Laura Hollick as the Rainbow Bird Shaman. Hair & makeup by Sue Upton. Photography by Stephanie Bell.

Clear Insights from the Rainbow Bird Shaman

A Shaman is someone who channels creative spiritual visions and insights for the health, wealth and inspiration of their tribe.

As a soul artist I feel like a Rainbow Bird Shaman, channeling creative spiritual visions and insights for my tribe (YOU!), with the purpose of guiding you to be who you dream of being with full empowerment.

While on a hike I channeled this message for you….

Right now there is a gust of energy sweeping through the earth. It is a pregnant call for a New Paradigm.

As a creative spiritual person you will be especially sensitive to this call. You’ll know this is you because you will feel a passionate need to know your purpose and make it your life’s work. You will feel inspired to discover and express your unique creative gifts and find ways to connect them with the world.

The leaders of the New Paradigm are those who trust their spirit, follow their heart, and create tangible ways to connect their gifts with people.

The very act of following your heart will take you into an unknown territory. This unknown territory is the land of the New Paradigm. Your compass through this land is the vision of your True Dream.

Now is the time to clarify your True Dream.

Be sure to sign up for my* free* teleclass: Clarify your True Dream

Clarifying your Soul’s Purpose is like doing a dance with your spirit, you just have to learn the steps.  They are as easy as 1,2,3…

Laura Hollick soul dancing. Photo by Kevin Thom. Hair & makeup by Sue Upton.

6 tips for clarifying your Soul’s Purpose

1. Decide ~ Make the decision that you want to know your Soul’s Purpose.  Decide that knowing your Soul’s Purpose is important to you.

2. Request ~ Have you heard the saying “Ask and it is given”, it is true.  You have to ask for what you want. Make a request to know your Soul’s Purpose. Say it out loud  “I want to know my Soul’s Purpose”.

3. Listen ~ Once you’ve made a decision and a request, you have to listen for your spirit to respond to your request.  The way to listen is to notice spirit nudges and intuitive guidance. Notice when you feel drawn to something, notice when something glows with excitement for you.

4. Decipher ~ As you listen within, you need to be able to decipher what is your spirit talking and what is something else.  Your spirit speaks in joy, aliveness, health, invigoration, and relaxation.  When you feel these you can rest in knowing your spirit is present with you.

5. Respond ~ When you hear your spirit you must respond to it.  If your spirit guides you to do something you must do it. If it is true spirit guidance you will feel awakened by the notion of doing what is asked of you, even if it seems challenging. Respond to your spirit by acting on your intuition.

6. Trust ~Trust your own rhythm and you will waltz right into your purpose.

*Take this a step further and discover your Iconic Trait,  which is like your Soul’s Purpose magnified!   Listen to the free audio called ‘Discover Your Iconic Trait’

*To take it even further you can begin your ‘Create Yourself’ Soul Art journey and transform your life & business into a work of art.

in-JOY!

I believe our spiritual purpose on earth is to create ourselves as the full embodied expression of our spirit. Those who do this with totality radiate with a magnetic presence, it is undeniable.

Everyone has a unique inner spirit essence. When you express your unique inner spirit essence you activate your Iconic Trait and put your true path in motion.

When you travel down deep into your spirit, you’ll find that one of the deepest desires is to BE your Iconic Trait.
In fact you are designed to be it, but it does require a bit of physical, spiritual and creative work (or I like to think of it as play!).

This is the journey of creating yourself as your Iconic Trait.
The beginning of this journey starts with knowing what your Iconic Trait is!
If you want to discover yours, you can listen to this FREE audio called ‘Discover Your Iconic Trait’

Once you know and understand your unique Iconic Trait, then you are ready to consciously take the journey to ‘Create Yourself’.

To stir up the energy of few creative sports joined me to re-create one of Jackson Pollock’s Iconic Masterpieces. Hope this inspires you to explore your own Iconic Trait and begin the journey to ‘Create Yourself’.

Are you ready to start your ‘Create Yourself’ Soul Art journey today and step into your Iconic Trait?

Get all the details about ‘Create Yourself’ here

Included in this video (in order of appearance): me, Grace Kaya, Mark Wedderburn, Matteo Ciavarella, Sue Upton, Alison Braithwaite, Shara Ross. Photography and editing by Kevin Thom. White body painting on Laura Hollick, Sue Upton. Music ‘Under the Kadam Tree’ from stockmusic.com

All of my art and ideas come from the same place.  They come from channeling spirit.

When I’m in nature I often get visions and flashes of ideas that put me in direct communication with spirit. To honour these experiences I do what I can to make the visions a reality.

I had a vision of merging my body with a bird body, which is the basis of the ‘Red Bird Body Painting’ piece.  I approached body painter and makeup artist Sue Upton to see if she would collaborate with me on this project. She is a powerful creative force, so I knew that we could come up with a way to make this happen.

Here are some of the preliminary sketches as we try to figure out how this idea is going to become a reality…

Once we figured out a pose and a composition for the piece, we had to figure out what the bird would look like. Here are some of the sketches showing the various birds that were considered before finally deciding on the final one.

Here is the final bird painting…

This is a life size canvas bird painting, which serves as the backdrop for the body painting.

Although I am a painter myself, I felt it was important for Sue Upton to paint the bird so that it would match her body painting style.  She did an excellent job.

Creating this piece was a two day job.

There was a lot of preliminary work involved in figuring out the details for this piece.  The actual photoshoot was quick considering all the prep. time.  The final image was photographed by Kevin Thom.

Here I am as the Red Bird….

