This is cute and all Stefan, but she's not that impressive technically, even for a ten-year old.

Oh god, that's a poem? Sounds like she's regurgitating bad Sunday School lessons. Someone gimme a barf bag.

She doesn't need praise, this girl needs a psychoanalyst and well, a banker cuz she's probably going to rake in the dough with that book tour on her art, poetry and life (all 10 years of it).

There's definitely good, non-ironic, overtly Christian art which is embraced by the New York art world -- Bill Viola springs immediately to mind. But bad, non-ironic, overtly Christian art appeals only to, well, non-ironic Christians, really. But there's no shortage of non-ironic Christians: I'm sure this girl has a very lucrative career ahead of her. No wonder her parents suddenly got God in a big way.

God may have blessed her with her ability to make pictures that look somewhat real, but Satan has clearly possessed whoever designed her website.

I just made the mistake of clicking on the details/enlargements of the paintings. God this girl is bad. I mean, the composition and subject matter is mainstream bad-taste Kinkade style, but the actual physical brushwork is just atrocious. A child of eight could -- oh, never mind.

are you all mad? she's TEN. this is unbelievable. if it is truly her that did this, she's got more talent at what she does than all of you sad amateur critics, especially you, Felix "actual physical brushwork" Salmon, put together, cubed, at whatever it is you are best at. except she may not be as good at painting as you all are at being bitter, disappointed mediocrities. 99, this means you in particular. perhaps you could post your portfolio of the realistic art you did when you were 10 and we can judge just how "inmpressive technically" you were.

when she is your age she may have grown out of christianity and produce something really amazing. she may still be a clapper. but if she wants to be one, well it is a waste, but partially worth it if it annoys you.

Sorta agree with Eurof. The themes are mushy, like cheesey teenage posters, and uninteresting. But to expect a 10-year old to be creating visceral works of art is asking a bit much. She's a child prodigy and she'll either burn out or mature into an interesting artist, and why not cheer for the latter?

Something is wrong with me. I've agreed with both of Eurof's most recent comments.

There's an implicit grasp of perspective and depth in even her earliest sketches that exceeds what most people are ever able to perceive or depict. Linear perspective was actually LOST during the Dark Ages and not rediscovered until about 1400 - we take it for granted but it's something that most of us cannot really explain or realistically depict. It's also not something that can really be explained or taught to a four-year-old child. So if a child "sees" it so early, it's evidence of a great cognitive gift that puts her on equal footing with some very well-known individuals from the art world.

Some of her skills aren't much more developed than any ten year old who's taken painting lessons, and that's what Felix is harping on. But when she does landscapes or paints a broad range of field, it's amazing stuff - look at her "Antlers". I think her parents should stop the painting classes and invest serious cash in CAD and 3D modeling applications - this girl was born to code virtual spaces. She could be the Brunelleschi of virtual space, coding digital Duomos that would last forever and make for truly awesome immersive video games.

Eurof, have your read Bluebeard? Just curious. I was an 'artist' growing up, an appellation applied because of dexterity with a pencil. Random, and mostly useless thus far in life. I had two cousins who were at least that dextrous at that age.

I would hazard you have never seen how landscapes of the Kincade/Ross school are executed, and likely never spent much time around painters. The landscapes are unremarkable technically. If you go back to my original comment, I said she was mediocre, technically. That's all I said. If you are moved by bubbles and pyramids, well, maybe that's what one expects of a foot licker. But there are probably hundreds of kids, if not thousands, at age 10 that could do this very same thing.

Stefan, I do believe, called her a genius. There was obvious sarcasm, but there was also the tone I recognize of someone who is legitimately fascinated by the not entirely uncommon illustrative skills of some people. One of my bar tricks is drawing things upside-down (for the person facing away from me). You'd be amazed at how often people think this is earth-shattering talent.

The (re)discovery of perspective was disastrous for the history of art. Most art between Piero and Picasso is a waste of time, and all of it would be improved if it didn't bother with perspective at all. Perspective is a dreadful, horrible thing, and the fact that this girl is so hopelessly reliant on it is a mark against her, not a mark in her favour.

Oh Felix, you are a wit and raconteur.

99, I am sure you were a VERY good painter when you were 10. Except your work seems to have vanished without trace. Do you not have the video of your appearance on Oprah? Oh what a calamity for us all!! And of course the Met, that your magnum opus "My House, Mummy and Daddy, and the Sun" is lost.

