Wender·Vista
Windsor
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileCanada
across the river from Detroit, in southwestern Ontario

Windsor

— — the city that faces the city.

— 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

“The southernmost city in Canada, sitting on the south bank of the Detroit River while Detroit itself stands to the north. It is one of the few places along the long border where the American skyline reads as the foreign one. Riverfront parks run for five kilometres along the water. The Ambassador Bridge carries trucks across the river day and night.

from the studio
Windsor
— bring it home

Windsor, 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 Windsor

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

Windsor sits at the southwestern tip of Ontario on the south bank of the Detroit River, directly across the water from Detroit, Michigan. Its latitude of about 42.3 degrees north makes it the southernmost city in Canada, south of the northern border of California. Population within the city is roughly 230,000, with another 200,000 in the surrounding Essex County. The Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel are the two busiest commercial border crossings between Canada and the United States.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the water

The Detroit River runs forty-four kilometres from Lake St. Clair down to Lake Erie, carrying about a fifth of the freshwater discharge of the Great Lakes system. Windsor's riverfront park stretches more than five kilometres along the south bank, with the Detroit skyline rising across less than a kilometre of open water. Freighters from the upper lakes pass the city all summer; in February the river often holds drift ice from shore to shore.

— informed by Detroit River
— the visit

Windsor is reached most easily by car across the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit, or through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel that drops under the river from downtown to downtown in about three minutes. The city has a small airport, with most travelers flying through Detroit Metro on the American side. The Windsor Sculpture Park, the Art Gallery of Windsor, and Caesars Windsor sit within a short walk of the riverfront promenade. The Hiram Walker distillery, founded in 1858, still operates along the river east of downtown.

— informed by Ambassador Bridge
— where
Canada · Essex County, Ontario
— elevation
190 m · 623 ft
— position
42.3149° N · 83.0364° 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.
1 km N
Detroit
American sister city
3 km W
Sandwich
historic district
15 km NE
Lake St. Clair
Great Lake
50 km SE
Point Pelee National Park
national park
N
Windsor
Detroit
Sandwich
Lake St. Clair
Point Pelee National Park
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Because the Detroit River bends north as it leaves Lake St. Clair, Windsor sits on the south bank while Detroit sits on the north. The city's latitude of about 42.3 degrees north places it south of the northern border of California.

The Canadian auto industry has its headquarters here, with major Ford, Chrysler, and GM operations dating to the early twentieth century. The city is also a major border crossing and the home of Hiram Walker's Canadian Club whisky.

Two crossings: the Ambassador Bridge, opened in 1929, and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, opened in 1930. Both move passenger and commercial traffic, with the bridge carrying the heavier truck flow.

French settlers established farms along the south bank of the river in the early eighteenth century. The town was named Windsor in 1836 and incorporated as a city in 1892. It absorbed the towns of Sandwich and Walkerville in 1935.

Roughly 230,000 residents within the city limits, and about 430,000 in the broader Windsor Census Metropolitan Area that extends across Essex County to the shore of Lake Erie.

Late May through early October. Summers along the river are warm and humid, the riverfront festivals run from June through September, and the foliage along the Lake Erie shore turns in mid-October.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The piece has been a thoughtful gift for autoworkers' families, University of Windsor alumni, and anyone raised along the south bank of the river. A Small or Medium with a studio note carries well.

The cool river palette and stained-glass register favor mid-century-modern interiors, Great Lakes craftsman homes, and rooms with wood, leather, and warm metal accents. The tile reads well against painted brick and plaster.

Yes. The recent direction in Great Lakes design leans on local-place imagery, warm wood, and pieces that read as collected from the region rather than mass-printed. The slow ceramic finish carries that note.

A single Large reads cleanly over a console or reading chair. Above a standard sofa a 4-tile Mural fills the wall well, and a 9-tile Mural is the room-defining choice.

Yes, ordered in Dura Satin or Matte. Both finishes are scratch-resistant and humidity-stable, suitable for a powder-room wall, a kitchen backsplash, or a shower surround.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water is enough. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface beneath a thin glossy finish, so household cleaners and harsher solvents are unnecessary.

Yes. Every WenderVista painting is made in-house by Reid Wender, the curator, and hand-finished in our Knoxville studio. We do not license outside artwork.

— 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.