shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMexico

in the Comarca Lagunera of northern Mexico, where Coahuila meets Durango

Torreón

Name: Torreón — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — a desert city the trains built around a tower.

— 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

— 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 city of the Comarca Lagunera, where Coahuila meets Durango at the bend of the Nazas. The Spanish word means tower, and the tower at the river was where the trains agreed to stop. Cotton came next, then dairy, then a city that knows the value of shade. The Cristo de las Noas watches from the hill, arms open over the grid. — from the studio

from the studio

— bring it home

Torreón, 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 Torreón

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

Torreón sits in southwestern Coahuila at roughly 1,120 metres elevation, on the eastern bank of the Río Nazas in the Comarca Lagunera basin. The municipality counts a population near 720,000, with the metropolitan area, including Gómez Palacio and Lerdo in Durango, holding closer to 1.5 million. The settlement grew around a watchtower built in the 1850s at a river crossing; the arrival of the Central Mexican Railway in 1888 turned it into a junction. The city was chartered under President Porfirio Díaz in 1907.

— informed by Wikipedia — Torreón, Wikipedia — Comarca Lagunera

— the stone

Cristo de las Noas crowns Cerro de las Noas above the western edge of the city. The statue, completed in 1973 by sculptor Vladimir Alvarado, stands 21.85 metres tall on a 5-metre base and is among the largest figures of Christ in the Americas. A cable car and a walking road both reach the summit at roughly 1,400 metres elevation. From the platform, the river bend, the rail yards, and the cotton fields of the Laguna read as one long, dry plain.

— informed by Wikipedia — Cristo de las Noas

— the visit

The Cerro de las Noas park opens daily without a general entry fee; the cable car runs typical hours of 10:00 to 19:00 with a small fare. Below in town, the Museo Arocena on Calle Juárez holds Mexican religious painting and modernist work inside a restored 1907 commercial building. The dry season runs October through May, with mild winter days near twenty Celsius and summer afternoons that can reach forty. The Francisco Sarabia International Airport sits ten kilometres east of the centre.

— informed by Wikipedia — Museo Arocena

— where

Mexico · Torreón Municipality, Coahuila

— elevation

1,120 m · 3,674 ft

— position

25.5428° N · 103.4068° 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.

10 km W

Gómez Palacio

sister city

15 km W

Lerdo

town

155 km E

Parras de la Fuente

oasis wine town

250 km S

Durango City

state capital

Torreón

Gómez Palacio

Lerdo

Parras de la Fuente

Durango City

— common questions

What people ask.

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

— about the place

The name is Spanish for a watchtower. A stone tower was built in the 1850s beside a Río Nazas crossing to guard the river; the rail junction and the city that followed kept the tower's name.

In southwestern Coahuila at the bend of the Río Nazas, on the eastern edge of the Comarca Lagunera basin. The metropolitan area joins Gómez Palacio and Lerdo across the river in Durango.

A 21.85-metre statue of Christ completed in 1973 on the summit of Cerro de las Noas above the western edge of the city. The site is among the largest such figures in the Americas.

The settlement grew through the 1850s and 1860s, accelerated with the arrival of the Central Mexican Railway in 1888, and was officially chartered as a city in 1907 under President Porfirio Díaz.

Semi-arid desert. Winter days run in the high teens Celsius with cold nights; summer afternoons commonly reach 36 to 40. Rainfall stays under 250 millimetres a year, mostly in late summer storms.

Cotton built the region in the early twentieth century and still grows under irrigation from the Nazas. Today dairy is the larger industry; the Laguna basin is Mexico's leading milk-producing region.

— about the piece in your home

Many customers have sent this tile to family who grew up under the Cristo de las Noas. The Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio travels well. The Keepsake reads as a personal token.

Warm desert tones in the painting suit Southwestern, Spanish Colonial, and earth-tone Modern interiors. It reads well against white plaster or saltillo tile, beside a piece of dark wood furniture.

The piece sits cleanly inside the current desert-modern direction: terracotta, ochre, and indigo against pale wall. A Medium or Large reads as the colour anchor in a room of neutrals.

A single Large covers most sofas. A 4-tile Mural reads as one larger piece across a long console. A 9-tile Mural takes a full wall and reads from across a room.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both resist scratching, and the colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so steam and splash do not lift it.

A soft microfibre cloth with water. The surface does not need polish, wax, or commercial cleaner. Dry gently after wiping; the colour will not lift or dull with normal handling.

Yes. The painting is part of WenderVista's atlas, designed and finished in the Knoxville studio. The work is not licensed from any other source.

— if this one stayed with you