but I didn’t know what Jesus was. You weren’t raised in a I didn’t know what God was. I I didn’t know what this this word was, but it was all-encompassing.

Later down the road, that’s when I put the two tune pieces together. Oh, this was God. Oh, this was Jesus. And when you say I I just have to drill down a little bit more because it’s truly remarkable. I mean, it’s miraculous.

Was there like a wooded area by your home where you could have theoretically like walked off in this sort of like vision-like state and then like fallen asleep under a bush? I mean, do you have any sort of like Oh, I have definitely done my like research. I was I was absolutely trying to figure that out myself. I went down a memory lane road. I went down I revisited the house.

I revisited the place. I was trying to go back in time and try to figure things out with my whole family. You must not have been in the house cuz they probably looked in every closet under every bed. And that’s the most interesting part about it. The last thing that I remembered was being in my bedroom.

Wow. And but they had checked your bedroom when they were searching for you. The whole the whole house was upside down. Like the beds and everything, all the closet, everything was open. Like there were dozens of police officers there.

And I remember at the end when I was I think my mom I think my mom was holding me on her hip. I remember I’m looking directly into the officer and he says, “I have no answer. I don’t know what happened.” He takes um Smokey the Bear stuffed animal and gave it to me. He says, “I hope this is like a reminder that you truly are like safe.” And I remember holding I still have the Smokey Bear to this day and he and all other officers have no idea what happened. So I’m I’m still trying to figure it out.

But all I know that that was very important. It was very pivotal. And I took that as a sign of okay, what is now my purpose? What is my job now? What is my mission now?

Like I want to take everything that I’ve experienced and try to translate into a very creative form and creative outlet. When it’s TV time for our kids, which we try to do sparingly, I’m constantly thinking about what they’re watching and whether it’s helping or hurting their formation. That’s why we really love Brave Plus in our household. It’s a streaming service that’s vetted by real Christian parents and only one out of every 20 shows are accepted. Not only do the shows and movies actually align with our biblical values, but more than that, Brave Plus also rejects overstimulating content that’s linked to mental and behavioral issues.

First time telling your parents about the vision?

The first time there was on and off I would say something similar around those ages about between 3 and 4 years old but my vocabulary was very very small at the time. Like I’m still I was trying to figure out the words the correct words. Sometimes if my mom was not there, I would tell to my older brothers uh because we all shared the same bedroom and I would sometimes wake my older brother Jeanlu or Delini and I’m like, “Hey, I saw this. Do you want me to tell you what this was?” And and they would just open their eyes and yeah, go ahead. And then they would drift off back to sleep.

Sweet story. But my mom was the one that was my confidant and she would write everything down in her journal. And so yeah, around three and a half, four years old. And then after the incident at 5 and 1/2 were you miraculously effectively disappear and have these incredible visions and experiences after that, after you told your parents that, how did your life change? I I would say definitely very drastically because now it became very important, very serious to everyone now and especially my parents.

And I think from that point on my mom decided to quit her job completely. And that’s when that’s what helped us get to um you know home to have a home and and and be very comfortable. But she decided you know this is what I think this is what God wants. So, she decided to quit her job and be full-time with me and her kids. She says that I think this was an answer that she was looking for.

And I think from that point on is when I started to really hone in on my techniques. And I I loved the idea of right after I I would do something in the morning, I would just run up and I would just share it to my brothers or my my mom. says, “This is what I did today.” And I’m like, “Ah, gosh, it’s not good enough.” So, I rip it out and I I do another one. I do another sketch. This is what I did today.

Ah, it’s not good enough. So, I would I would be so such a perfectionist that now anything that I would see in my head and if it did not correlate it correctly on this on the the paper, I would just rip it up. And long and behold, thank goodness for my mom, she would take those sketches out of the trash. She would and then put them in a a folder and she saved them. And that’s why I still have some of my sketches here today.

How did you learn to paint?

We’re going to look at those in a minute. They’re absolutely amazing. It’s all amazing. What was the process as you were having these visions, especially after these events at 5 and a half? What was your process for painting? Because you were not classically trained. You didn’t have some, you know, famous painter who was sitting down with you at as a child and teaching you technique. I would say that by 6 and 1/2 years old, I knew that I was getting close to being in quotes ready for collars.

So, I asked my mom and dad to bring me to some of the art supply stores. And I would just only pick very few colors, like four or five colors. And I would actually once again challenge myself, what can I do with these four colors, five colors? And I would take them home. And uh first it was oil pastels and then I I experimented with acrylics and then I went back and started doing with oils.

How she painted THE painting

And I felt that I needed to at least be ready and prepared to when this portrait of love comes back to me in a vision that I’ll be ready to paint it again. And at at by this time I felt that I’m having these techniques and I’m having these um this journey of becoming an artist but I was still waiting for this vision to come back to me and I finally did. This is the vision of the portrait of like love that I would I would describe to my face. Yeah. Exactly.

Exactly. So by seven I’m like okay I got this this full clear image full clear image like it was hyper-detailed hyper realistic and I’m looking at it and I’m oh wow I’m looking at my hands I’m like I need to start I need to start now I asked my mom and my dad I’m like please can you just drive me to um some of these you know restaurants or these bus stops, schools, or or someplace that I can try to look for models now. Like, I have this face, but I still need a I still need a model to represent, you know, some of the shades and the lights of this um this image that I see. And months goes by and I’m like, “Oh, no. This is this is not good.” I have it in my head.

