Enlightenment

As a journalist artist Akiane frequently portrayed cultures and faiths that crossed boundaries of her own beliefs. She felt she was “commissioned” from above to paint what she witnessed without filters and limitations in order to bring individuals and nations together. She believed that respecting differences of our unique spiritual crossroads to purity and harmony demonstrates maturity and contributes to reaching wisdom. And she often saw how a journey to wisdom often becomes far from being enlightened, if the destination of wisdom is not a continuous journey.

One summer Akiane was making preparations for painting an Indian landscape when a stranger arrived by the front door of her family’s remote forest home in Idaho. She was stunned whom she saw: a Hindu monk from top to bottom dressed in his own traditional robes. He had traveled across half of the world to share an urgent, confidential, and spiritual message with the artist. Soon after, the monk’s unexpected visit became an inspiration for “Enlightenment.”