Ribbons of light and delicate shadow stream through a small gallery in Marble Falls, Texas.
Image Courtesy of Beloved Cafe
Mounted oil paintings radiate peace. Arresting acrylics convey hope. The art and poetry of Akiane Kramarik tugs at the heart. A box of tissues rests near a globally recognized portrait of Jesus.
The Belóved Gallery is a portal-like space that transports visitors to a dream-like place: other-worldly portraits on one wall, wondrous verse on another.
An ethereal ambience binds them together in the exhibit “Akiane: The Early Years.” There are eruptions of colors and shapes (“Creation”) and a man in white suspended above buildings and clouds (“Dreams”).
Celestial beauty flows from paintbrush to pen. Consider one quatrain: I see Your hands without the wrinkles, bones or veinsJust the maps, just events, just the worlds, just the timeI see the waterfalls full of songs under stairs by Your feetThe poems whisper by the millions from Your mouth in rhyme.
Kramarik, now 30, wrote “Conversation With God” at the age of 8. At the same age, without a single art lesson, she painted “Prince of Peace” from a series of dreams.
The portrait of Jesus hangs alone in “The Prince of Peace Sanctuary,” a quiet room with soft light, a space some say is imbued with the divine. Transfixed by the art, 11-year-old Cyrus Askew told Belóved staff, “It gave me the feeling of being in heaven.”
The Belóved Gallery
Since opening in 2023, the Belóved Gallery has attracted more than 20,000 visitors from 44 countries and 42 states. The mission for founders Lewis and Kirsten Cirne is to attract one million people free of charge. “We never thought of this gallery as ours,” Lewis said in an interview. “We wanted to share it with the world.”
Lewis is a technology entrepreneur and philanthropist, Kirsten a former brand manager. Inspired by the story of a prodigy who painted faces from visions and dreams, the Cirnes began collecting Kramarik’s art six years ago. Kirsten wanted the one piece not available: “Prince of Peace.” The painting was mishandled by two agents, sold, and lost without Kramarik receiving payment. When the portrait was found in 2019, 20 years after it had disappeared, the Cirnes purchased it for $850,000.
The improbable recovery—it was found in an Anaheim, California storage facility—is told in a short film in the gallery theater. Included is a time-lapse sequence of Kramarik’s painting “Prince of Peace” on a 3-foot-by 4-foot canvas at home. According to Foreli Kramarik, who videotaped the process, her daughter completed the painting in 40 hours and lost four baby teeth, one tooth for every 10 hours of work.
Akiane Kramarik poses beside “Prince of Peace,” which was recovered from a warehouse in Anaheim, Calif. Courtesy of the Belóved Gallery
In the book “Akiane: Her Life, Her Art, Her Poetry” that Foreli Kramarik co-wrote with her daughter, she wrote: “Watching the portrait develop was almost like watching a microscopic embryo develop into a newborn. Physically, artistically, and logically, the process of her painting was incomprehensible, as though pure power was vibrating through her every vein.”
Kramarik’s art combines elements of hyperrealism and contemporary styles. A transcendent beauty infuses her work. Hushed awe follows visitors from paintings of animals and landscapes to a self-portrait, “Turquoise Eyes.”
Tears fall at “Prince of Peace.” Kramarik understands the emotion. She felt a surge when the Cirnes bought her signature piece, a rush when Belóved opened.
“My hands were sweating, my heart was palpitating,” she said in an interview. “This has been my dream for some 20 years. I had to pinch myself every step. When the doors opened and people came to see it for the first time, I cannot explain the feeling.”
Saving Lives
The exhibit defies earthly explanation. Each of the 13 paintings was created by a child born to an atheistic mother and agnostic father.
At the age of 4, Akiane told her parents, “I met God.” At 7, she began dictating poetry to her mother. At 9, Akiane appeared on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Later, “Prince of Peace” was featured in the movie “Heaven is for Real,” the story of 4-year-old Colton Burpo who died, went to heaven and came back to life. When Burpo saw Akiane’s portrait of Jesus, he told his parents that was the person he met in heaven.
The movie brought global attention to “Prince of Peace” and stunned Kramarik. She heard from countless individuals who described near-death experiences with a being who looked like the face of her portrait. “We kept receiving calls, messages, emails and letters,” she said. “People were saying, ‘You don’t understand. You’ve painted the face I have seen since I was a little girl, a little boy. I became a believer.’”
The Belóved pulses with inspiration. A man who survived a near-death experience recognized “Prince of Peace” from a visit to heaven. A war-scarred veteran found healing, at long last, in the green eyes of Jesus. A woman arrived on a bus from Monterrey, Mexico and was so moved she returned with a friend.
Beami Strong was not a believer. He was an a-religious 29-year-old in between jobs as an actor. Last October, he was hired to drive a group of people from Austin to a gala at the Belóved. On the way back, he heard them buzzing about Jesus and art and a woman who painted. “What are y’all talking about?” he asked. Intrigued by their response, he went to see for himself.
Strong arrived at the gallery in distress. A recent breakup had left him broken. A woman he’d been seeing had taken most of his belongings, including his clothes. “I’d been piecing my life back together from absolutely nothing,” he said.
He pondered Akiane Kramarik’s poetry. He connected with her art. At the end of the tour, he sat on a bench and wept. Two staff members offered comfort and prayer. “It was like I was reborn,” he said. “I could hear and feel my heart beat again.”
“Turquoise Eyes” is accompanied by a poem from the artist, Akiane Kramarik. Courtesy of the Belóved Gallery
New stories like these unfold every day, each reflecting the art around them—portraits of light.
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