Indoor Pool Mosaic

 

Fortunately, a very successful Youngstown, Ohio native decided to stay in his home town and build one of the largest and most magnificent homes in the area. When I was offered the opportunity to be part of the project, I was thrilled. The owner was including a large indoor pool and wanted the walls to be completely covered with glass tile mosaic. His vision was to have simple, clean, bands of color that had movement and flow. The result was a magnificent space with a sense of privacy, tranquility, and romance.
The Story

Initial Artists Rendering
Initial Artists Rendering
We tried several design and color combinations. Our final choices involved the blending of seven layers of blue and turquoise blends with accents and a dramatic layer of black. Exquisite custom blended glass tiles were chosen and ordered from Italy. Once they arrived it was time to go to work.

I isolated digitally each area of the design with a grid pattern and printouts showing exactly where colors intersected each 12" x 12" tile. Each piece had to to be cut, fit, and taped to its neighboring color in order to acheive the wave pattern we desired.

 

 
Kathleen NcNally

With so many colors, cuts and changes we really had to stay focused. Fortunately I had the help of my good friends and fellow artists Kathleen McNally and Anna Marie Newman.

Finally the tiles are cut, taped, boxed and ready to be delivered to the job site for installation.
The 54' x 34' room had concrete walls and a wooden floor covering the pool. That was about to change!
Tile after tile was expertly laid by Fusillo Flooring (http://www.fusilloflooring.com) master craftsmen Dave Frisbie assisted by Frank Phillips. We were so excited when the tape and mounting paper was finally removed and we could actually see the large scale patterns take shape. Finally the tiles were all laid and grouted. The room had already taken on a bold and dramatic transformation and we hadn't even uncovered the pool yet!

Dave Frisbie and Frank Phillips


Spectacular!
The room was finished with dark royal purple ceiling panels that sparkled like a midnight sky. Around the edges of the ceiling panels was a soft glow of light that changed in color. Up lights created a private, romantic, and relaxing atmosphere.
The Great Unveiling

A few months later, the entire house was finished (if that's ever the case) and the owners had a huge Christmas party. The pool room looked amazing set aglow with candles.

Anna Marie Newman, Merle Bouffard, Dave Frisbie
What a great night! We are so happy for the owners and proud to be part of such an impressive project and magnificent house.

owner, Pete Johnson, Merle Bouffard, Tom Colarich,
JC and Allison (not shown)
Special Thanks

All would not be possible without the beautiful materials, workspace, and help from Architectural Ceramic Products (Summitville Tile)
http://www.acp4tile.com/index.html