In the Daintree of Creation, where the forest meets the sea...

As with all great adventures, the winds of spontaneous and mysterious perfect flow are guiding my way. Painting the Spirit of Oz, has transformed into an expression of ALL Australia’s people - The rainbow of beings from all over as well as the original custodians of the land who were here for thousands and thousands of years before us. Together we teach and learn about our sacred connection to nature and how she can sustain us forever if we maintain respect for our origins and live sustainably and harmoniously.

I see people painted into the land everywhere I go. I think "obsession" might be the right word here. Unfailingly blown away by the beauty of the human form combined with the beauty of the earth and the infinitely unique compilation of each piece I paint. Every moment changing every second - the magic of the creation born through triangles of energetic collaboration. And of course, painting on bare bodies is an honour and a very intimate way of connecting. in its rawness it cannot escape being intimate - and this comes with trust, gifting and blessings. It is the dance of energy within trusting spirit.

And so it is that I am putting the message out to all that I am offering to paint Australia's diverse and eccentric and regular people who will share their story with the world.
The questions are: 

Where would you want to merge with? (map location)

What does it meant to you to be connected to this land?

What is your Australian Story? 

What do you want to share with the people of the world through your story?
 

 “Painting the Spirit of Oz” is ALIVE.
A production guided by the same principles of “Creation’s Calling”; Collaborative creative and meaningful activism. Aimed at capturing the essence of Australia, through the people who live here, the lands we live on and from - and ultimately the connection that we have to the land. This project is a book, a documentary, a festival and most definitely a self-propelled quest to learn and discover my own connection with Australia - the land where I grew up, yet simultaneously the place that propelled me out into the world of worlds as soon as I was old enough to fly alone; other worlds which welcomed me as family and taught me even more about who I am and where I come from. 

This project is an ode to the coming together of old and new here in Australia. A celebration of cultures and an acknowledgement of the existence and development of rainbow culture, myriads of ways all united in honouring the earth that birthed us, and gives life to all we know. 

Nature has all the metaphors to help us understand this crazy world. There is a perfection and an order to all this seeming chaos. Sometimes we just need to trust, regain faith, and receive direction from spirit within the stillness of listening, observing and keeping an open heart. 

Up here in the Daintree where the forest meets the sea, I have learnt much. I have looked to the Strangler Figs to understand life, referred to as ‘parasites’ as they wrap their embrace of coiling arms around other trees, relentlessly growing on top of the old, wrapping and encasing the tree underneath with intricate swirls of suffocating love until… it dies. And all that is left is the beautiful structure of the Strangler Fig - hollowed with the memory of what was before, retaining the existence of the old tree in the empty spaces. The new is undoubtedly a combination of old and that which “took over” and nature is harmonious and non-judgemental in the recreation of life. The old and the new seamlessly dance the dance of attachment, release, and new life - the cycle destruction and creation is undoubtedly natural and perfect.  Life is continuous, we break down and we re-create. Ultimately, we have to let go for nature will be dancing either way. 

I have much to look at from the horizon of my world. Its a 360 view, past present and future merge. After an exciting time driving 4500 km form my debut exhibition in The Dandenongs of Victoria all the way to Laura Aboriginal Dancing Festival, to painting at Bushweek, to filming and documenting coconut tree climbs, painting new lovers merging in the white tree that stood in front of the black granite rocks of Black Mountain, to abandoned resorts in the Daintree being run by as eccentric escapee from the anglo-woes of Sydney… towards another booking to paint at Collaboration’s Festival (http://www.collaborationsfestival.com)next week, a collaborative Showcase with RAW artists (http://www.rawartists.org/orlyfaya) in Byron Bay on August 28th followed by a PEACE DAY/CREATION’S CALLING #2 event hosted at the lush gardens of STARSEED (http://www.starseedgardens.com), a collaborative festival day of Earth Devotion. A new home awaits me in Northern NSW… I am currently manifesting it and looking forward to settling in for a while as soon as we meet. 

Turning 31 at the end of this month signifies a time for me to take my visions and lessons and plant them with care and love, respect and patience. It is time for me to nurture myself as I do my projects and learn to be still as I write the story of stories, trusting in spirits perfect flow and the majesty of endless time and space. There is much to do in this dance of life but sometimes progress is as simple as stillness. Manifesting a little cottage in the forest for a magical faery with much to do... Stay posted... much to come. 

“I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope, for hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love, for love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith, but the faith and the love are all in the waiting. Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.” ― T.S. Elliot 

With my heart open, vulnerable and pumping and alive, 

Orly x