I just Would you go would she take you drive you around town? Oh, yeah. She would take me everywhere just to look at men. Literally, I would be at the park and I would just like look and I was just like, “Nope, that’s not it. That’s not it.” I would go to grocery stores just I just I was trying to immerse myself in a position where there were a lot more people.

I was I would people watch. Was the idea that if you kind of scoured town and you found a man who looked like this vision that you would go up to him and say, “Can you be my model?” That was was that the idea? That was the idea I had. I was seven years. My mother was like, “Yeah, we’re doing this.” Akiana.

Oh, yeah. She was so on board. She was so on board. Well, after the 5 and 1/2 year incident, she’s like, “I’m I’m up for anything at this point.” So on board. And she’s like, “I would absolutely assist in in trying to talk for for you for them.” And I’m like, “Thank you.

Thank you.” But after a few months, I I just could not I had no luck on finding that right model. And there was at one point I’m in my home and I literally I literally like was so exhausted from searching and I’m like putting my hands up in the air. I’m like, “If you really want me to paint this face, just send him through the front door. I’m so exhausted. Just if if that’s really what you want me to paint.” And I said that almost out of like it was out of exhaustion.

And I was like, if this is meant to be, it’s meant to be. Long and behold, I didn’t realize my my message came out really clear. And I heard a knock on the door. And your front door? On my front door.

And I opened it and I looked up and it was almost this 6 and 1/2t, 7 foot tall man standing in front of the doorway. And he looked and he says, “Oh, I heard someone is looking for a model. I’m here.” And I was looking. I’m like, “Oh my goodness, this is that’s him.” The I was I would almost say this in Lithuanian. Theis the meaning Jesus.

It’s like that’s him. That’s him. I I would say that to my mom was right there. I’m like, “That’s him. That’s him.” and but he was under the impression that the artist would be an adult, not a 8-year-old girl.

So, it was really um a really funny experience of how me trying to convince this this uh this man to agree to model and it turned out after a lot of conversing and he explained and that he also was a carpenter himself and after some time passed and he agreed to model for me and that’s when the Prince of Peace painting started a carpenter like Jesus Christ, our Lord. Yeah. How incredible. I’m still pinching myself because I can’t if you really just look back in time like all the pieces coming together and all those it it just it has to be a reason why. There’s it’s for a purpose that’s way beyond me that I could not have foreseen.

And I’m just feel I felt at the time that I was just trying my best to be the best version I can for this part. That was Yeah. So he this carpenter gentleman shows up. He looks exactly like the image in your mind’s eye or was it slight was there any difference? Any There was everything that I needed for in a model.

The image that I had in mind was of course it was a lot it was definitely a little bit more different but it was exactly what I needed. And I think that was the key was because it allowed me to almost it felt like the best way I could describe it is like almost like put clothing on like a skin like it their skin is there, the hand is there, but I could put any kind of sleeve, any kind of um um attire. It had that essence where now I could start building. I could start sculpting. And that’s what that’s what I needed and that’s what he was for me.

And how long once you got your model, how long did it take you to complete Prince of Peace. 40 hours, but it felt like 40 years for me. I lost four teeth during the process and that was How do you lose that? I was eight years old and I looks like I was still was still losing my teeth. But um yeah, it took 40 hours and it it took everything out of me.

It took everything out of her

It took so much out of me that I felt that I was I made my studio almost like my bedroom where I would wake up. I would paint virtually not eat or drink and I would still I’ll paint, go back and sleep on sometimes on the floor, sleep on my chair. I would be very invested in that uh in that moment, in that experience because I wanted to give everything. I wanted to give my heart, my soul, my hands, my my time cuz I knew it was important, but I I just didn’t know the scope of it, if that makes sense. We’re going to get into what happens next with this incredible painting and then the trajectory your life has taken, which is truly miraculous.

But you’re eight years old and you’re acting like a you are I mean at this point a professional painter. You this is absorbing every moment of your waking consciousness and you’re dreaming and you’re this is 100% what you’re pouring your heart into. And your parents are on board. They want to support this and they feel called by God even to support this. What happened with school at this point?

You know, were your brothers in school? Did you drop out of school? Was there homeschool happening? How did they set up your life so that you could focus so beautifully on your work? That was the most beautiful thing about my family that we had that opportunity to experiment with different schools and we tried public, private, Catholic, Christian.

We tried um parochial and we we tried a lot but a very short amount of time like maybe a few months maybe a year or two but there was one day I think around 7 and a half where I you know I came back from school and we lived in Colorado at the time and I had my backpack on. put my backpack on the floor and I looked at my mom and I’m like I feel that my time could be in my studio and I if you’re okay with it but I don’t want to go to school anymore and she was like absolutely I’ll take you out and that’s what she did. She took me out my and truly it was like the decision I think it was because I was really really determined to like I really wanted to spend time in my studio and and she allowed me and what parent does that that’s that foresight that she and my my dad had is I think is very very admirable and it allowed me to spend more time in the studio and so did my brothers. They also had that option like hey do you want to do this? Absolutely go ahead.

You don’t want to okay no matter where we were in our educational life they allowed us to choose. However, at the core of it, when we were not um in school, I guess we were full we were homeschooled. And I would say it was a very untraditional way of homeschooling, I guess, because there was a lot of traveling. There was a lot of like anytime my mom or my dad would uh in, you know, do their own businesses, they would always involve us. They would always teach us about how to start, how to just beginning to end of what this lifestyle was.

And so we were involved in all these um very important decision-makings at 7 years old, 8 years old. And they involved us with everything. And I think that was we thought it was very exciting. We thought it was wow we have a decision in this matter. That’s amazing.

