Striking a Chord!

Inspiration comes in many different guises, sometimes you see the picture perfect motif, sometimes you have a mood you would like to portray and sometimes a place strikes a chord, like a little nook where I've painted many a time. A fallen willow, nettles, daises and ''long purples'', if you are up on your Shakespeare, then you know where this is going! 

This is one of my favourite paintings, having seen it years ago at the Tate, I was awestruck! John Everett Millais' ''Ophelia''. Completed in 1852, the story of its completion echoes how bonkers artists can be in their search for artistic perfection. 

Millais, a prominent member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (who were obsessed with creating nature in its true perfection) dragged himself down to the Hogsmill river in Surrey to paint the water scene. In letters to his artist friends he complains about being bitten to death by insects, the wind nearly blowing him into the river, bad weather forcing him to build a hut to paint in and finally being dragged to court for trespassing and the destruction of a hay bale. Millais' difficulties didn’t stop here ..... the second part of the painting, the figure of Ophelia brought more problems. The model, Elisabeth Siddal (herself an artist and poet who later married another prominent artist of the Pre-Raphaelite's, Dante Gabriel Rossetti) had to lie fully-dressed, in a bathtub full of water for hours. As it was winter, Millais lit oil lamps under the tub to keep the water warm, unfortunately the lamps went out, Millais didn’t notice and Siddal didn’t complain, resulting in pneumonia. Siddal's father was furious and threatened to sue the artist for damages, demanding £50 to pay medical bills. Considering this was 1852, a huge sum, Millais paid up (not the full sum) and the disgruntled father was somewhat appeased. 

My next pastel painting will be Ophelia themed as my wee nook is so evocative and whatever is good enough for Millais, is good enough for me ..... not the bath but the bathroom sink! 

I'll be symbolising Ophelia (hopefully) with a bridal wreath involving some of the flowers mentioned in the scene describing her death in my next pastel painting. 

Siddal featured in many a PRB painting but Rossetti, who she eventually married, wanted her as his muse alone. My mum was involved in researching genealogy for many years often accessing the Census records for London and here she found the entry for Elizabeth Siddal living with Dante Gabriel Rossetti at a London address which she showed to me. The handwritten entry made art history come alive! 

As for Hamlet itself, well Hamlet and I never really hit it off, more about that in a future post.