Ophelia’s Finished!

Phew! I finally finished my Ophelia painting. There’s a German proverb which says ''Good things need time!'', if that’s the case, this painting must be a masterpiece:) So much ado about nothing (notice the Shakespeare pun!), here it is ..........! 

 Ophelia, Passing Through Nature to Eternity 

Here we have all of the flowers that Ophelia hands out in her madness and those that she gathered before falling to her death from the willow. I love the idea that people from Shakespeare’s time would recognize the symbolism of all of these flowers. The bridal floral crown which I imagined her to be plucking also plays with the idea of a funeral wreath symbolising her death and of course remembrance, she mentions rosemary for remembrance so there are sprigs of rosemary in the wreath. 

The title ''Passing Through Nature to Eternity'' is a quote about death from Hamlet too, and I think so appropriate when I look at this explosion of flora. What is left to me now, is an empty easel and a big pile of grubby pastels! 

"Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,
Passing through nature to eternity."
(Act I, Scene II, Line 75)