So, yeah, you were and you were a family unit. You did things for each other together. Yeah. And you had the freedom to follow calls and longings. And it’s it’s an absolutely beautiful way to grow up.

And I think it’s inspiring to me. And I’m sure someone listening right now is really inspired thinking, “Wow, that’s a beautiful way to parent.” Oh, I I really hope that I could mirror some of those teachings. And I think that, you know, having the ability to travel and involve your kids with everything, I think they inadvertently would love that and need that. And I think that’s so I think that’s probably why I enjoyed it. I loved it.

So, what was it like when you after those grueling 40 hours, one of your first oil paintings, you complete Prince of Peace. What was it like to look at what you had just created? I remember pulling an all-nighter and after I finished signing my name, I sat on the floor and I looked at it and it became my eyes started like fatiguing and I I started twitching almost. So I was absolutely exhausted. But I knew that oh now is the time to showcase it to the world.

Where everything went south…

After a lot of discussions with my brothers and my parents and they  ultimately supported the idea of displaying this to an exhibition and that’s when everything started is when I started exhibiting this piece to people and I would be this is something a lot of people don’t know about but in the beginning I it was showcasing this painting was very

Major pushback

difficult and a lot of people did not like it. They despised it. They called it blasphemous. They called me devil’s child. They called me a fraud.

Uh they told me to burn all my paintings. They told me that I should stop painting and this was directed towards my face as an 8-year-old. So, that probably wasn’t the first step that I anticipated. I guess that’s probably It was It was hard. It was very hard.

And especially when I try to open my doors, my home to all these people and come and take a look at my artwork and they would just almost walk away with indifference or disgust. And you know that was the first eye opening experience that oh this is not going to be as easy as I thought it was going to be. So I once again took it as a challenge to myself like okay what how can I armor myself? How can I be stronger with all these arrows pointing at me? It’s of course I’m going to be vulnerable to it.

Of course I’m I was only a child and there was at a point where I did stop painting because I felt okay. I’ve done my duty. I’ve done my responsibility. I you know I guess they’re right at some you know there was moments that I felt that but Akiana who are these people people that would come into the art gallery where Prince of Peace was hanging and you’d be there you know to show your painting and you’d have just patrons of the arts come and basically effectively spit in your face. I mean was that what you were is that what you experienced?

Pretty much. Pretty much. And and it’s um it’s not just random people as well. It was these very high educated art professors and teachers and um patreons of the art pretty much and neighbors and friends like that is a whole other ball game when friends and you would you thought they were friends would say to your face but they did. What was the reason behind all of that animist?

If you can if you know or can speculate. Was it because they thought your technique was too unusual or they thought that painting an image of the son of God of Jesus was in itself somehow bad? I mean what what were their justifications? I could speculate on a few. Uh, of course my parents have another perspective, but they truly feel that this was, you know, a lot of negative spirits trying to attack me when satanic attack.

Yeah, that’s they have a full and of course I feel the same way and I I felt the same way and I think in their my speculation is that of well at the time I thought okay it was probably my technique it’s not good enough it’s it’s maybe I have to do this maybe I have to do that and maybe the message was I need to say more clearer and maybe it’s this and of course I speculated and maybe I could do better on this but at the end of this whole experience I literally sat down and prayed and I’m like no actually this is this is the right um this is the right message this is the right painting this is I’m I’m giving everything I have I’m giving my soul I’m quite literally displaying it right now um so I I definitely it There are a lot of speculations but I can’t give you a definite answer because these are coming from everyone from all walks of life from all religions and it is different when for example um I was very very passionate about showcasing this uh at that time and during this whole endeavor I we hired an

The art agent scam

art agent and this art agent was supposed to be the person that would protect and show this message of love to the world with my, you know, with with all of the things that I wanted to share. But it turns out it was he had an a different a motive and he called it called it blasphemous. He did not like any of my paintings to the point that it was um I think when my mom described it, he almost scratch scratched my painting in disgust. And after wanting to display it, he decided, I’m taking it. So he took my painting, the Prince of Peace painting, and did not want to give it back.

He said, this is mine, and no one’s going to see this painting. And I I did not expect that. Okay, so we have we have a a very poor replica. I want to have this on the side so people can take a look. So here’s Prince of Peace.

It makes me want to weep looking at this image. Um cuz I see our Lord and I think obviously who could have beheld our Lord in the time when he actually walked on earth and he’s in eternal glory, but he’s with us all the time, right? Too. But um so your art agent took he stole he stole yeah your painting at this time. Were you nine by this point?

I was probably around eight and a half. You were still eight. Eight and a half. So he steals the painting and then he locks it up for how long? So this is the because my parents were the ones that were trying to they were in the middle of this extreme negotiation and this crisis and I I remember talking and I’m like we we have to get it back.

We have to get it back. And and under the contract like it was it it was such a messy situation and he refused to give it back. And after a lot of prayers and a lot of conversations with my parents, there was something that happened that my mom called after that conversation, he agreed to send it back. But it was How long did he have it for? I don’t recall.

It was just It felt like forever. Like it felt like this battle was going on forever. And I remember the day that I got it back, it was in a it was in a crate, a wooden crate. How old were you at this point? I was still around eight and a half, almost almost 9 years old, like around that age.

And I remember this is in a wooden crate. Got shipped. We um unscrewed the whole the whole um pal um panel because this is a big painting, right? This is a big paint 40. I think it’s 40 by 60 or something like that.

48 by 60. So it’s like it’s probably as it could fill part of this wall. Oh yeah, for sure. And 30 by 40 or but I took it off. The panel came off and it this is still wet.

