Wender·Vista
Lake Van
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTurkey
in eastern Anatolia, ringed by the mountains of Van and Bitlis

Lake Van

— — the soda-blue inland sea of eastern Anatolia.

— 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 largest lake in Turkey and one of the largest soda lakes in the world, held at sixteen hundred metres in the high country of eastern Anatolia. The water is brackish, alkaline, and a strange clean blue. On Akdamar Island near the south shore stands the tenth-century Armenian church of the Holy Cross, its outer walls carved with figures from scripture. The Van cat, white-coated and odd-eyed, comes from the same shore.

from the studio
Lake Van
— bring it home

Lake Van, 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 Lake Van

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

Lake Van covers roughly 3,755 square kilometres at an elevation of 1,640 metres in the high country of eastern Anatolia, split between Van Province on the east and Bitlis Province on the west. It is the largest lake in Turkey by surface area and one of the largest endorheic lakes in the world, with no outlet to the sea. The basin was formed when a Pleistocene eruption of the Nemrut volcano on its western shore blocked the original drainage and sealed the water in.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the water

Because evaporation is the only outlet, the lake is strongly saline and alkaline, with a pH near 9.8 and a sodium-carbonate chemistry closer to a soda lake than a freshwater one. Only one fish, the Van pearl mullet or Alburnus tarichi, lives in the open water, swimming up the freshwater inflows each spring to spawn. The pearl mullet run between April and July is a designated event for the lake's tourism, and the species is protected by Turkish fisheries regulation.

— informed by WWF Lake Van
— the stone

On Akdamar Island near the south shore stands the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, built between 915 and 921 under King Gagik I Artsruni of the Armenian kingdom of Vaspurakan. The architect Manuel carved its outer walls with scenes from the Old Testament, including Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, and Adam and Eve. The church was restored by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and reopened in 2007. A small ferry runs from Gevaş on the south shore in about twenty minutes.

— informed by Wikipedia
— where
Turkey · Van and Bitlis provinces, Turkey
— elevation
1,640 m · 5,380 ft
— position
38.6500° N · 42.9500° 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.
4 km N
Akdamar Island
Armenian cathedral island
50 km W
Mount Nemrut
stratovolcano with crater lake
5 km NE
Van Castle
Urartian fortress ruin
N
Lake Van
Akdamar Island
Mount Nemrut
Van Castle
— common questions

What people ask.

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

About 3,755 square kilometres of surface area at 1,640 metres elevation, making it the largest lake in Turkey and one of the largest soda lakes in the world. Maximum depth runs near 451 metres in the central basin.

Lake Van has no outlet, so dissolved salts and carbonates have concentrated through evaporation since the basin formed. The pH sits near 9.8, with sodium-carbonate chemistry closer to a soda lake than a freshwater one.

Only the Van pearl mullet, Alburnus tarichi, lives in the open water. It tolerates the alkalinity by swimming up the freshwater rivers each spring to spawn, with the run peaking between April and July.

The tenth-century Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross, built between 915 and 921 by King Gagik I of Vaspurakan. The architect Manuel carved the outer walls with biblical figures. The site reopened in 2007 after restoration.

A Pleistocene eruption of the Nemrut stratovolcano on the western shore blocked the river that originally drained the valley to the Murat. The dammed water built up into the present endorheic lake.

The Van cat breed is associated with the eastern shore of Lake Van around the city of Van. It is white-coated and frequently odd-eyed, with one blue and one amber eye. A breeding research centre operates at Yüzüncü Yıl University.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for someone with ties to Van or to the Armenian heritage of Vaspurakan. The lake and the church on Akdamar are the region's signature image. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio is a good shape.

The piece sits well in jewel-tone maximalist rooms, in warm-Mediterranean interiors with terracotta and brass, and in academic-modern spaces that lean toward layered colour and old-world reference.

A single Large carries most sofas and long consoles. For a wider wall the four-tile Mural lets the lake horizon run across the full span. A Medium is enough above a console or reading chair.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for either room. Both resist scratches and the steam of a daily shower. The Glossy finish is best kept to dry wall installations and framed pieces.

A microfibre cloth and warm water. Skip ammonia-based cleaners and abrasive pads. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so normal cleaning will not fade or wear the image off the tile.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the studio's own visual language by Reid Wender, the curator. We do not license images in or out. One studio, one eye, one atlas of places.

— if this one stayed with you

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