Wings: Gifts of Art, Life, and Travel in France

This month, a beautiful book was born. It was a debut of double happiness; my dear friend, Erin Byrne, wrote the book, and I had the honor of illustrating it. I am most pleased to announce it here!

WINGS: Gifts of Art, Life and Travel in France (Travelers Tales) is a collection of essays drawn from Byrne’s travels across the country. From Cézanne’s studio in Aix-en-Provence to a tiny village in the Jura Mountains, from a traditional bistro on the Left Bank of Paris to a plain high above the Normandy beaches, she travels through France collecting stories, characters, tastes and secrets that act as ingredients for change, then takes those experiences and digs deeper to uncover meaning.

Alan Riding wrote: “To join Erin on her travels is to see France through the eyes of an ever-curious and affectionate friend.” ‘Tis true, and so I’m also pleased to introduce the author, “irresistible bon vivant,” Erin Byrne:

Erin Byrne writes travel essays, poetry, fiction, and screenplays. Her work has won numerous awards including three Grand Prize Solas Awards for Travel Story of the Year, the Reader’s Favorite Award, Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Finalist, and an Accolade Award for film.

Erin is author of Wings: Gifts of Art, Life, and Travel in France (Travelers’ Tales, 2016), editor of Vignettes & Postcards From Paris and Vignettes & Postcards From Morocco (Reputation Books, 2016), and writer of The Storykeeper film. 

Erin is occasional guest instructor at Shakespeare and Company Bookstore in Paris and on Deep Travel trips.  Her screenplay, Siesta, is in pre-production in Spain, and she is working on the novel, The Red Notebook.  e-byrne.com 

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We hope you’ll enjoy the stories and images. You can find Erin’s book on Amazon and the illustrations at my gallery...like these: 

Ceiling of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont, from the story “Reconnaissance” 

The Red Typewriter, from the story “Dear Madame Renaud”

Les Éditeurs, from the story “French Connections”  

Eyes of the Heart: Prophetic Art Workshop

Back by request! The Eyes of the Heart prophetic art workshop returns to the Rogue Valley on February 27th. Want to get activated in your creativity? Want to know more about prophetic art? Join us! 

This workshop explores the history, contemporary practice, and hands-on creation of prophetic art. Whether you draw stick figures or professional portraits—or work in a non-visual media entirely—this workshop will help release you into greater creativity as you align with the Creator’s heart. 

When: Saturday, 27 February 2016. Registration: 9:00-9:30. Workshop: 9:30-4:30

Where: LivingWaters, 2200 Roberts Road, Medford OR

Cost: Special rate of $35 per person (and a percentage of the workshop proceeds will go to the Anthem students of Living Waters).

How to Register: Online via PayPal: and be sure to include your email address and the date of the workshop you're registering for. For more information, email: ae@annaelkins.com

No Other

Happy to have my first essay up on Perceptive Travel: "Beyond the Fear of Other in China" (originally titled "No Other"). And happy to have this sketch of The Great Wall included!

Happy New...Project!

I have always created with art + word + spirit….I just didn’t know that one day they would add up to prophetic art.

Prophetic art is about hearing God and creatively sharing His love for others. This can be through painting, writing, dance. It can be through words of encouragement jotted on restaurant napkins or drawings on window frost—anything that calls out the best in others. Anything that brings heaven to earth in a creative way.

I had already earned degrees in writing and art—and had taught both subjects—when I heard about prophetic art in my early 30s. I knew I had to discover more. So I left a teaching job on a tropical island and returned to the States to be a student again. As I studied, I started to dream about what it would look like for prophetic art to be part of that great exhortation: “on earth as it is in heaven.”

I spent several years practicing and teaching prophetic art. I eventually created my own prophetic art workshop (you can find that "Eyes of the Heart" workshop on my website annaelkins.com). But just recently, I realized there was something missing: a resource for people to learn about this kind of art. Each month, about 1,000 people search for prophetic art online via one search engine alone. But the search results yield mostly personal artists’ web pages and sub pages on sites of bigger organizations. No page devoted solely to sharing prophetic art resources existed. Until now. 

Someone once said that if you can accomplish your dreams on your own, you’re not dreaming big enough. Well, I am embarking on a big dream…or the first part of one! I have created a website called PropehticArt: Bringing Heaven to E(art)h. It’s a resource page for prophetic arts. My goal is to share what I’ve already discovered and to continually add new resources as I find them.

I began the website thinking it would be a nice little project I could do myself. Turns out, this dream is bigger than I thought. That’s where you come in; for the site to be truly helpful, it needs your help.

With more content, PropheticArt.Info can become more useful. When you visit the page, you’ll see that I still need to add plenty of resources in some of the menus. Gathering and researching that content takes time. For example: I only suggest books that I’ve read, and though I’ve read a lot, I have a lot more to read. Also, my creative strengths are in two-dimensional arts and writing, but I hope to add more resources for prophetic music and movement (dance)—among other things. I also want to connect in person with people and groups who are creating prophetic art: for this project to be a community builder. 

I chose the Patreon crowdfunding platform because it’s more like a tip jar. Instead of paying for a project at the end of a campaign, you essentially tip for work I’m already doing—and will continue to do.

I've seen the power of prophetic art in action around the world, and I believe this project will be of value to many.  

You can help prophetic art grow by becoming a patron for this project. Check out the campaign here: http://www.patreon.com/PropheticArt

Happy creativity to all! 

P.S. To learn a bit more about prophetic art, here's an article I wrote for CFN's The Voice.)