Art Bead Scene: Ophelia

Ophelia: Rosemary is for remembrance, this is for you.
               Pansies are for thoughts, there you go.
               ...
               There's a fennel for you, and a columbines.
               There's a rue for you, and here is some for me.
               There's a daisy. I would give you some violets,
               but all of them withered when my father died...
~ Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 4, Scene 5


In researching this painting, I came to find that Ophelia is one of the most illustrated of all Shakespeare's characters and scenes. Most depictions show her as tragic, mad, and distraught. While Odilon Redon's painting hints at the tragedy that befalls this lady, it has a sense of peace about it.

For this month's Art Bead Scene challenge I decided to focus on the color palette, with the bright turquoise, buttery yellow, gray stone and black hair. Diving into my art bead stash, I found this beautiful glass bloom from Lisa Kan. The yellow stamens were the perfect way to tie in the yellow that is so prevalent in this painting.

To hint at the black of the hair and vines, I decided to string this bracelet on black leather cord. Some of the leaf beads are tied to the bracelet with the leather to suggest the dark tones. The round ceramic beads in grays and soft turquoise are like the pool of water with the stone bank surrounding it. I added some silver plated spacers and leaves as well as some Czech glass leaves for the botanicals.

{Ophelia available on Etsy}

In Victorian times, flowers were a language all their own known as floriography. Ophelia's descent into madness is punctuated by her speech before the King when she passes out flowers to the onlookers. Ophelia would have known that secret coded language and it allowed her to speak volumes without really saying a word. Flowers allowed her to speak her mind to the King and Queen without being direct as that would have been impolite and inappropriate for a courtesan such as her. But the message would have been loud and clear to the patrons of the Bard who came to view the play.

A bit about the language of flowers:

Rosemary = remembrance. Ophelia wants her brother Laertes to have fond memories of their father.

Pansy = pleasant thoughts, think of me. Similar to the Rosemary, pansies were given as a symbol that thoughts of the loved one were always near. Ophelia may be hinting to her brother of her imminent demise, to think of her fondly when she is gone.

Fennel = worthy of praise and flattery. When Ophelia hands these to the King, it is a pretty brash move. She is flattering him, but also reminding him that once picked, fennel wilts quickly and this would be a subtle reminder of the foolishness of male adultery.

Columbine = foolishness. Ophelia is reminding the King of his foolish ways.

Rue = regret, disdain. This is a bitter herb and she hands some to the Queen and some to herself. This would be an insult to the Queen by insinuating that there is some action for her to regret and not so subtly telling the Queen that she has contempt for her actions.

Daisy = innocence, simplicity, loyal love. When Ophelia views the daisy it is more with the sadness of knowing that she no longer is filled with innocence, that the events of the play and the relationships she had have stolen that simplicity from her.

Violets = love and faithfulness. This last bloom tells much of her allegiance to her father. She is faithful to his memory and his death has shaken her faith to the core.

Coded messages in flowers were very popular in Victorian times and it was a clever dramatic element to include them in the story. Ophelia does not choose these flowers randomly, and their symbolism is loud and clear to the King and Queen, allowing Ophelia to have the voice that she lacked even in this moment of madness.

Today, the language of flowers is alive and well, with many happy meanings. The recent wedding ceremony of Kate and William continues the tradition with a bouquet chosen specifically for their coded messages in flowers. Flowers such as lily of the valley, hyacinth and ivy were chosen to directly speak to each other of their love and constancy and also included a sprig of myrtle (emblem of marriage and love) that came directly from a plant that Queen Victoria enjoyed.

Your turn...

What message would you like to receive coded in flowers?

Do tell!

Enjoy the day!

Art Bead Scene: Ophelia

Ophelia: Rosemary is for remembrance, this is for you.
               Pansies are for thoughts, there you go.
               ...
               There's a fennel for you, and a columbines.
               There's a rue for you, and here is some for me.
               There's a daisy. I would give you some violets,
               but all of them withered when my father died...
~ Shakespeare, Hamlet Act 4, Scene 5


In researching this painting, I came to find that Ophelia is one of the most illustrated of all Shakespeare's characters and scenes. Most depictions show her as tragic, mad, and distraught. While Odilon Redon's painting hints at the tragedy that befalls this lady, it has a sense of peace about it.

For this month's Art Bead Scene challenge I decided to focus on the color palette, with the bright turquoise, buttery yellow, gray stone and black hair. Diving into my art bead stash, I found this beautiful glass bloom from Lisa Kan. The yellow stamens were the perfect way to tie in the yellow that is so prevalent in this painting.

