"I have been blessed by God. And if I'm blessed, there is one reason and one reason only, and that is to help others."

Take a guess as to who the above quote is from.

While you are at it, guess who painted the picture below.



Unless you guessed a 12 year old girl from Illinois, you would be wrong. Meet Akiane. She did both. Akiane is a 12 year old who began drawing when she was 4, and painting at 6. She claims that her paintings are visions from God that she then puts onto canvas. Her story is a bit much for me to even try to put into words. The best thing I can do for you is tell you to watch her CNN interview, and then explore her website. She is remarkable.

Awesome Catholic art blog.

I came across Smallpax yesterday in an image search for St. Lawrence. It is a group of mostly (if not all) Catholic artists, many (if not all) being professional. They post their sketches in various levels of completeness and seriousness. What attracted me most to them is that their devotional art is far from cheesy. Check it out. They haven't posted anything in a while, but I emailed one of the artists, and he said he would be posting again soon. In the meantime, check out their old posts. Here are a few samples, that I hope they don't mind me sharing here:

Our Lady of La Leche



St. Lawrence



St. Anthony



St. Therese