So oils they take months to dry by the way. This is still wet original painting. And because the wooden crate, a lot of the sawdust got caked inside the paints itself on the on the painting. And I am I am crying at this point. I’m like, “Oh no, my mom is crying.” And we I was like, “Oh, this is not good.” Because if they dry, like all this all this sawdust is going to be um caked in to the paints.

So I take these tweezers and I’m on my knees on the concrete outside trying to pick individually all these sawdust for hours. It was it was a mission to get it all of it out, but it was salvaged and you know it was um it was there and all the sawdust was was out well as much as I can you know. So there so there’s there’s two missing moments with our with the painting of our our Jesus. So

Lost for…decades?!

the first one is your art agent guy basically kidnaps your painting and then doesn’t he hates it. He doesn’t even like it. He kidnaps it. You finally get it back. There’s another event though that happens where the painting of Prince of Peace gets lost for years.

Yes. For decades. And for decades. So right after this painting that I got into my possession, I’m like finally I have it in my possession. I don’t want to ever uh have anyone else take it or I want to just display it just for because this this was my purpose.

This was my um my wish my goal to share it with the world to share with the world. And I think that was you know ultimately my whole family that was their goal. And so they all decided after after a grueling grueling um court battle, we had to um separate with the previous art agent. No joke. No joke.

And there was a lot of that that um we had no um resources to separate because if you he mentioned, oh, you can’t get out of this contract. I own you for 12 years, 15 years. You can’t get out of this contract unless you give me this extreme amount of money. And we we had no money like that. So after a lot of the court battling, we were able to able to separate.

And at this time, I’m like, “Okay, finally I have this in my possession. I want to display it.” And there was this other person that came with this good quote quote unquote good intentions to display it. And he also became my manager and my art agent. And initially I thought it was a we all thought this was going to be a a great um step. But it turns out after this, we wanted to display this for an exhibition.

He sold it without our knowledge behind our backs. And I didn’t know who had it. And ever since then, I didn’t know where it was. So, it was gone. And the face of my earth the, you know, off the face of the earth in my eyes, it was missing.

So, I I didn’t know what to do. Like, it was um it was bought. I couldn’t buy it back. Um and you didn’t know who had it. I didn’t know who had it.

How how heartbreaking. Yeah. I was 9 years old. And so, and you couldn’t see it again. No.

So, a a few questions. First of all, during this time, this is a lot of a lot of challenges for a very young girl in her family to be facing who is entering the art world for the first time. How did you handle such first of all rejection and cruelty quite frankly and then you know basically scam artists you know effectively in the art world and then losing your painting and having it sold out from under you without even knowledge or permission or anything. Um did you have a sense of turning to God for help? Did you feel any consolation?

What was going on in your soul? I think the best way I could describe it was after that event, I had this utter sense of I had two lines of thought. I had an utter sense of, oh wow, this is like I I it’s out of my control. I can’t do anything about it. But I have a feeling that it’s going to be okay.

Like I have a feeling that this was even though it’s out of my hands, like I feel it’s going to be okay. And I I have this um determination to keep pushing forward and don’t stop. Don’t ever stop. Don’t stop painting. And then of course there was the other side of me like, oh my goodness.

like this realization of of course this is absolute sadness that oh this is like you know there was a moment of like loss of hope but I think with the support of my family and that that other side of utter determination of don’t stop don’t quit it was the right ingredients to I’m going to keep pushing forward. And I think this is what God wants me to do. And I I had daily walks and prayers with God. And I I the way that I communicate with God is through painting and is through art. And I think it was it’s my it was my own um it was my own conversation.

And I think through these hours and hours of every painting, it felt like I was getting more closer and closer and closer to God in my own way. So, you know, even though that this was gone,

Akiane’s dad saving the day

I knew that God wasn’t gone. And also because if we had this we salvaged this one last um scan of this painting and through that scan we were prince of peace of prince of peace before it was sold without our without our knowledge. we were able to make replica, you know, duplicates, replications and jacuz um prints and um so we were able to utilize that one last scan to to share it to share it as much as we can. So my dad made that executive call of he quit his job. He says, “I’m gonna I’m going to help you in any way I can, and this is I know this is your mission, but my mission is protect you and protect everything that you do and my and my family.” That was his mission.

So, he and my mom, they both helped me start um my company and my business and we made it our mission to share this painting with the world. And that’s where, you know, Oprah and a lot of the CNN, you know, Fox, they it just spread like wildfire and in such a beautiful way. And slowly but surely, a lot of, you know, books were um I was writing my book and, you know, a lot of um media caught on and it just became such a beautiful domino effect. It is amazing that when this painting was first effectively stolen, then sold without your permission or knowledge, that in a way instigated this openness of well, we’re going to take a digital copy and make it available for everyone to put in their home if they choose or wherever they would like it. And I remember again 15 years ago walking into my friend’s house and they had a replica of course not the original but they had the replica of Prince of Peace above their mantle and they all said they they had him there to remind them that Jesus was always with them and to give them yeah an experience of looking into the eyes of Jesus when they would walk in and out of their home.

And I think that has been true for millions of people now including myself. So, thank you for all of the sacrifices and the yes so that you could let people have a window into looking into the face of God. Oh, thank you so much for sharing that. And I will tell you those testimonies that you just shared is what makes me want to get up every morning and go to my studio. And I think this face um brought millions of people to a similar compass, similar calling to never forget that face of love and in their own way.

and and I would say it was one of the most beautiful experiences when there are totally different um families at the opposite sides of the world and they’re calling us and contacting us saying I’ve seen this in my vision. I’ve seen this in my dream. You painted him to another person saying, “I’ve lost hope and I was about to end my life tomorrow, but seeing this face made me find hope again.” And to another, like there was just all these influx of so many stories come and to me it was this was much bigger than I bigger than myself that I have ever imagined. And the whole purpose of this painting is, as you can tell, his eyes are green. And the reason why I made them green was obviously because I saw it.