I am not sure you know what it means to be 10. I was good at drawing when I was 10, but I don't claim to have been technically superior to la Akiane. You are funny. No I have not hung around painters, would probably hate them as I do you, have no idea what the Kincaid school is, but I liked what that white man with the afro used to do on PBS with landscapes. Is that the same thing. Bluebeard? And I suspect Stefan was not being ironic with use of the word "genius"

Eurof's complex, multilayered insults are an art form in their own right. When will this man get the recognition he deserves?

Those paintings though... they are as naff as f***, technical gifts or not.

Bluebeard, Kurt Vonnegut. It's about abstract expressionism, in a way. I'm not saying it proves anything, I was just curious, since it centers around valuing representation over other forms in painting.

If you want to bandy about 'genius' man, be a little more selective. If anyone can remember this child's name in five years, excepting her parents and her church, I'd be amazed.

I'm not clear exactly what it is you are supposed to be an expert in, aside from being an ass, but quit flopping around on the deck and return to the water. You don't know shit about painting. You certainly know what you like. Let's go back to the point: I didn't say she was a bad artist (I don't bother with those conversations with most people). I said she was a technically mediocre painter. Even for a ten year old. You haven't said anything beyond your usual cant -- "ooh, look at me bluster and attack you! ignore that I haven't made a point!". Children have the motor skills to be as adept as Aki by age 5 or 7 (and to dab an oversized brush to make a tree and paint a badly textured circle to make a bubble for sure). Most children who are facile enough don't get to paint at that age because their parents don't have the means or are disinterested in encouraging them. And they have no structured way to validate the investment -- becuase their knowledge art is probably stuck around the same level as you.

Or look at an F1 driver -- they are learning skills that are comparable to minor circuit drivers by age 12 in karts. I promise you Aki is not going to grow up to be Ayrton Senna.

Hmmm, tearing down the efforts of 10-year-old. While I realize nothing is sacred on MemeFirst, perhaps you guys need to go to another corner of the playground and pick on someone your own size.

Marc, that's the problem- we're all 4'10".

Since I'm closest to being her size, LET ME AT HER!

Ah, Marc, didn't you realize, this entire thread is a subtle parody of how ten-year olds (and not entirely gifted ones) argue? You have provided the crucial last link. Now we can all take our balls and go home.

I'll bother with this, since you seem extra dense today: Stefan said she was a genius. I don't think she merits such praise. How is that picking on her? She looks to be a fine young Christian girl with an above average ability to paint -- but not an expcetional ability. If her parents came to me as asked me if they should bet the farm on her being the next Gerhard Richter, I'll tell them perhaps that was a little hasty.

I'm sure she paints a lovely unicorn.

And I doubt it would surprise no one to know I was this judgmental and strident when I was ten. If this site doesn't reek of failed precocious children, I don't know what does.

This is the saddest comment thread I've ever read. I'm totally serious. I especially love Felix's dismissal of all art between Piero and Picasso. Refusal is control, I guess, and boy do you people love control. The girl is amazing, as far as I'm concerned, but I can't draw a convincing stick figure, so what do I know?

oh please sac, dont be such a damn pussy. the fact is, this work is shit. if you didnt know she was 10 years old, you would be laughing at it. judge the work on its own merits. likewise, if she was painting clowns, or as 99 said unicorns, with this same technical ability, no one would give a damn. the combination of christian idolatry, cute little blonde girl and bob ross-esque knack for illustrative realism has made her what she is. as flavor flav said so eloquently, dont believe the hype. this kid on the other has done something worthwhile at the age of 12. too bad he's scottish. he'll probably drink away his talent before reaching puberty

Sac, I think Felix was kidding about dismissing 500 years of art.

Don't be so sure. He has a series of pencil lines stenciled on one wall of his apartment.

Felix has a Sol LeWitt in his apartment? First the fluffy blue coat and now this! Bastard!

Forgive Sterling. I'm sure his pysche couldn't handle the concept of some finding Poussin superflous.

Ah, 99. Little 99. Work has prevented me from replying at the length you deserve. This involves stopping here, so iced bears will have to be disappointed. sac has said it best.

I'm surprised that no one's noted that her poetry comes across like those randomly generated posts that are used for instance by Scientologists to overwhelm newsgroups that are critical of them.

I'm not surprised that Sterling like Kinkade, however. It's just too much of a stereotype to not fit.

