Wender·Vista
Rize
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTurkey
on Turkey's Black Sea coast, where the mountains drop into the sea

Rize

— — the green that only grows where it rains.

— 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

“Turkey's tea province, where the Kaçkar Mountains lean into the Black Sea and the rain almost never stops. Steep terraces of çay climb the slopes above the town. In Ayder, up the valley, the wood houses sit in fog half the year. People here drink the tea they pick. Nobody hurries the kettle.

from the studio
Rize
— bring it home

Rize, 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 Rize

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

Rize sits on Turkey's eastern Black Sea coast, the seat of Rize Province and the centre of the country's tea industry. The province produces around two-thirds of Turkey's çay on terraced hillsides that climb from sea level to the foothills of the Kaçkar range. The city itself, population near 150,000, faces the water beneath green ridges that catch the heaviest rainfall in Turkey, over 2,200 millimetres in some years. The Kaçkar peaks rise above 3,900 metres south of town, shaping the wet maritime climate that gives Rize its colour.

— the air

Rize is the wettest province in Turkey. The Black Sea pushes warm moist air up the slopes of the Kaçkars, and the rain falls in long quiet sheets through most of the year. The air smells of wet hazel and tea leaf and woodsmoke from the village ovens along the Fırtına Valley. Higher up at Ayder Plateau, around 1,350 metres, the fog comes in by mid-afternoon and stays. The temperate rainforest here, part of the Euxine-Colchic broadleaf forest ecoregion, holds species that exist almost nowhere else in the country.

— the visit

The provincial capital is reached by road from Trabzon along the Black Sea highway, about eighty kilometres west. Trabzon Airport is the nearest air link. The tea harvest runs May through October, with three pickings on most plots, and the Çaykur factories give visitors a sense of the scale. Up the Fırtına Valley, the historic Ottoman stone bridges, the Zilkale fortress at around 1,500 metres, and the Ayder hot springs anchor a two-day route. The wettest months are autumn; June and July are the most reliable for clear days.

— where
Turkey · Rize, Rize Province
— position
41.0201° N · 40.5234° 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.
55 km SE
Ayder Plateau
highland village
50 km SE
Zilkale
medieval fortress
80 km W
Trabzon
Black Sea city
N
Rize
Ayder Plateau
Zilkale
Trabzon
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Rize gets more rainfall than anywhere else in Turkey, over 2,200 millimetres in wet years. Warm Black Sea air rises against the Kaçkar Mountains and falls back as steady rain, feeding tea terraces, hazel groves, and temperate rainforest.

Tea. Rize Province grows around two-thirds of Turkey's çay on hillside terraces between the Black Sea and the Kaçkar range. The state company Çaykur, headquartered in Rize, processes the bulk of the country's harvest.

The çay harvest runs from May into October, with most plots picked three times across the season. The first picking, in late spring, produces the most prized leaves.

The Kaçkar range rises above 3,900 metres south of Rize, with Kaçkar Dağı the tallest at 3,937 metres. The peaks shape the wet maritime climate that defines the province below.

Ayder is a highland village at around 1,350 metres in the Fırtına Valley above Rize, known for hot springs, wooden vernacular houses, and the fog that settles over its alpine meadows most afternoons.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. People from Rize and the surrounding province carry a strong attachment to the green hills and the tea culture. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note travels well across that connection.

The green-and-mist palette sits well with biophilic interiors, Japandi rooms with natural wood, and earth-toned mountain-modern spaces. It carries colour without competing with planted greenery already in the room.

A single Large reads as a clear focal point above most sofas. For a wider wall, a 4-tile Mural holds the proportion; a 9-tile Mural is the right scale above a long console.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and built for damp rooms. The Glossy finish belongs on a dry wall where the sheen reads as framed art.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water is enough. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface, so it will not fade with cleaning. Skip abrasive pads and harsh solvents.

— 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.