But that particular particular hue and color signifies to me the color of peace. So green has like this um this characteristics of peace in them. And one side of his face is light and the other side of his dark. Because if he’s I wanted to represent the dark side as suffering and trials and the light in his eye and the dark side represents that he’ll always be with us when we are hurting and when we are in a dark place. And the other side of his face is light where it is purity and it is is warmth.

It is light. And the whole purpose of his painting was for someone to when they look at it, they could have their own personal conversation with him in their own way, in their own language. And we all deserve to be loved and to love. The the other phenomenon I’ve heard expressed and I’ve experienced with this painting is that when you look at the eyes, when you look at the painting, it has this feeling as if the eyes are always looking at you regardless of the angle that you’re looking at the painting. Yes, that how did you accomplish that?

I would tell you, you know, I I don’t know how to answer that. However, I do recall when I was working on the eyes, cuz I started painting the eyes first before anything else. And I wanted to have that striking gaze that I felt. And of course, in the oils, it the more I worked on the eyes, the more I built on the eyes. So, it has almost like a 3D effect of his eyes um almost protruding from the canvas.

And that’s where when someone would see him, especially in person, that wherever you walked, he would always he would always notice you. I’m sure you’ve heard of the Shroud of Turin.

Shroud of Turin

Yes. And there’s so much more evidence coming out about the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and you can glean some of the the imaging, you could say, of the face of Jesus Christ, and of course, his body from that. Does this painting match up with the Shroud of Turin? Many say yes and almost in a very very high identical percentage. We were approached many times in the past and they came from a lot of researchers, archaeologists and people who were associated with the shroud of Turin’s u discovery and and um testing and they themselves were the ones that told us that this was this painting was one of it is the mo one of the most accurate representations of the the shroud of Turin.

And that was that was so ah that was so wild to hear. That’s to me that is I don’t know I’m very very um as time goes on I I truly feel that these blessings really um feel they just propel me even more and I I I feel really blessed to hear that. And the shroud of turn of course with is the burial cloths of Jesus that have been discovered as you said and are being tested and it is an amazing similarity that exists between your painting and what is on the shroud.

Colton Burpo’s Near Death Experience

There’s also been these mystical experiences that some have had even in today’s world recently like the story of the little boy Colton Burpo who had a mystical experience and he had a near-death experience. So he had passed away then miraculously came back to life. There’s a whole movie made about his life and books and everything else, but what did he say when he came across your painting? Oh my goodness, that in itself is a whole other a whole other story. And we’re I’m still in contact with him today and with Colton with Colton Burbo.

Yes. And during his experience, you know, he had a very very life-threatening situation in his in his in his childhood. and and he did mention that, you know, he met Jesus and his father was determined to try to find a uh a similarity of what this Jesus looked like to his son. And there were many times where he showed him one image, showed him in another, and he’s like, “Nope, that’s not him. No, that’s not him.” And one day, I think it was um during one of my media programs, uh this painting came up and he showed it to Colton.

He says, “Is this him?” He looked at he that’s him. That’s him. And that’s where our relationship connected and you know our families um connected and I was so blessed to be part of his story and his book and also his movie. What happened to the

The model for the painting

carpenter, the man that served as your model for Prince of Peace? I still I still have his contact. I still know about him and I think for uh an he wants to be very anonymous and I really want to keep that anonymous but he’s alive and well and he’s uh there was a point actually it was a really funny story right when I painted this painting and we lived in such a small town there was a point where he was being recognized that he I wore a beanie hat over his hair um because of the striking, you know, striking resemblance and there were so many people that came to my exhibition and it just the word just spread like wildfire and but yeah, you were raised

How the painting impacted the family’s faith

non-religious and your parents or I should say in a non-religious household, your parents were non-religious before this painting. How did the events leading up to the painting and then all of the crazy events since impact their faith? Every single one of my family members, they the all their spiritual journeys got impacted in such a beautiful way. Even though my mother was an atheist and my dad was non-practicing Catholic and we were raised in a non-religious household, the events that transpired in my childhood and my drawings and and also the um experiences with my artwork, it brought them all closer to God in their own way. And I think the beauty of it is that seeing from a daughter’s perspective and a sister’s perspective, I see all of them almost navigating their own questions and their own um research.

And I think that’s so fascinating and I think that’s what it’s all about in a way because I think spirituality and faith is not supposed to be in a box. It’s not supposed to be a title. It’s supposed to be very personal. I think that you have you have to go deeper into that and I think it’s fascinating to see everyone grow in their own way.

1000 Hours to Make

What was the last vision that you had that you felt inspired to paint? Visions and dreams, they come and go throughout my whole life for sure. And of course, most of the visions were when I was younger, but as time goes on, like I would seek inspiration from real life experiences and and not just the visions and dreams. But I think the last vision, the strongest vision that I had recently, there were a few though. Um, probably the most recognized is probably the um the other painting that I painted at um in 2017 of Jesus.

That was the the hyper realistic agony image. It was it was a I wanted to capture the feeling of this was the transition of the resurrection. Oh, not the agony image. I think uh this one the father forgive them is the one that you were okay I’m thinking father this this one so gorgeous yeah that was that took a thousand hours to paint and that took everything out of me to the point that o that was uh let’s just say my parents said that I I did not come out of my studio for a long time I was very heavily invested into painting that painting And cuz I wanted it when I saw that vision, I wanted it to be as close as accurate as I saw it. With the all the years and years and techniques and paints that I’ve accumulated, I felt that this was also the time to to paint it.

