What a funny word! Rococo is like an affectionate love word mixed with the name of an insect! “Come here my little rococo of love” or “Watch out! The rococo will sting you! ” But no, it is unfortunately (or not) neither. If you wish it by account, from today, you can call your child or your lover by this soft pleonasm, go ahead, I give it to you.
It is in fact a European artistic movement dating back to the 18th century. If you know it, you already know that it will be a strong subject. Yes, get yourself a Gravol right away because you might find it hard to digest! To make a long story short, after having endured for too long the classicism of his brother Louis XIV, Louis XV wanted to put a little frivolity and lightness in his modest residence in Versailles. So he did some major renovations and then organized a big party (as usual)! Coming from the four corners of Europe, the guests also wanted to show they were in by bringing back and developing the idea in their countries; some in painting, decorative arts and others in architecture and sculpture. You probably suspect that it is in decoration that he and I met!
Basically, what defines the style is the use of curved and asymmetrical lines with the addition of foliage or flowers. To grow a little more, they also started adding mirrors, gold, lighter shades that we can see well at night too, tsé. Finally, by dint of adding and putting a final touch, well it’s overflowing! A flood of golden plants; a spill of flowers, fruits and ribbons cascading down. It’s completely overdosed!
-But come on madam, calm down!
Sometimes I’m too much too. Overflowing seems to me to be the only solution. I’m not talking about excess anger, but rather the opposite! Too much joy; laughing and loving too loudly and without restraint; choosing the intensity so that I can better feel life, that I am alive!
That’s pretty much what happened in the making of the boxes opposite. It was not at all the original idea. A friend gave them to me, I say “them” because there are two of them; I will introduce you to her sister in a future article. So I put on my usual ZINZZER Bull Eye primer and once it was all white, a flood of possibilities came to mind and they all got tangled up. Faced with my inability to make a choice, I was intense and I put everything in, chose everything. Flower transfer from IRON ORCHID DESIGN; clock and handle in molded resin; small birds in plasticine filled with gold leaf and several coats of paint. Then followed several sessions of sanding and rubbing as well as; imitating of wood streaks with a small tool, in short, the whole thing.
I was hot, I hesitated, and I thought it was a lot, but I decided to take responsibility. There are a lot of things on this little wooden box; you don’t really know where to look first, but is it so disturbing? Is it so confusing this excess of texture, color, and shine? Is it so disturbing the difference, the divergence, the dissent? According to the dictionary, too much means being more than you should be. But according to whom and for whom? Me, I say being too much is just being our own vibration and that’s what’s most beautiful.
Let’s give ourselves the choice to be exalted. Let us learn to love and laugh too much too often. Let us learn to be fully free and ourselves, without remorse or constraints!
Let us learn to resonate, to echo, to reverberate higher and louder. Let us learn to be that eclectic mix of joyful and intense feelings. Let’s be rococo baby!