To hint at the black of the hair and vines, I decided to string this bracelet on black leather cord. Some of the leaf beads are tied to the bracelet with the leather to suggest the dark tones. The round ceramic beads in grays and soft turquoise are like the pool of water with the stone bank surrounding it. I added some silver plated spacers and leaves as well as some Czech glass leaves for the botanicals.

{Ophelia available on Etsy}

In Victorian times, flowers were a language all their own known as floriography. Ophelia's descent into madness is punctuated by her speech before the King when she passes out flowers to the onlookers. Ophelia would have known that secret coded language and it allowed her to speak volumes without really saying a word. Flowers allowed her to speak her mind to the King and Queen without being direct as that would have been impolite and inappropriate for a courtesan such as her. But the message would have been loud and clear to the patrons of the Bard who came to view the play.

A bit about the language of flowers:

Rosemary = remembrance. Ophelia wants her brother Laertes to have fond memories of their father.

Pansy = pleasant thoughts, think of me. Similar to the Rosemary, pansies were given as a symbol that thoughts of the loved one were always near. Ophelia may be hinting to her brother of her imminent demise, to think of her fondly when she is gone.

Fennel = worthy of praise and flattery. When Ophelia hands these to the King, it is a pretty brash move. She is flattering him, but also reminding him that once picked, fennel wilts quickly and this would be a subtle reminder of the foolishness of male adultery.

Columbine = foolishness. Ophelia is reminding the King of his foolish ways.

Rue = regret, disdain. This is a bitter herb and she hands some to the Queen and some to herself. This would be an insult to the Queen by insinuating that there is some action for her to regret and not so subtly telling the Queen that she has contempt for her actions.

Daisy = innocence, simplicity, loyal love. When Ophelia views the daisy it is more with the sadness of knowing that she no longer is filled with innocence, that the events of the play and the relationships she had have stolen that simplicity from her.

Violets = love and faithfulness. This last bloom tells much of her allegiance to her father. She is faithful to his memory and his death has shaken her faith to the core.

Coded messages in flowers were very popular in Victorian times and it was a clever dramatic element to include them in the story. Ophelia does not choose these flowers randomly, and their symbolism is loud and clear to the King and Queen, allowing Ophelia to have the voice that she lacked even in this moment of madness.

Today, the language of flowers is alive and well, with many happy meanings. The recent wedding ceremony of Kate and William continues the tradition with a bouquet chosen specifically for their coded messages in flowers. Flowers such as lily of the valley, hyacinth and ivy were chosen to directly speak to each other of their love and constancy and also included a sprig of myrtle (emblem of marriage and love) that came directly from a plant that Queen Victoria enjoyed.

Your turn...

What message would you like to receive coded in flowers?

Do tell!

Enjoy the day!

May Art Bead Scene Challenge

 "To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."  ~Jane Austen

This month's painting was Cache-Cache by Berthe Morisot.

I love this painting with its quaint little village in the distance, the fun that the mother and daughter are having, the ruffly umbrella and the peek of sky in the clouds. But I will admit that the color palette stumped me a bit.

I am drawn to the dark green and the pops of red, so that is what I pulled out first. Green goldstone is one of my favorites, with its flashes of sparkle in the right light. The red blooms on the tree were the red velvet glass rondelles. To repeat the oval pattern I pulled in some great hammered oval chain. I am hoarding the last foot and a half that I have of it, I love it so. I needed to pull the greens into the piece. I found this Mary Harding toggle that was perfect in tone. I added the goldstone into it, and raided my stash of silks from Marsha Neal and came upon these different shades of green. I decided to wrap the links. No other embellishment is needed to highlight the toggle by Mary. And the best part is that you can wear it any which way...with the toggle in front, or off to one side, depending on what you feel like.

I call this necklace "Seeking Solitude."

I really loved the little village in the background of the painting, so I decided to do one more. I happened to find a pair of little house beads that I believe are from Jubilee that was a perfect match. I used the same green goldstone this time paired with cranberry colored pearls and brass bead caps. I have these funky marquise shaped links from GemmeTresor. I decided to use the same seed beads in the beaded part to wire wrap the links just for interest and to tie in the beading wrapped on the hook clasp.

I call this bracelet "Finding My Home."

Be sure to stop over to the Art Bead Scene on May 31st for the monthly Blog Tour that I host rounding up all the fabulous pieces that were inspired by this months' art.

(And I will also be announcing the ONE WINNER of the HUGE BEADS 2011 GIVEAWAY at the end of that post! Someone will be very lucky indeed!)

Enjoy the day!

May Art Bead Scene Challenge

 "To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."  ~Jane Austen

This month's painting was Cache-Cache by Berthe Morisot.

