Wender·Vista
Guadalajara
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMexico
on the high plain of Jalisco, an hour north of Lake Chapala

Guadalajara

— a pink stone city that sings in the evening.

— 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

“Guadalajara sits on the high plain of Jalisco at about 1,566 metres. The cathedral's twin yellow towers rise above a square ringed by laurel trees, and mariachi was born in the villages just east. Late afternoon the cantera stone goes rose. Tequila's blue agave fields begin an hour west, and the Hospicio Cabañas keeps Orozco's murals under a single dome.

from the studio
Guadalajara
— bring it home

Guadalajara, 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 Guadalajara

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

Capital of the state of Jalisco, founded in its present location in 1542. The metropolitan area holds roughly 5.3 million people, the second-largest in Mexico after Mexico City. Guadalajara sits in the Atemajac Valley at about 1,566 metres elevation, ringed by foothills of the Sierra Madre Occidental and within an hour's drive of Lake Chapala, the country's largest natural lake. The historic centre is laid out in a cross of four plazas around the Cathedral, whose twin neo-Gothic spires were finished in 1854 after earthquakes destroyed the originals.

— the stone

Much of old Guadalajara is built in cantera, a volcanic stone quarried across central Mexico that takes a pink cast in afternoon light. The Hospicio Cabañas, founded in 1805 as an orphanage by Bishop Juan Ruiz de Cabañas, became the Cabañas Cultural Institute and holds José Clemente Orozco's mural cycle painted between 1936 and 1939, including The Man of Fire under the chapel dome. UNESCO inscribed the building as a World Heritage Site in 1997. The Teatro Degollado, finished in 1866, anchors the eastern end of the historic axis.

— the year

Mariachi music was born in the region around Guadalajara, and the Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi y la Charrería has run in the city each late August or September since 1994, drawing groups from across Mexico, the United States, and Europe. The town of Tequila, about 60 kilometres northwest, is the legal origin of the spirit; the surrounding Blue Agave landscape was added to the UNESCO list in 2006. Birria, the slow-braised goat or beef stew now found across the country, is a Jaliscan dish.

— where
Mexico · Guadalajara, Jalisco
— elevation
1,566 m · 5,138 ft
— position
20.6597° N · 103.3496° 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.
60 km NW
Tequila
town
50 km S
Lake Chapala
lake
8 km SE
Tlaquepaque
craft town
12 km E
Tonalá
craft town
340 km W
Puerto Vallarta
coastal city
N
Guadalajara
Tequila
Lake Chapala
Tlaquepaque
Tonalá
Puerto Vallarta
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Mariachi music developed in the rural villages of Jalisco surrounding Guadalajara during the nineteenth century. The city has hosted the Encuentro Internacional del Mariachi y la Charrería each summer since 1994, drawing groups from across the Americas.

The town of Tequila sits about sixty kilometres northwest of Guadalajara in Jalisco. Only spirits distilled from blue agave grown in designated regions of Mexico may legally use the name. The agave landscape became a UNESCO site in 2006.

A neoclassical former orphanage in central Guadalajara, founded by Bishop Juan Ruiz de Cabañas in 1805. Its chapel holds José Clemente Orozco's mural cycle, including The Man of Fire under the dome. UNESCO listed it in 1997.

October through March stays dry and warm during the day with cool nights. Summer brings afternoon rains from June through September. The mariachi festival in late August or September fills the historic centre.

Cantera is a volcanic stone quarried across central Mexico, common in pink and yellow varieties. Much of Guadalajara's historic centre, including the cathedral and the government palace, is built or faced in it. The stone warms in afternoon light.

Spanish, with the regional Jaliscan accent that softens consonants and stretches vowels. English is widely understood in the historic centre and the upmarket Chapultepec corridor, less so in surrounding neighbourhoods.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for many of our customers with ties to the city. The artwork holds the pink cantera and the cathedral spires rather than mariachi shorthand. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note carries well.

The piece sits well in warm Spanish-Colonial, Maximalist Latin, and earth-tone Modern rooms. The rose stone and yellow towers pick up terracotta tile, walnut, and saturated cobalt accents.

A single Large reads cleanly above a console. A four-tile Mural fills a standard sofa wall, and a nine-tile Mural anchors a larger living-room run above a sectional.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist humidity and scratching and wipe clean with a damp cloth. The Glossy finish is best kept to drier wall art elsewhere.

Microfibre cloth and water. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective finish, so it does not lift with normal cleaning. No solvents needed.

Yes. Every WenderVista vista is drawn in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink language by Reid Wender, the curator. We don't license artwork from third parties.

— if this one stayed with you

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