Description
Bathing in Champagne is a series of hand-painted and colour-washed ceramic tiles on the deck, pillars, and inside wall of Champagne Fitness Centre's sky-lit extension. Mimi Cabri and Jill Elder designed and installed the tiles. The main mural, a fourteen-foot series of tiles, represents a trio of turn-of-the-century bathers and is framed by small picture scenes set into two larger tiled areas. The pastel seaside motifs and 1920s bathers in swim dresses and beach boots reflect a bright and cheerful attitude. The tile design was inspired by the original pool tiling and by architectural features in the building. The tiles arrived from England without glaze and were painted with the artists’ designs using majolica stains. The tiles were then glazed and fired at Mimi Cabri’s Ottawa studio.