‘Laura Hollick as Red Bird’. Photographed by Kevin Thom. Painting& body painting by Sue Upton.

Body Painting is a unique creative process where the body becomes the canvas and the ground for an idea to take shape.  There is a quote by Henry Miller, that I’ve really taken literally:

“Whoever uses the spirit that is in them creatively is an artist. To make living itself the art, that is the goal.”

To me, this means that the true art is to become a living breathing expression of your spirit.  Body painting is one of the ways that allows me to become the art.

Do you want to see more body painting pieces I’ve been part of?

Check out when I was transformed into a tree with birds CLICK HERE

See how I was transformed into a blue forest CLICK HERE

Flipping through magazines is a choreographed passion of mine.  I quickly fan through seeking something that will  ignite my next creative idea.

When I saw these images of girls dancing, I cut out their bodies and filled them with ink lines and drawings because I was inspired to capture the energy of the movement.

These magazine cut outs became preliminary sketches for a photoshoot I wanted to do. Originally I wanted to do a dance sequence of myself and then cut out my own body and sketch shapes and patterns to express the energy of the movement.

So I went ahead and planned a shoot with photographer Kevin Thom.  I liked the images we created so much I’ve left them as they are for now. Who knows maybe I will still cut out the body shapes and sketch something in, in the meantime I’m enjoying the energy of the sequence.

Laura Hollick dancing. Photo by Kevin Thom. Hair/makeup Sue Upton

Can you feel the energy in this dance sequence? Do you think adding the sketches in the body shape would add another dimension to the images?
I’d love to hear your thoughts! Creativity is becoming a much more collaborative experience these days

If I was to tally up all the wild ideas that flow through me on a daily basis, it would probably be in the 1,000’s!

Of course I can’t birth every single idea, but I can select the ones that juice me up the most and make them a priority.

This is my daily practice, I go through all the ideas I have and I decide which ones will make it to full realization. Once I’ve decided I put things in motion for it to happen.

One of the themes I explore frequently is my relationship with birds and trees. Do you remember when I turned into a tree last year….

'Winter Tree' Laura Hollick as tree, costume and concept by Laura. Makeup by Rachel Duff. Photo by Kevin Thom.

This year I wanted to try another way to become a tree with birds.

I wondered if I could be painted as a tree?

I approached body painter and makeup artist Sue Upton and asked if she could body paint a tree and bird on and around me, and she enthusiastically said “Yes!”

Then I talked over the idea with my favourite collaborator photographer Kevin Thom and the idea appealed to him too.

So, with all the team players in place, we were ready to make it happen.

Here is a shot of the process of being body painted.

Laura Hollick being body painted by Sue Upton. Photo by Kevin Thom

Being half naked in the middle of November in Canada for hours isn’t exactly the most comfortable experience, but that is what it took to realize the vision.

Something I’ve learned from all the different creative projects I’ve been part of, birthing a dream isn’t always comfortable, in fact it can sometimes be out right uncomfortable. But when the vision is clear it is all worth it.

Here is the final image from this creative adventure…..

Laura Hollick as tree with bird. Body painting, hair, makeup by Sue Upton. Photo by Kevin Thom

Being an artist is all about dreaming it and doing it!

I’d love to hear what you think about this piece….

To feel balanced and whole I exercise my dark side. I know this is unconventional, but I think it is healthy to let your darkness vent.

3 things I like to do to keep myself balanced

1.  Complain

2. Notice what I don’t like

3. Make an ugly face in the mirror

The value I experience from this…

1.Clear’s the system

2.Highlights the true desire

3. Opens space for humour

Laura Hollick's dark side. Photo by Kevin Thom. Hair, makeup, body paint by Sue Upton

Laura Hollick dancing as white spirit. Photo by Kevin Thom. Hair, makeup and body painting by Sue Upton

Your spirit may reveal many faces outwardly according to the current trends and fashions, but the essence is always the same. When you try to figure out WHO your spirit is and WHAT your spirit looks like, it isn’t so much about the material appearance but the energy behind it.

If you want to know your spirit, connect with the traits that make you feel the most alive. These traits are your spirit essence.

For example: My spirit is old and young at the same time. When I’m living my spirit I feel wise and playful, innocent and mature, silly and sensual, creative and contemplative. When I create art, I express these traits and so my art becomes Soul Art~ the expression of my spirit essence.

YOUR SPIRIT ASSIGNMENT

1. Make a list of 10 traits that describe how you feel when you feel the most alive.  These traits describe your spirit essence.

2. Notice which one excites you the most and circle that one.

3. Ask yourself this question: How can I express this trait today?

4. Gift your spirit by expressing that trait today

You know those serendipitous moments when everything lines up perfectly, all the pieces fall into place and it feel like your spirit is in perfect alignment?!  Well I had one of those moments today while rummaging through my storage room.

I was hunting for some feathers in preparation for an upcoming photoshoot with photographer Kevin Thom and body-painter Sue Upton.  Sue is going to be painting a red bird on my body.

While looking for feathers my eyes landed on something even better.  I discovered this watercolour painting I created about 5 years ago which I had completely forgotten about. Seeing it today felt like one of those moments when the clouds open up and the sky says “YOU ARE ON TRACK.”

Red Bird Body, watercolour by Laura Hollick

I would love to hear about your ‘ON TRACK’ moments…..

View Magazine is featuring an article on the ‘Birth Your Dreams’ exhibition and made it a Cover feature.  We created a mini-video to show you what really goes on behind the scenes of making a Cover image.  In this video you’ll see Laura working with photographer Kevin Thom and hair and makeup artist Sue Upton to create a slightly ‘risky’ image.