Restoration of Le Chalet Crepuscule sculpture sanctuary

Hello,

I am Australian artist Orryelle. For eight years I have been gradually creating a self-funded esoteric pagan sculpture garden in the Ardennes forest in Belgium, having annual gatherings to build community here until ready to open it to the public more regularly.

Recently some people broke in while I was away performing at a festival and vandalised almost everything. Sculptures large and small and even oil paintings were destroyed.

Carousel au Naturelle -an intricate smaller sculpture which was taken

I have been in shock and grief but am slowly recovering. Wondering what to do as my visions for this place were quite central to my life lately, and not sure whether to continue my sculpture garden vision (if I do I will need to rethink security and also building community around it) but its still my home, a beautiful wooded sanctuary with large gentle oaks and yews.

So there is naught I can do but recreate, restore and go on, at least return it to what it was and continue to grow the wonderful Lammas Gatherings here. This process has already begun but I need help, as the intruders also stole my solar panels, solar battery, concert speaker for gatherings, etc. and even tore my Potbelly stove and chimney off the wall.

Some may be aware something similar also happened here three years ago, albeit on a lesser scale as it was the two large statues only that were attacked then. Rather than sink into despair I pieced back together the three faces of my Hekate statue, stop-animating the process, and the top half of a toppled 8-foot Cernunnos rose again from a Cairn (Celtic grave mound) as the God of the Wilderness will always find a way to come back through the cracks. Now He has been beheaded (image below) and His large antlers taken, but He will be restored with tree-branch antlers...

This time small sculptures were also smashed or taken, and my oil Paintings (some that would have eventually been sold) have been slashed, only a couple survived. My largest painting ever (2metres x 1.5m) which I worked on all last year (small detail below) is not one of them -it was taken

It took them 3 years to return and I am quite sure they won’t dare come back to the scene of the crime any time soon. In the meantime plans will be developed to safeguard the places and valuable items stored away when there is nobody here.

I am very grateful for any donations towards this restoration project and the huge loss it has created here and also in my personal life. Every little bit helps. If you can’t donate, please Share!

I don’t have the headspace or electricity (til solar panels replaced) to set up an elaborate kickstarter, but if you prefer a reward for your donation you can help by purchasing my art prints, jewellery or books here: www.esoterotica.art

Many Thanx

I am grateful for recent learnings and experiments in making large sculptures with hay and clay (now found in abundance on this land) and using lime to weather-proof them instead of firing pieces separately and reassembling. This means I can quickly make new faces and hands for my Hekate statue (before and after pics at the beginning of this site) rather than trying to glue together fragments (an impossible jigsaw puzzle this time).

I can see they tried to uproot Her and failed, the infrastructure (hardest part to make) remains strong and She will rise anew…