I don't care for Kinkade at all, and have nowhere in this or any other post, written or oral comment, email with anyone or even telepathic communication with my secret overlords on Uranus ever suggested otherwise.

The only reason I even know anything about Kinkade is because I watched 5 minutes of a 60 Minutes hack job on him four or five years ago. Morley Safer's condescension oozed all over the piece, which was astonishing to me given the glaring stylistic and qualitative similarities between the 60 Minutes school of journalism and the Thomas Kinkade school of art. And of course the shortcomings of 60 Minutes' schlock output have since become obvious to everyone.

It's an ongoing mystery to me why so many people at this blog are constantly putting words in my mouth. It's not as if I'm shy about expressing my opinion.

Eurof: the show was "The Joy of Painting" with Bob Ross. Bob Ross is dead, but the bottomless loathing that art professors everywhere feel for him lives on.

I am sure Akiane is a lovely talented person, but I suspect she has weird parents, and this is why there are alarm bells going off in my head.

For example: Her bio is obviously written by parents with an evangelical agenda, and it makes the overt case that Akiane spontaneously came up with the notion of the Christian God and especially Jesus, even though she was being home schooled (uh-oh) by ostensibly ignorant atheist parents, who prevented her from receiving any form of outside Christian influence. Given that I do not believe in divine interventions, because I do not believe that God exists, this is obvious hogwash to my mind. It's entirely possible that Akiane thinks that the voices in her head are God, a la Jean D'Arc, but she did not reinvent Jesus from scratch nor did she find out about him from the voices.

"oh please sac, dont be such a damn pussy. the fact is, this work is shit. if you didnt know she was 10 years old, you would be laughing at it."

Exactly. But she is 10 years old, and for a 10 year old, I find her paintings amazing. I have kids and as genius as they of course are, they can't paint anywhere near that.

I think it's just the Christian bent that everyone here is responding to. I could do without Christians, but so what.

This all reminds me of the Gallery section of Take Hart, where all the kids would go "that's pretty good for a 7-year-old". Fact is, prodigies have to be REALLY good at what they do, not just "good for a 10-year old", before they can really be considered prodigies/geniuses/whatever. And Akiane is basically little more than an underaged hack painter.

As for dismissing 500 years of art, I wasn't entirely joking. There was some great art done between Piero and Picasso, of course. But precious little of it used linear or vanishing perspective -- Rembrandt portraits, for instance, are much better than his contemporaries' landscapes. And generally good paintings which use perspective are good despite the perspective, not because of it.

And yes, I do have a Sol LeWitt on my wall, albeit a fake one. I'll miss it greatly when I move to my new apartment.

Bob Ross, yes, that's it. Perfect for nap time. Happy trees, let's paint some happy trees....zzzzzz

I rescind my earlier comments about giving her the benefit of the doubt. I didn't know who Kinkade was so I decided to see his website. Then I realized that my comment about her burning out or maturing into something interesting was unlikely, if the third option is she turns into another Kinkade. So now I am willing to sanction the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary, to end this now, no matter how high the collateral damage.

You arrogant bastards, first have a look at your own selves, and after think twice about Criticizing Others, just because you can't have the same popularity doesn't mean is not good, but I rather buy a painting that comes from the heart than a "master piece" from one of you "experts".
After all, Life is only an ilusion and all you've got is a litlle time to be part of it, so think twice before your boomerang hits you back!

what a bunch of absolute fags you all are, pull it out people pull it out.

There is no need to analyze the Christianity. I understand and deeply relate to Akiane and her poetry. Despite my claiming myself as an atheist most of my life, I am one of the most spiritual people, who have had spiritual experiences myself. I don't attribute this to a God, but rather some sort of connection to the universe and breakthrough in awareness. Akiane displays this feeling of connection to the universe in her paintings and poetry. She has picked up on this at a very young age whereas some people don't ever pick up on it. No matter what you attribute it to, it's still this amazing connection some very sensitive people pick up on right away. This is why she is gifted, aside from her amazing artistic skills. Most people I meet start out with drawings that look like the ones she did when she was 5. She may have some technical issues to work out still, but how couldn't she? Aside from that, focusing on that is missing the big picture.

The big picture is that she and her parents and her fans (including you, Liz) are so full of mindless cheese, y'all should just decamp to a large but isolated island and declare it New Wisconsin.