But all right, so here is the image of Jesus beginning his resurrection. Yes, I was I wanted to capture that that moment where it was that transition of being that in that human form. And that’s like I I needed to paint that painting at at all costs and with that strong vision that I had. I’m like I have the tools. I have the techniques.

And after 1,000 hours and quite literally my blood, sweat and tears went into that painting and I finally was able to finish it. What deeply moves me about this painting, Akiana, is that makes me want to weep is that I got

Holy Face of Manoppello

really obsessed as a strong word, but I got really fascinated by the holy face of Monopella. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this, but Paul Bade, this j journalist, did this whole report and I went to Italy and I got to pilgrimage this tiny little town outside of Rome, maybe 200 miles outside of Rome, I don’t remember exactly where the face of Montipello, it’s basically the imprint of the outermost layer of the excuse me, the innermost layer of the shroud. So the shroud of turn there’s seven level layers of burial cloth which would traditional in Jewish custom that they buried Jesus in. And this was the layer closest to his face. So you can see this beautiful very very thin fabric and you see the imprint of his face, but the imprint on it is his face at the moment of resurrection.

They say this kind of transitional moment which I’m sounds like you have yeah not a lot of people know about this. So but I always thought oh it it looks so unusual almost this Jesus. It does kind of match the dimensions of Sh of Turin. And by the way, the material is it it’s miraculous. The imprint of the of the um of the ink or you could say on the fabric.

It’s not they they’ve done scientific and it said something about the light being like uh it was there was it was not able to be produced anything but this strong ray of light from the fabric order. Yes. So it’s a miraculous image the the holy face of Montipello and but his face looks like this face and so it’s just a very uh it like fits proportionally because there was something very unique about that face of the holy face of Monopella. It’s just a very mystical thing of course that God is allowing here and and inspiring here and I think it is all to again like you said bring us back to the face of the Prince of Peace and to receive his love and be able to ultimately share it. So I want to ask you, you got the face though of the Prince of Peace.

You got it back the painting eventually.

Getting the painting back

That’s a short story. The longer story is that after decades of not being able to to um find the location of the Prince of Peace, finally through a lot of chain domino effect, we were able to find the location after a few decades. And but under one condition, the owners at the time would not let it part because they knew who I was and what value it was. They would not let it part with an extremely extreme amount of money. And so they they wouldn’t let you have it unless you they could sell it back to you.

They wanted over I think it was over a million dollars to have it back. And at the time, you know, we after a lot of prayer, we figured out that the time it’s getting close to have having it in our care, but it just coincided during the this particular time frame. We got a call from another family who was interested in purchasing the Prince of Peace and we said, “We know somebody that is able to um who wants to sell the the Prince of Peace but at this very high price.” And we were like, you know, whatever it’s literally in God’s hands. whatever decision is made it I we all feel felt it was right and through lots of prayers the new family says absolutely and after some negotiations we um we all flew to we all flew to the storage that it was located it was in storage it was in a it was in a vault for all those years and it was never didn’t want to sell it except for a million dollars but they were keeping it in storage. Yeah, they that’s to my best of my knowledge that it was not showcased to anyone and it was in wrapped up for like 15 plus years.

Yes. And not only that, it was in under the staircases. It was in um it was definitely did not see light for many many years. So wild. It was one of the most interesting days where after we landed and we were driving to this to the storage and this is the be the first time I met in person this new family that wants to acquire the Prince piece and they were going to pay almost a million dollars for it.

Yes. And they were and the old owners, they they we were all going to meet in a specific location and uh they walked with me and I saw this painting that was on this um wall covered with plastic and I turned around and and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, there’s a lot of emotions coming through me.” And I’m like, “Okay, my hands are sweating. This is the first time I’ve seen it since I was 9 years old.” And I think I was so I think I was 25 2 somewhere around the 24 25. And I’m my hands are sweating and I’m I’m almost about to tear up and I’m taking the plastic off the Prince of Piece and I gently take it off and the influx of memories just start like piling up in my head and I’m automatically transported back when I’m 8 years old. Like I remember like all those paint brushes, all those strokes and the paint being dried in a certain way and because I wanted I was there.

I wanted to be there to prove the authenticity of the painting and only I can do it. Only I can prove the authenticity and Oh, that’s so that’s why you’re there. That’s why I’m there. Determine it’s real. Exactly.

And I remember there was this particular area where my agent scratched the painting. And I see this um he actually scratched it. Yeah. Intentionally. That’s what my mom said.

This is this is a lot of onion onion layers to the story. And and I remember just looking at it, all this little there was a couple um pieces of um sawdust that still got trapped into the painting that I didn’t get I didn’t get out yet, but everything everything just came back and I remember even though that I haven’t seen it since I was nine, it was still the same. It was still the same painting. The feeling is the same, the message was the same. And I was just uh I definitely wept a lot that day cuz I was so happy to see it again.

And uh after the transaction happened, the new owners quite literally were they have the heart of gold and their mission was whatever my mission was. And I’m like I I all they wanted was for this painting to be displayed and just for anyone to see it. That’s all I want. That’s all I want. and they’re like, “We’re going to make it happen.” And with a lot of planning uh transpired after that and they all we all came together and brought some ideas and they opened a gallery specifically centered around this painting in Texas called the Beloved Gallery.

