Wender·Vista
Mount Apo
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tilePhilippines
on Mindanao, where Davao meets Cotabato

Mount Apo

— — the volcano the eagles still circle.

— 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

“The highest point in the Philippines, 2,954 metres above the sea on Mindanao. A stratovolcano with three peaks and a sulphur field that smokes through the cold at the summit. The Manobo and Bagobo know it as Apo, the grandfather. Climbers come up from Kidapawan or Sta. Cruz over three or four days, through mossy forest and grass slope, and most of them go quiet near the top.

from the studio
Mount Apo
— bring it home

Mount Apo, 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 Mount Apo

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

Mount Apo is the highest mountain in the Philippines at 2,954 metres, a stratovolcano on Mindanao straddling the boundary between Davao del Sur and Cotabato provinces. The summit complex carries three peaks and an active solfatara that vents sulphur gas through the year. The mountain anchors Mount Apo Natural Park, declared a protected landscape in 2003 and listed as an ASEAN Heritage Park. Surrounding lower slopes hold one of the last refuges for the Philippine eagle, the national bird, which nests in old-growth dipterocarp forest below the treeline.

— the air

The summit ridge sits in cloud most afternoons. Climbers leaving the Lake Venado camp around three in the morning often reach the boulder field at first light, when the wind from the Davao Gulf pushes the cloud off the crater for an hour. Temperatures at the top drop near freezing, rare for an equatorial peak. The sulphur vents put a sharp mineral edge into the cold air; on quiet mornings the smell carries to the saddle below. The trail then descends through a band of dwarf bamboo and tree fern.

— the visit

Climbing Mount Apo requires a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and a registered local guide. Most parties enter from Kidapawan in North Cotabato or from Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur, with the traverse between the two trailheads taking four days. The mountain closed for nearly two years after a March 2016 wildfire scorched about 110 hectares near the summit, and access is now capped at roughly 200 climbers a day. The Kapatagan route opened a shorter two-day approach with a longer drive in.

— informed by DENR Region XI
— where
Philippines · Davao del Sur and Cotabato, Mindanao
— within
Mount Apo Natural Park
— elevation
2,954 m · 9,692 ft
— position
6.9875° N · 125.2708° 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.
40 km E
Davao City
regional capital
25 km NW
Kidapawan
trailhead town
4 km S
Lake Venado
summit camp lake
18 km E
Sta. Cruz
trailhead town
12 km N
Lake Agco
hot spring lake
N
Mount Apo
Davao City
Kidapawan
Lake Venado
Sta. Cruz
Lake Agco
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Mount Apo stands on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, straddling the border between Davao del Sur and Cotabato provinces. Davao City lies about 40 kilometres east of the summit.

Mount Apo rises to 2,954 metres, making it the highest mountain in the Philippines and the highest point in the country. It is a stratovolcano with no recorded historical eruption.

Mount Apo is classified as a potentially active stratovolcano. It has had no recorded eruption in historical times, but the summit area carries a solfatara that vents sulphur gas and steam through the year.

The name Apo means grandfather or revered elder in several Mindanao languages. The Manobo and Bagobo Tagabawa peoples consider the mountain sacred and ask permission of the ancestors before climbing.

Mount Apo Natural Park protects the Philippine eagle, the country's national bird, along with the Philippine warty pig, the Mindanao bleeding-heart dove and more than 270 other bird species. The eagle nests in dipterocarp forest on the lower slopes.

The standard Kidapawan or Sta. Cruz trails take three to four days round trip. The Kapatagan route from Davao del Sur compresses the climb to about two days, with a higher trailhead and steeper ascent.

— about the piece in your home

It travels well to people with Mindanao roots. Davaoeños hold Apo as a hometown landmark and often a personal climb. A Medium or a framed Small with a handwritten studio note carries the place without crowding the wall.

The cool greys and sulphur ochres of the artwork sit naturally with biophilic, tropical-modern and Pacific-coastal rooms. It also reads well against warm rattan and dark wood, where the cloud tones lift the palette.

Quiet-luxury and alpine-modern rooms have moved toward specific, named peaks rather than generic ranges. A piece tied to a real mountain like Apo carries that shift onto the wall.

A single Large covers most sofa walls. Over a long sectional or a wide console, a four-tile Mural opens the view, and a nine-tile Mural gives the cloud line room to breathe.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for moisture rooms. Both resist scratches and steam, and the colour stays settled in the surface under daily wear.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water handles regular dust and fingerprints. The colour rests inside the ceramic surface, so it does not lift with light cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is original to the studio. Reid Wender paints each place, and the work is hand-finished in Knoxville, Tennessee. We do not license outside artwork.

— 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.