I love this painting with its quaint little village in the distance, the fun that the mother and daughter are having, the ruffly umbrella and the peek of sky in the clouds. But I will admit that the color palette stumped me a bit.

I am drawn to the dark green and the pops of red, so that is what I pulled out first. Green goldstone is one of my favorites, with its flashes of sparkle in the right light. The red blooms on the tree were the red velvet glass rondelles. To repeat the oval pattern I pulled in some great hammered oval chain. I am hoarding the last foot and a half that I have of it, I love it so. I needed to pull the greens into the piece. I found this Mary Harding toggle that was perfect in tone. I added the goldstone into it, and raided my stash of silks from Marsha Neal and came upon these different shades of green. I decided to wrap the links. No other embellishment is needed to highlight the toggle by Mary. And the best part is that you can wear it any which way...with the toggle in front, or off to one side, depending on what you feel like.

I call this necklace "Seeking Solitude."

I really loved the little village in the background of the painting, so I decided to do one more. I happened to find a pair of little house beads that I believe are from Jubilee that was a perfect match. I used the same green goldstone this time paired with cranberry colored pearls and brass bead caps. I have these funky marquise shaped links from GemmeTresor. I decided to use the same seed beads in the beaded part to wire wrap the links just for interest and to tie in the beading wrapped on the hook clasp.

I call this bracelet "Finding My Home."

Be sure to stop over to the Art Bead Scene on May 31st for the monthly Blog Tour that I host rounding up all the fabulous pieces that were inspired by this months' art.

(And I will also be announcing the ONE WINNER of the HUGE BEADS 2011 GIVEAWAY at the end of that post! Someone will be very lucky indeed!)

Enjoy the day!

BTW: The Do Over Challenge

"My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on."
- the movie Forrest Gump

Jeannie Dukic is hosting a blog hop that is really intriguing to me called the 'Do Over' Challenge.

If you have been creating anything for any length of time you likely have a back log of pieces that were done early on that were not as successful as you may make them now. But you can't dwell on those past pieces. You have to move on by building upon them. Those pieces might lack pizzazz, or use materials that were not as unique. They aren't failures because they didn't sell, because they may show that your style has evolved and your taste in materials has grown more expensive. I applaud Jeannie for having the guts to put these pieces out there and ask for a 'do over'. I think it is exciting to see what other people can do. In fact, it reminds me that I have a whole dresser drawer of these potential 'do overs' that perhaps I should giveaway!

The piece that Jeannie sent me had white glass tube beads with a painted design, white plastic lantern shaped beads, golden pearls and small faceted cherry colored beads with a hint of AB all with a gold metal for components.

{do over before}

I tried and tried to use those white glass tubes but I just could not make it work. So I abandoned those to another day. But I ended up using the remainder of the beads in the piece, the pearls, cherry faceted beads and even the white plastic because I liked the shape.

{how do they make these bottle cap beads? I don't know but I love 'em!}

I dug through my stash and found my bottle cap beads from Glass Garden beads. I love this one with the bold graphic design and the words "Ale Asylum" on it. I have come to find out that Ale Asylum is a brewpub in Madison, WI where I went to college. So a place where you can claim freedom and protection from the crime of poor beer, might be a good place to be if you are in college!

I went from a traditional symmetrical design, to an edgier darker design. I added a great gunmetal heavy link chain with this kick ass industrial trigger clasp toggle. The bracelet is 9" long but that big clasp allows you to hook it wherever you like! To that I added gunmetal faceted glass beads, the bottle cap bead and some little gunmetal rounds. I like the little pop of color that those cherry beads add to this. I can see that this would be fun to wear out on the town!

I call this do over
"Refuge From What 'Ales' You." 

(Get it? Teehee ;-).

{'Refuge from what ales you' available for purchase on Etsy}

Thanks, Jeannie, for letting me play along with you on this challenge. It certainly stretched me creatively and that is what I like! Now go on over to Jeannie's blog and check out what the other participants did and share some comment love!

So, now it is your turn...
Do you have something that you created... a wreath, a sewing project, a jewelry design, etc that could use a little 'do over'? 
Do you think that since your style has changed over time you might be able to look at it more objectively and breathe new life into it? 
Do you think it would be easier or harder to breathe new life into someone else's creation? 
Do tell!

Enjoy the day!

BTW: The Do Over Challenge

"My Mama always said you've got to put the past behind you before you can move on."
- the movie Forrest Gump

Jeannie Dukic is hosting a blog hop that is really intriguing to me called the 'Do Over' Challenge.