And that’s where it still stands there today. And thousands and thousands and thousands of people from all over the world flew all in this little town in Marble Falls, Texas to see the painting. How beautiful. And this painting, where is this guy? This guy is incredible.

Jesus. He’s still in my private care, my private collection. And my mission in the near future is to want to exhibit some of my really really close, you know, very emotional pieces and I think this was one of them and I I’m hoping to display it soon. They’re both unbelievably stunning. This one though, I can tell and I can’t even imagine how beautiful this one is in real life.

Like it is I mean if somehow obviously you’re painting this in your 20s, right? Just recently you painted this one. Yeah. And then this was 8 years old. So it’s a even finer piece if that’s possible here.

But it I would I hope one day to be able to travel to get to see that one in person. I hope one day I can show it to you and I’ll I’ll tell you all the story behind it. And you know there was a moment when I finally was able to finish that painting. And every painting I do, I always call my family into the studio and I always do like this this reveal and um I put it on the easel. My whole family’s there.

I unveiled it and I remember my brother Jeanlu. He looks at it. He closes his eye and he he’s almost like, “Oh, wow. That’s it.” there was this um he says that he has to almost take his time to open his eyes again because it was really um a lot for him. And I think seeing that and feeling that made me confirm, oh my I I did what I I could do all for this painting and now I’m ready to share it with everyone else.

Wow. I’m going to take a quick

Timeline of Akiane’s work

minute and I highly recommend folks listening, they’ll have the opportunity to click the link in the description to see your art, but I want to go through just the trajectory here. You have very beautifully put it in your gallery online and you can see by age which is such a special thing and again your mother her intentionality to just really shepherd your gift. It’s an inspiration to me as a mother and I think any parent listening I think is inspired by that intentionality. But here’s your sketching sketching at age four which is far better than sketching that I can do at age 37. So this is just tremendous.

And then you see age five and just the advancement in your ability to sketch is incredible. And you can see like you said you first started doing color limited colors like you were describing this gorgeous jaguar. right here. And then here we are at age seven. Mhm.

That’s when I go went into acrylics. Wow. And there’s more colors now. Are you still Yes, it’s getting a little bit more. It’s getting a little bit more.

And I’m starting to get the um the just of it, the just of the colors. And And then I started diving into oils around this uh age. And I think the planted eyes, the one on age eight of the African-American lady, she was my first oils ever. Wow. And uh I remember painting that and it felt so the oils felt so easy at the time and I felt oh wow this is going to this is the medium I should use to paint for Prince of Peace.

And then there we have Prince of Peace. And then you just see just all of this incredible explosion of creativity. This is Yeah. Father forgive them. This is the one I was referencing earlier.

This was also age nine. This is a young painting and this is our lord. Yes, this is also um displayed at the beloved gallery and they were they wanted to acquire this in in conjunction with the prince at peace. And this was painted I finished it on my 9th birthday. And here is right here.

Akiana in your little studio. How beautiful. Age nine. My dad built um the easel for me. He went it was so big.

Uh most of all like my paintings at the time I was quite small at the time. So they literally were either eye level or just almost my height. Like I wanted to paint on these large canvases. Like the larger the better. And I I I just had to I just had to.

And it was as time progressed as I was traveling all all these countries. I think I’ve been to 35 or 36 countries. And I think my paintings definitely got smaller because of the travel and I wanted to um it was more practical for an artist, but the messages and the details they’re they’re just more um enhanced. They’re more accentuated as time goes on. But yeah, the father forgive them was the one that uh I wanted to have this particular red color in his veins that I couldn’t find anywhere.

So I it was so happened one of the days I was, you know, cooking or something and I cut my finger and I remember like seeing that color of blood on my finger and I’m like this is this is the color I’m looking for. and I I put it on on the painting. So there is like, as you can tell, like as a eight-year-old, nine year-old, I’m just I’m giving pretty much my blood, sweat, and tears into this painting. Amazing, and your parents had the wherewithal to take images, take even video of you painting at that young age because later on you would be accused of it being fake. That this was actually painted by an older artist and they’re pretending to be younger or have some like deal with you to make money.

And your parents knew that this attack was coming and so they actually created an archive to prove that these were your paintings. Yes. The foresight that they have was on another level and I think because of that they and I we were were conversing like the only way that we were able to um solidify this authenticity was to film. So during the process of painting the Prince of Peace or painting some of my other paintings, like there was a camera in the room and I would um film me as much as they can. And and uh and a lot of these films are online.

Anyone can see from me painting the Prince of Peace or and ever since then like um there was a time I think I was 13 years old. I painted this painting called Wonder and it’s about this baby looking at the butterflies and I was 13. I have very I had very very long hair. I remember that. And this was at the time when it’s still I was getting still some questions still some um hair’s wonder.

Yes, that’s it. I was getting a lot of a lot of still questions and it’s it was really interesting because we still had a lot of this footage, but I wanted something from beginning to end with no stop, no cuts, no nothing. And this painting was shot from beginning to end. And we brought it to this converter film converter studio. And this lady was one of the people that was skeptical and she didn’t truly 100% believe that I I did what I did until she converted all my footages.

And she um put it everything from beginning to end. And and she felt that that whole process of watching me paint like it was a it was an an experience that she didn’t expected. and she says, “Everyone needs to see this. Everyone needs to see this.” So, that planted a seed in my mind. I’m like, “Actually, you know what?

