Wender·Vista
Garonne
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileFrance
from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic, through Toulouse and Bordeaux

Garonne

— — a river that keeps three cities in its arc.

— 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 French river that begins in the Spanish Pyrenees, crosses into France at the Pont du Roi, and runs 647 kilometres through Toulouse and Bordeaux before joining the Dordogne to form the Gironde estuary. Tile roofs in pink Toulouse brick along its banks; the long curved quays of Bordeaux's bend; a fast spring flood off the snowmelt; a slow, low summer that leaves the gravel bars showing.

from the studio
Garonne
— bring it home

Garonne, 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 Garonne

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

The Garonne rises in the Val d'Aran on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, crosses into France at the Pont du Roi, and runs roughly 647 kilometres to its confluence with the Dordogne near Ambès. From that meeting the combined estuary becomes the Gironde, the largest in western Europe, opening to the Atlantic at the Pointe de Grave. The river passes Toulouse near kilometre 280 and Bordeaux near kilometre 580. Its catchment drains about 56,000 square kilometres.

— the water

Garonne flow is fed by Pyrenean snowmelt and by the rivers Ariège, Tarn, and Lot. Peak discharge usually arrives in April or May with the high mountain melt, then summer levels drop sharply. Major floods in 1875 and 1930 shaped the levees through Toulouse and the Agen plain; the 1930 Moissac flood killed about 120 people. The Canal de Garonne, opened in 1856, parallels the river from Toulouse to Castets to carry barge traffic the river could not.

— the stone

The river built two of France's most distinctive city colours. Toulouse, La Ville Rose, sits on the Garonne's right bank in the pink Roman brick fired from the river's clay floodplain. Bordeaux, downstream, sits on cream Aquitaine limestone quarried from the surrounding plateau and shipped down the Garonne to the long curved quay called the Port de la Lune, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007.

— where
France · Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Occitanie
— 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.
at the lake
Toulouse
pink-brick city on the river
130 km midstream
Agen
river town
300 km downstream
Bordeaux
Port de la Lune city
400 km downstream
Gironde estuary
largest estuary in western Europe
N
Garonne
Toulouse
Agen
Bordeaux
Gironde estuary
— common questions

What people ask.

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

In the Val d'Aran on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, near the Aneto glacier and the Trou du Toro sinkhole. The river crosses into France at the Pont du Roi above the town of Fos.

About 647 kilometres from source to its confluence with the Dordogne near Ambès, north of Bordeaux. From the confluence downstream, the combined waterway is the Gironde estuary.

Most prominently Toulouse, Agen, and Bordeaux. The river divides Toulouse between the centre and Saint-Cyprien, and gives Bordeaux its long curved Port de la Lune quay.

The estuary formed where the Garonne and the Dordogne meet near Ambès. It runs about 75 kilometres to the Atlantic at the Pointe de Grave and is the largest estuary in western Europe.

Yes. The floods of 1875 and 1930 were the most destructive on record; the 1930 Moissac flood killed about 120 people. Most flooding follows spring Pyrenean snowmelt and heavy Atlantic rain.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The river is a daily presence in both cities, and the tile reads as either place to a recipient who knows the Garonne. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well.

French-traditional, French-modern, and Maximalist study or library rooms. The pink Toulouse brick and the cream Bordeaux limestone also suit a warm-neutral interior with a European register.

River and quay scenes have stayed steady in French-modern rooms, particularly for buyers who want a specific French place rather than another version of the Paris-postcard cliché.

A Large suits a console or mantel; a four-tile Mural opens the river's arc across a sofa wall; a nine-tile Mural carries the Garonne as the room's anchor work.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. Both finishes handle humidity well; the cool river tones suit a bathroom palette and read well against pale stone or terracotta floors.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio, drawn in our Voynich stained-glass visual language by Reid Wender. Nothing in the catalog is licensed from a third party.

— if this one stayed with you

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