If you have been creating anything for any length of time you likely have a back log of pieces that were done early on that were not as successful as you may make them now. But you can't dwell on those past pieces. You have to move on by building upon them. Those pieces might lack pizzazz, or use materials that were not as unique. They aren't failures because they didn't sell, because they may show that your style has evolved and your taste in materials has grown more expensive. I applaud Jeannie for having the guts to put these pieces out there and ask for a 'do over'. I think it is exciting to see what other people can do. In fact, it reminds me that I have a whole dresser drawer of these potential 'do overs' that perhaps I should giveaway!

The piece that Jeannie sent me had white glass tube beads with a painted design, white plastic lantern shaped beads, golden pearls and small faceted cherry colored beads with a hint of AB all with a gold metal for components.

{do over before}

I tried and tried to use those white glass tubes but I just could not make it work. So I abandoned those to another day. But I ended up using the remainder of the beads in the piece, the pearls, cherry faceted beads and even the white plastic because I liked the shape.

{how do they make these bottle cap beads? I don't know but I love 'em!}

I dug through my stash and found my bottle cap beads from Glass Garden beads. I love this one with the bold graphic design and the words "Ale Asylum" on it. I have come to find out that Ale Asylum is a brewpub in Madison, WI where I went to college. So a place where you can claim freedom and protection from the crime of poor beer, might be a good place to be if you are in college!

I went from a traditional symmetrical design, to an edgier darker design. I added a great gunmetal heavy link chain with this kick ass industrial trigger clasp toggle. The bracelet is 9" long but that big clasp allows you to hook it wherever you like! To that I added gunmetal faceted glass beads, the bottle cap bead and some little gunmetal rounds. I like the little pop of color that those cherry beads add to this. I can see that this would be fun to wear out on the town!

I call this do over
"Refuge From What 'Ales' You." 

(Get it? Teehee ;-).

{'Refuge from what ales you' available for purchase on Etsy}

Thanks, Jeannie, for letting me play along with you on this challenge. It certainly stretched me creatively and that is what I like! Now go on over to Jeannie's blog and check out what the other participants did and share some comment love!

So, now it is your turn...
Do you have something that you created... a wreath, a sewing project, a jewelry design, etc that could use a little 'do over'? 
Do you think that since your style has changed over time you might be able to look at it more objectively and breathe new life into it? 
Do you think it would be easier or harder to breathe new life into someone else's creation? 
Do tell!

Enjoy the day!

Art Bead Scene: March Challenge: Gaugin

"Vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer."

If that is true, then I need a vacation. How about you?

The Art Bead Scene challenge for March is a symphony of rich color and pastoral subjects from the Master Artist Gaugin. His most famous paintings are known for their shimmering vibrancy, bold lines and primitive yet complex composition. It is a feast for the eyes and transports you to another world and time. Since I find myself short on funds and time, this is the sort of escape that I can handle.

I love being a part of the Art Bead Scene community. I love to be surrounded by other bead-freaks like me, but I also learn so much. For example, I learned that Gaugin was once making a living as a stockbroker to support his wife and five children, but was driven to paint and did so in his free time (although I cannot believe that he had much free time with five children!). I can understand that sort of determination and it gives me hope that there is life outside of a corporate world. It is said that he frequented museums and gathered work by other emerging artists. I love that idea! I am trying to do that myself and that is great motivation to keep pursuing that course. By making connections with other artists he explored a wide range of inspirations and that is what I have been doing without even realizing it. I also think that by being in community with other artists of any medium you raise the bar for yourself and learn so much.

Gaugin was a French post-impressionist painter who traveled to Tahiti and the South Pacific in the1890s and began to paint those native peoples that he encountered. His paintings are filled with life, but they are also very stylized and simple even with a complex color palette that is so inviting.

Our color palette for this challenge is filled with contrasts... cool blues and pastoral greens to vibrant reds and dancing oranges and shimmering pinks. I looked to my stash and found this lovely green flower focal from Jangles. Pairing this ceramic focal bead with resin, glass, czech and crystal, I tied it all together with the dark gunmetal galvanized steel wire to mimic the hard lines of the subjects in the painting. The lilies in the foreground are translated into the sweet czech bellflowers in a steely gray.

I call this "Island Dreams" because that is what I am dreaming of escaping to right about now!

There was an overwhelming response to this month's painting inspiration. To see some extraordinarily talented people weave their magic, head over to the blog hop happening here.

What is the most tropical vacation that you have experienced? What was most memorable about it? Have you gone on Spring Break this year yet? 
Are there tropical plans in your future? 
If you could travel to any tropical destination, where would you want to go?

I need a virtual escape so... Do tell!

Enjoy the day!