Wender·Vista
Maho Beach
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileSint Maarten
on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten, at the end of Runway 10

Maho Beach

— — where the sky comes in to land.

— 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 narrow strip of sand on the Dutch side of the island, with the threshold of Princess Juliana airport directly above. Caribbean blue on one side, a chain-link fence and a working runway on the other. Wide-bodies pass low enough that the sand lifts. The Sunset Bar chalkboard lists the day's arrivals. People watch, then swim, then watch again.

from the studio
Maho Beach
— bring it home

Maho Beach, 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 Maho Beach

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

Maho Beach sits on the southwest coast of Sint Maarten, the Dutch half of a 37-square-mile Caribbean island shared with French Saint-Martin. The beach lies at the threshold of Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM); landing aircraft cross the public road on short final about fifty feet above the sand. The runway, 7,710 feet long, accommodates wide-bodies including the occasional KLM 777 from Amsterdam. The island sits 150 miles east of Puerto Rico in the northeast Caribbean.

— the air

The trade winds run east-to-west across the island at fifteen to twenty knots most afternoons, which sets the runway's preferred landing direction over the water and the beach. Pilots line up with the approach lights on Maho Reef and cross the fence at roughly forty feet. The jet-blast warning signs along the chain link are not decorative; eastbound takeoff thrust has thrown people off their feet and into the surf. The wind drops at dusk.

— informed by Princess Juliana Airport
— the visit

SXM publishes a daily arrivals board, and the Sunset Bar & Grill at the east end of the sand chalks the schedule each morning. Big-jet days tend to cluster around midday and again around five in the afternoon. The beach itself is public and free; parking along Beacon Hill Road is informal. Hurricane Irma flattened the area in September 2017; the bar rebuilt and the airport restored commercial service within months.

— where
Sint Maarten · Sint Maarten (Dutch side)
— elevation
0 m · 0 ft
— position
18.0407° N · 63.1107° 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.
1 km W
Mullet Bay
beach and lagoon
3 km E
Simpson Bay
lagoon and town
7 km N
Marigot
French-side harbour town
8 km E
Philipsburg
Dutch-side capital
N
Maho Beach
Mullet Bay
Simpson Bay
Marigot
Philipsburg
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Runway 10 at Princess Juliana ends about a hundred feet from the sand, so arriving aircraft cross the beach on short final at roughly fifty feet of altitude. The geography, not the procedure, makes it dramatic.

Landings are safe to watch from the sand. The real hazard is jet blast during takeoff; the airport posts warning signs and the thrust has thrown people into the surf and against the fence.

Wide-body arrivals tend to cluster around midday and again near five in the afternoon. The Sunset Bar chalkboard at the east end of the sand lists each day's expected arrivals.

The Dutch side. The island is split between Sint Maarten in the south and French Saint-Martin in the north; Maho lies on the southwest coast, just west of Simpson Bay Lagoon.

Yes. Irma made landfall in September 2017 as a Category 5 and erased much of the sand and most of the beachfront buildings. The bar rebuilt and the airport restored commercial flights within months.

— about the piece in your home

It holds well for pilots, spotters, and travellers who have stood at the fence at Maho. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads as a souvenir of a specific landing rather than a generic beach scene.

The blue-and-white palette sits comfortably in Coastal-modern rooms, beach houses, and pilot's-office walls. The structural lines of runway and fence also work in more graphic, modernist interiors.

Caribbean scenes have held steady in coastal-modern rooms because the water reads as ocean without committing to a single coast. This tile carries that role with a recognisable hook.

A Large covers most consoles or sofas. A four-tile Mural gives the runway and water room to breathe across a sofa wall; a nine-tile Mural treats the scene as the room's anchor work.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. The Caribbean palette suits a bathroom and either finish handles humidity well. The Glossy finish is better reserved for framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin protective finish, so it will not lift with normal cleaning.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

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