Wender·Vista
Oak Island
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileCanada
in Mahone Bay, on Nova Scotia's south shore

Oak Island

— — the island that keeps its secret.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A small wooded island in Mahone Bay, on the south shore of Nova Scotia, about 140 acres in size and connected to the mainland by a short causeway. Since 1795 the island has been the site of one of the longest-running treasure hunts in North America, centred on a feature known as the Money Pit. Whatever is or isn't down there, the bay around it stays mostly still. from the studio

from the studio
Oak Island
— bring it home

Oak Island, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Oak Island

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Oak Island is a roughly 140-acre privately owned island in Mahone Bay, on the south shore of Nova Scotia, about 70 kilometres south-west of Halifax. It lies in the parish of Western Shore in Lunenburg County, and has been connected to the mainland since 1965 by a short causeway. The island is low and forested, with no significant elevation; its name comes from the red oaks that once dominated its woods. Mahone Bay itself holds more than 350 small islands of glacial drumlin origin.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the silence

For most of the year Oak Island is quiet. The causeway road ends at a private gate; the surrounding waters of Mahone Bay are working lobster grounds, fished out of Chester and Western Shore. Winter brings ice in the sheltered coves and long stretches of slate-grey water under low cloud. Even at the height of summer the bay has the sound of a smaller place — the slap of dinghy lines, the long throat of a foghorn off Tancook Island, and not much else.

— the visit

The island itself is private property and not open to general visitors. Oak Island Tours, the current ownership group, runs scheduled guided walks in the summer season from the visitor centre on the mainland side of the causeway, with limited daily capacity. The History Channel series The Curse of Oak Island, on air since 2014, has made the Money Pit area familiar to a wider audience than it had in any earlier decade. The Oak Island Museum at the visitor centre traces the dig back to its 1795 beginnings.

— informed by Oak Island Tours
— where
Canada · Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
— position
44.5125° N · 64.2925° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
8 km NE
Chester
harbour village
14 km SW
Mahone Bay (town)
village with three churches
25 km SW
Lunenburg
UNESCO old town
9 km S
Tancook Island
fishing island
N
Oak Island
Chester
Mahone Bay (town)
Lunenburg
Tancook Island
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Oak Island — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

For the so-called Money Pit, a deep shaft discovered by three young men in 1795 that has been the focus of one of the longest treasure hunts in North America. No treasure has been recovered to date.

In Mahone Bay on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, about 70 kilometres south-west of Halifax and a short causeway from the village of Western Shore in Lunenburg County.

The island is privately owned and not open to general access. Oak Island Tours runs scheduled guided walks in summer from the mainland visitor centre, with limited daily capacity. Booking ahead is required.

About 140 acres, or roughly 57 hectares — a low, forested drumlin island, one of more than 350 islands of glacial origin in Mahone Bay. It has no significant elevation.

A History Channel television series, on air since 2014, that follows brothers Rick and Marty Lagina's effort to solve the Money Pit mystery. It is the longest-running treasure-hunt programme on the network.

Daniel McGinnis, John Smith and Anthony Vaughan, three young men from the area, who in 1795 found a circular depression on the south-eastern shore and began excavating what came to be known as the Money Pit.

— about the piece in your home

It has worked well for viewers of The Curse of Oak Island and for people with family ties to Lunenburg County. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well.

The cool slate, fog and forest palette sits well with coastal-modern, Maritime-traditional, and warm minimalist rooms. It reads as a quiet, atmospheric piece rather than a saturated focal point.

Yes. Muted Atlantic palettes — fog grey, oak green, slate water — have been a steady current in coastal-modern interiors since the late 2010s, and the Oak Island piece sits comfortably in that vocabulary.

A single Large above a console or narrow sofa. Above a full three-seater, a 4-tile Mural; on a long room-spanning wall, a 9-tile Mural is the usual choice.

Yes. Order the same image in the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any wet wall — backsplash, shower surround, powder room. The sealed surface is unaffected by salt air or humidity.

A soft microfibre cloth, dry or with water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure beneath a thin glossy finish, so household cleaners are not needed.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, in our stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language. No licensing, no stock imagery, no second studio.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.