Ophelia ~ June Art Bead Scene Challenge

This months Art Bead Scene Challenge was based on this painting, Ophelia, by Odilon Redon.  Ophelia was a character from the tradgedy by William Shakespeare, Hamlet.

Ophelia was a character in Hamlet, who endures many heartaches, being torn down by her lover again and again.  In the end, she collects flowers and climbs into a river, and drowns.

There's rosemary, that's for remembrance.

Pray you, love remember.

And there is pansies, that's for thoughts.

There's fennel for you, and

columbines. There's rue for you,

and here's some for me. We may call it

herb of grace o' Sundays.

O, you must wear your rue with a

difference! There's a daisy. I

would give you some violets, but they

wither'd all when my father

died. They say he made a good end.

And of all Christian souls, I pray God.

God b' wi', you.

~ Ophelia

Hamlet Prince of Denmark

Act IV Scene V

It's as if her life were so ugly and painful, she tried to capture beauty in her death.  So many artists have tried to capture this beauty, perhaps, because they feel she deserves that, to be surrounded by flowers and water, at peace, beautiful.  Tragic Beauty.

So now, as jewelry artists, we try to capture that beauty again, by using this painting as inspiration.  Thats a tall order.

So, without further ado, here is my interpretation:

I loved the idea of wings, and a moon- so I grabbed one of my Moon Baby focals right off.  The colors matched well too.  I just thought it added that romantic peace that Ophelia would have wanted.  I added a starburst below the Moon Baby to add some of the yellow tones, as well as to create a sort of floral feel.  The organic shaped wire circles were made to capture the swirling direction that painting takes you on.  I love the seaweed like vine that gently swirls around her head, and so I added the green top drilled pearls to mimic that shape.  I threw in a piece of orangy yellow sea glass and some grey chalcedony beads to pick up those colors.  The brass chain pulls some more yellow tones out of the painting.

All in all, I am happy with this piece.  I wanted it to have that romantic feel, and represent the actual painting, and not just the colors.  I hope you like it too!

You can see what everyone made for the challenge here.