Wait for love in all endeavors

NEWPORT BEACH — It was one of those out-of-body experiences, a tale was more befitting the Sage Hill School gymnasium than a classroom.

On Friday, artist Akiane Kramarik, 16, told hundreds of Sage Hill students about what it was like to be a well-known painter who, at the age of 4, told national news networks that her art was the direct result of divine intervention.

Discovered as a child and first introduced to a national audience by Oprah Winfrey, Kramarik, who only uses Akiane professionally, has been painting since that moment.

The value of her art has been estimated in the millions of dollars, said father Mark Kramarik, 52, who sat in the front row of the gym during his daughter's speech, listening to her as intently as the crowd of Newport Coast high school students.

Akiane talked about how some people called her paintings the "work of the devil," especially after she would say her inspiration came directly from God. She said

that she doesn't subscribe to any sort of religion, and that she truly believes that "God is just love," and that her purpose in life is to show people through her paintings exactly what love is.

Love, like inspiration, is everywhere, she said, although she told the students that you have to be patient and wait for it in just about everything you aspire to do.

But if you wait long enough, it will happen for you, Akiane said.

And never underestimate the power of art, she said.

"Art is a hidden doorway that can change people's emotions," Akiane said.

Now residents of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the father and daughter have taken to the road to recount the past and tell the story of how Akiane got to where she is. While most of it is a natural-born talent, it doesn't come without hard work — hundreds of hours of it.

She wakes up at 4 a.m. and paints five hours a day.

It was Akiane's mother who first noticed Akiane drew on a piece of paper and immediately recognized it as something to behold.

She took Akiane to an arts supply store and told her she could have anything she wanted.

Akiane's art moved away from doodling on the tables, chairs and walls, and onto finer pieces of paper and canvas.

One of her favorite artworks, she said, is "The First," which she finished last year and was on display inside the school gymnasium.

"Either 'The First Kiss' or 'The First Love,'" she said in explaining the name.