Twelve Bens
— the white stone, the morning after rain.
Not only on a wall.
“Twelve sharp peaks of pale quartzite rising out of the brown peatlands of Connemara. The white of the stone catches whatever light is going: a low sun, the rim of a clearing storm, the silver moment before more rain. Drivers on the N59 watch them appear and vanish as the cloud moves. There are pull-offs near Letterfrack and Recess where nobody hurries to leave. The peaks have Irish names that don't quite count to twelve, depending on who's counting.
Twelve Bens, 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.
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.
Each tile ships in a kraft box, tied with cream ribbon, with a handwritten note from the studio if you'd like to add one.
Three or five different vistas, hung together — a chapter of places you've been, or want to go.
The place, in three passes.
The Twelve Bens, in Irish Na Beanna Beola, are a range of mountains in Connemara, in west County Galway, Ireland. The highest peak, Benbaun, reaches 729 metres above sea level. The range sits between the towns of Clifden to the west and Recess to the east, with the village of Letterfrack at its northern edge. Connemara National Park covers the northern peaks. Access is from the N59 road, which loops around the range; the park visitor centre is in Letterfrack. The Glencoaghan valley cuts into the southern side of the range and is the most common starting point for hill-walkers.
The Twelve Bens are made of quartzite, a metamorphic rock formed from sandstone under great heat and pressure roughly 400 million years ago during the Caledonian orogeny. Quartzite is unusually hard, resistant to weathering, and pale, close to white in clear light, silver in mist. The surrounding lowland is blanket bog, deep peat that holds water and reads almost black against the peaks. The contrast is the defining visual signature of Connemara: pale stone above dark country. The same rock makes up Croagh Patrick in County Mayo to the north, where pilgrims still climb the cone-shaped peak each July.
The range draws hill-walkers more than casual visitors. The classic high route is the Glencoaghan Horseshoe, a long day across six of the peaks (Derryclare, Bencorr, Bencollaghduff, Benbreen, Bengower, and Benlettery), usually started from the south side. Connemara National Park, free to enter, offers easier walks: Diamond Hill, a separate quartzite cone signposted from the visitor centre at Letterfrack, is the most-walked summit in the park. The weather is the main caveat. Cloud closes over the high peaks quickly, the bog underfoot is wet much of the year, and there are no marked trails on the upper slopes.