Dalee Ella has a deep connection with the land upon which she lives and the plants around her and it’s this connection that is expressed through her beautiful handmade prints. 

Dalee is an Artist Printmaker, papermaker, illustrator and textile designer who creates relief prints and hand made plant infused and dyed papers which are a direct conversation with her life and the land. 

During our enriching chat, we explore Dalee’s first connection with the natural world and the plants around her as a child growing up in the bush of Far North Queensland, how that relationship changed through her teens, experimenting with mushrooms with friends beneath towering waterfalls and ultimately how her subject matter as an artist has always been about exploring growth and connection to the living world. 

Dalee shares how spending time in her garden is her deepest form of self care- observing, planting & harvesting individual plants for her art, as medicine and for nourishment. We explore how this deep connection inspired her to want to celebrate individual plants through an entire growth cycle, deepening her observation of the plants in their cycles and creating a real ‘ode’ to specific plants- including her stunning ‘Ode to Calendula'- printed on paper infused with Calendula petals harvested from her garden. 

Alongside her observations of the cyclical nature of her garden and the plants around her, Dalee has also been deepening her awareness of herself as a cyclical menstruating woman. Menstrual cycle awareness and recognising how her needs and abilities change with her cycle has been an ‘epiphany’ and allowed her to tailor her self care to the different phases of her cycle. Dalee shares her favourite rituals and practices for each of the 4 phases of her menstrual cycle and how listening to her cyclical ‘whispers’ helps bring ease and calm each month. 

Don't miss Dalee's special recipe for ‘Healing soup’ which the whole family loves to share as a form of deep nourishment. 

Dalee shares an exciting new endeavour into textiles through an upcoming collaboration with Gwyllem clothing which aims to bring the essence of the plants into beautiful wearable pieces- their ‘Flannel flower’ piece sounds magical. 

You can find out more about Dalee’s stunning artwork and the story of her work here and stay tuned for her collaboration with Gwyllem clothing here. 

To find out more about The Elder Tree visit the website at www.theeldertree.org and donate to the crowdfunding campaign here. 

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Find out more about this podcast and the presenters here. 

Get in touch with The Elder Tree at:  [email protected] 

The intro and outro song is "Sing for the Earth" and was kindly donated by Chad Wilkins.  You can find Chad's music here and here.