I spent a rainy, chilly day in the glorious mansion, Ochre Court, in Newport with Zentangle founders Maria and Rick Thomas and daughters Molly and Martha and about 40 of my fellow Zentanglers. We were there to learn about classifying and deconstructing various tangles--"Zentomology"--along with an exploration of the mansion looking at all the craftsmanship--and patterns--in wood, ironwork, gold, stone, plaster, cement, and paint. It was a wonderful afternoon with great people and inspirational practice.
Because Zentangle HQ has asked us not to share certain details, I'll focus on the patterns I found. I believe they will be publishing aspects of Zentomology soon, as well as some of the patterns they deconstructed.
Look at the inside--gorgeous materials, intricate patterns, huge space; it's the second-largest mansion in Newport, just behind the Breakers. It's now the administrative center of Salve Regina University, which has preserved it beautifully.
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| The grand staircase at the entrance |
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| The main foyer |
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| So many patterns to work with! This is the fireplace in the room where we worked. |
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| A variation of Florz, with squares at the intersections and auras. |
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| The braided beard of a figure on a mantelpiece--looks like Ragz. |
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| The dragon in this medallion seems to be sitting on Spoolies! |
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| I liked the tri-partite medallion in the balcony. I think those are the windows into the room where we were. |
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| I liked that the entwined strands in the upholstry are different. |
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| Looks like a Bales variant! |
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| This ceiling decoration looks like the current Dingbatz Doors trend, with its subdivisions. |
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| Florz with fire and a wonderful slinky-esque design. |
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| Can you see Cadent? |
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| This grate with its Green Man and multiple patterns covers a heating vent! |
And these are just some of the photos I snapped. Literally every surface was decorated, the exact opposite of our modern love of minimalism. And that doesn't even include all of the housewares and decorations long gone, much less the clothing! Quite the
horror vacui. I can't imagine living in such luxury, much less this just being the beach house for summers; I wonder if the occupants, used to such extravagance, even noticed the details. As we wandered around--looking closely, even touching! so much better than your average docent tour--and I had a chance to sit by myself, I could take it all in.
As much as I can admire the craftsmanship and luxury and be intrigued by the history, another part of me is fair disgusted by the excess and equality gap. (And politically and economically, I think we are returning to this time of robber barons and poverty.) But I put some of that aside in my study of the patterns, which I have been playing with. We'll see what it amounts to, besides lovely memories.
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| Tangles from Ochre Court: Beaucourt, Alexem, Romo, and Magong |
