Shakespeare's Hamlet and Ophelia's part in it starts out like a classic Hollywood movie. So much so that I can imagine even the first sets of audiences in London wanting to yell out in frustration when one or the other doesn't profess their love for the other. At least in a Hollywood love story we are usually rewarded in the end with the hero and heroine's embrace and love ever after. But alas, this is a tragedy.
This month's challenge from the Art Bead Scene blog is the painting Ophelia by Odilon Redon.
c. 1900-05; Pastel on paper mounted on board, 19 7/8 x 26 1/2 in; The Woodner Collection
I've been wanting to use That Bead Girl's Sapphire with applied gold lampwork bead for some time, but the ideas I had for it never got me beyond the sketching stage. This painting and a Calla Lily brooch in my collection were the catalyst for this design.
The calla lily is a symbol of a return to purity and chastity after death and were used on the graves of youths that have met an untimely death. The Romans also used them as a symbol of sexuality, which also seemed appropriate for Ophelia and Hamlet's story.
An inheritance from my Aunt included some fabulous vintage faux lapis beads. They're glass with touches of gold. They're an incredible blue and the gold touches are organic and different on every bead. They are really spectacular in every way. (Even though I knew the likelihood of these being real was extremely unlikely (a Vanderbilt I am not) I smashed one to see what it was made from. Hope dashed!)
I recently purchased a pair of wonderful honeybee beads from KerriBeads and she included some honey colored spacers as a generous gift. I used them in this necklace to highlight the gold color in the brooch, centerpiece bead and faux lapis.
This is a reversible necklace! One side represents Ophelia's return to innocence and purity with the watery art glass bead peaking out. Turn the necklace over and the art glass bead is in the forefront and the calla lily becomes hidden beneath the water. Wear the latter side to work and flip it over for evening wear! I hope you enjoy the romance behind the piece and it's realized in your own life.
"Soft you now!"The fair Ophelia! — Nymph, in thy orisons
"Be all my sins remember'd." Hamlet
