Wender·Vista
Larak Island
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileIran
in the Strait of Hormuz, off Bandar Abbas

Larak Island

— — a small island the gulf goes around.

— 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 island in the Strait of Hormuz, between Qeshm and Hormuz Island, in Hormozgan Province. The land is roughly 49 square kilometres of low rock and sand, with a single village of fishermen on its western shore. Mangrove fringes the shallows; hawksbill turtles return to its quieter beaches to nest each spring. The strait outside is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

from the studio
Larak Island
— bring it home

Larak 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 Larak 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

Larak is a small island in the Persian Gulf, in Hormozgan Province of southern Iran, lying inside the Strait of Hormuz between the larger Qeshm Island and Hormuz Island. Its land area is roughly 49 square kilometres of low limestone and sand, rising no higher than about 100 metres on the central ridge. The single inhabited village, Larak-e Shahri, sits on the western coast and is home to fewer than three thousand people, almost all of whom fish or crew the inter-island ferries.

— the water

The waters around Larak belong to the Strait of Hormuz, the 39-kilometre-wide passage that connects the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. Roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne petroleum moves through the strait, and the island sits within sight of the deepwater shipping lane. Closer to shore the water is shallow and clear, with seagrass beds and mangrove fringes where hawksbill turtles return to nest each spring under Iranian Department of Environment protection.

— the silence

Larak is the quieter of the strait's three inhabited islands. Where Qeshm hosts a free-trade zone with ferries from Bandar Abbas all day, and Hormuz draws weekend visitors to its red beaches, Larak's single village stays small and the rest of the coast is empty. Boats from Bandar Abbas or from Laft on Qeshm reach the jetty in under an hour. There is no airport on the island; the few visitors who come usually stay with local families through the village council.

— where
Iran · Qeshm County, Hormozgan
— position
26.8500° N · 56.3600° E
— 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.
12 km NW
Hormuz Island
red-beach island
20 km NW
Qeshm Island
large free-trade island
45 km N
Bandar Abbas
mainland port city
30 km W
Hengam Island
small island south of Qeshm
N
Larak Island
Hormuz Island
Qeshm Island
Bandar Abbas
Hengam Island
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Larak lies in the Persian Gulf within the Strait of Hormuz, in Hormozgan Province of southern Iran, between Qeshm Island to the west and Hormuz Island to the northwest. Bandar Abbas, the provincial capital, sits about 45 kilometres to the north.

The island covers roughly 49 square kilometres, about half the size of Hormuz Island and a small fraction of Qeshm. Its highest point reaches around 100 metres above sea level on the central limestone ridge.

Fewer than three thousand people live in the single coastal village of Larak-e Shahri. Most are Sunni Muslim families with long fishing lineages; many also crew inter-island ferries between Qeshm, Hormuz, and Bandar Abbas.

The beaches of Larak are one of the few documented hawksbill turtle nesting sites in the northern Persian Gulf. The Iranian Department of Environment protects the nesting beaches during the spring egg-laying season.

Small passenger boats run from Bandar Abbas and from Laft on Qeshm to Larak's western jetty, with the crossing taking under an hour in calm sea. There is no airport on the island.

Yes. The island sits within the strait, within sight of the deepwater shipping lane that carries roughly a fifth of the world's seaborne petroleum out of the Persian Gulf.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for that recipient. Larak is one of the quieter places in the Iranian Gulf and is recognisable to Hormozgani families. A Small or Medium ships safely overseas in a flat box.

The piece sits well in Coastal-modern, Persian-modern, and warm Mediterranean rooms. The pale limestone and Gulf-blue palette grounds against bleached wood, brass, and earthen plaster; the low island silhouette anchors a horizontal wall.

The Persian-modern direction in design press favours regionally specific references such as the Gulf islands, Yazd, and Esfahan over generic Middle-Eastern motifs. A Larak piece reads as a particular island, not a stylised desert scene.

Above a standard three-seat sofa, the Large reads at the right scale. For a longer wall, a four-tile Mural extends the island and the gulf line further. A console table takes the Small or Medium well.

Yes — choose the Dura Satin or Matte finish for those rooms. Both shed water, resist scratches, and clean with a damp microfibre. The Glossy finish belongs to dry display walls.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface and does not lift. Skip ammonia-based glass cleaners, which can dull the thin protective finish over time.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece comes from Reid Wender's single curated studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no third-party prints; the eye and the hand are the same across the whole atlas.

— 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.