Let’s do it. Let’s um let’s do more of this.” So that’s where a lot of my films throughout the years I do my best from beginning to end and uh showcase the process of my creative process of how I get my inspiration, what inspired me, what happened during the beh I’m brushing five paintings over each other just to get the right painting on um at the end. So yeah, I I just thought that this was going to be a great tool to show what goes on in my studio. This

Akiane’s advice for others

They’re very inspiring, be beautiful videos. You have short versions on your Instagram, your website that people can see and they’re just so inspiring. Akiana, what advice do you give to people? What would you want them to know about how to hear or receive God’s own calling in their life to be open to something beautiful he may have for them to experience or to do? I could only share what worked for me and that was through painting, poetry, drawing.

Those creative outlets is its in my mind is it’s its purest form, purest portal to communicate with God. In my humble opinion, I feel like experimenting with things that your soul feels at ease and peaceful but also challenging, whether it’s singing, whether it’s cooking for your loved ones or taking on daily walks or prayer being, you know, praying in the mountains. I I really feel that every one of us are unique in our in our own right. There’s not one answer to everyone that we can all share. Everyone is different.

But I do see a lot of these similarities amongst a lot of people is through a creative outlet because we are gifted with certain things and I believe those are from God. And I think it makes life so meaningful when you utilize those keys. And I really believe that they can open a lot of doors, a lot of um raw communication that you never knew existed. And I really think that everyone should try to experiment to to do those things to create. I think that’s what makes human being closer to God very very meaningful.

You just got married. Congratulations. Thank you so much. So happy for you. Your wonderful husband’s here in the studio.

Beautiful couple. What are you most excited for in the future? You’ve got a lot of projects you’re working on. I’m excited for the future in general. I’m excited to travel with my husband and create a family with him.

Also, just sharing my life with him and and I just what makes me so happy is when all of our families come together and we’re just laughing and just enjoying each other’s presence. It just feels like no matter what life throws at us, we’re going to over always overcome it. And I’m just really really happy that you know all these when all these new projects when they come my way I’m doing it together with this special person and it just so happened that uh we are together working on a a feature film and is a it’s a project that’s going to be like no other and I’m partnering up with the beloved gallery and they are the ones the beloved studios are the ones that are going to be documenting everything. And we’ve traveled to Texas and Korea and soon we’re going to I think it was Brazil this year to do a very um very amazing exhibition. So, lots of exhibitions, lots of um lots of new exciting projects, a lot of film projects.

My third book recently got published. So, congratulations. Thank you so much. That’s amazing. Thank you so much.

What’s the name of your third book? It’s called Akiana, the journey of an artist and it is a visual diary of all of my works that I have done throughout my whole years. And a lot of the things that is not on the website is is in the book. And I want I went through all the archives. I went through all these the storages and just to uncover a lot of these missing um unreleased paintings and sketches.

So, it was such a fun time putting this book together and I wanted it to be done for such a long time, but I, you know, I felt that now was the time to finally publish it because as an artist, you always have to make this call of like every book has a last page. What page would you want it to be last? So, I was always like on a hunt to try to make that final piece, that final piece. And and I came to that conclusion like, let’s just do a part one. So, I’m doing a part one.

And I will always add on to it. My life of an artist will never stop. It’s still going to be I’m still going to be painting when I’m 100 years old. And so I’m so excited to keep painting and keep exploring and and especially sharing my life with my husband. And people can find all of that at aon.com.

Yes. And it’s aana pronounced, but it’s spelled with an e at the end. Correct. Yes. Because my it is a a a name that hasn’t been used before.

Of course, my mom and my dad, they especially my mom, she created this Lithuanian and Russian name together. So, that’s why it’s such a unique uh a unique name and it means ocean. So, it I feel very honored and blessed and I feel like I’m live I’m I want I’m living up to my name because I love the ocean and I love um being there being near the ocean and my favorite color is blue. So, it just feels really fitting and I really love my name. It’s beautiful.

And you have an image of Mary, the mother of God, the mother of Jesus.

Painting Mary

Yes. Is it on your website? Let me Where is it? Is it It’s called Is this her right here? Mother’s mother’s love.

Not on my knees. Okay. I think it is age mother’s love 10 or 11. Okay. That is actually I really wanted to showcase this in my exhibition.

Um this is my top five. one of my most emotional pieces and very dear to my heart. I painted that with that color blue that I mentioned because that that blue is very uh important that shade because it represents the thoughts the um the dreams the it is literally called it is literally the color of the mind that’s how I perceive what that blue is and that mother’s love you can see the she’s hold mother Mary is holding Jesus and her shawl and her whole robe is connected to him. So, it’s all together and looped into one unit. And I felt that that was my indirect representation of a mother’s love that will always be connected to her child and this puress, this innocence, this this pure love.

And I think that I wanted to encapsulate that through this painting. What’s very beautiful what we what you said too in all the Marian apparitions and in the you know in the church and everything else blue is often her color that she chooses and it’s the color used in her mantle and it’s a it’s a common color that Mary seems to show up mystically in. You know what’s interesting? I didn’t know this when I painted it. It was only like years and years later when I saw some of these images about this particular color being associated with Mother Mary and it just reaffirms that that that dream that I had was was very important and I’m so glad that I was able to paint it.

Beautiful. Thank you so much, Akiana. This has been such a treat and I’m so grateful for your willingness to share all of this beautiful inspiration with me and with everyone listening and with the world. Thank you so much. It’s been such an honor.

I had such a fun time talking with you today and I’m so thankful you’re able to um allow me to share my story and the message is thank you. Thank you Akiana. A big thank you to our channel partner, EWTN. EWTN is the world’s largest religious broadcast network, reaching millions of people every single day with the beautiful truth of the gospel. You can be the first to watch new Lila Rose Show