Wender·Vista
Van
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileTurkey
on the eastern shore of Lake Van, in Anatolia

Van

— a sea where a sea shouldn't be.

— 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, held a mile above sea level on the Anatolian plateau. The water is soda, alkaline enough that locals once used it for laundry. From the shore at Gevaş the silhouette of Akdamar Island carries a tenth-century Armenian church, its red tuff catching the late light long after the town behind it has gone blue.

from the studio
Van
— bring it home

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 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 sits at about 1,640 metres on the high plateau of eastern Anatolia, ringed by the dormant cones of Süphan and Nemrut. It is the largest lake in Turkey by area and the largest soda lake on Earth, with no natural outlet. The city of Van, on the eastern shore, has held this ground since the Urartian kingdom established its capital Tushpa here in the ninth century BC. The lake covers roughly 3,755 square kilometres.

— informed by Wikipedia: Lake Van
— the water

The water is highly alkaline, with a pH near 9.8 and a salinity that supports only one fish, the pearl mullet, *Alburnus tarichi*, which migrates each spring into the freshwater streams to spawn. Mineral content gives the lake its turquoise cast and a strange clarity at depth. Microbialites discovered along the floor in the 1990s rise more than forty metres from the bed, among the largest freshwater carbonate structures known.

— informed by Wikipedia: Lake Van
— the stone

On Akdamar Island, two kilometres off the southern shore, the Cathedral of the Holy Cross was built between 915 and 921 by the architect-monk Manuel for King Gagik I of Vaspurakan. Its red tuff walls carry one of the most complete cycles of Armenian relief sculpture surviving from the medieval period: scenes from Genesis, Jonah, David and Goliath cut directly into the stone. The site reopened for an annual liturgy in 2010 after restoration.

— where
Turkey · Van, Van Province
— elevation
1,640 m · 5,381 ft
— position
38.4942° N · 43.3800° 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.
35 km SW
Akdamar Island
monastic island
90 km N
Mount Süphan
volcano
25 km S
Çavuştepe
Urartian fortress
N
Van
Akdamar Island
Mount Süphan
Çavuştepe
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Lake Van covers about 3,755 square kilometres on the high plateau of eastern Turkey, making it the country's largest lake by area and the largest soda lake on Earth.

The lake has no natural outlet, so dissolved sodium carbonate and other salts have concentrated over millennia. The pH sits near 9.8, soapy to the touch and bitter to taste.

The Armenian Cathedral of the Holy Cross, completed in 921 under King Gagik I of Vaspurakan, carrying carved relief cycles from Genesis, Jonah and David cut into red tuff.

One fish, the pearl mullet, *Alburnus tarichi*, an endemic species that migrates from the alkaline lake into fresh tributaries every spring to spawn.

Yes. The Van cat is a regional breed associated with the lake basin, white-coated, often with mismatched amber and blue eyes, and unusual among cats for taking to water.

— about the piece in your home

It has been for many of our customers. The Akdamar church carries deep meaning across the diaspora, and a Medium or a Coaster Set with a handwritten note from the studio carries that well.

The deep blues and red-stone tones suit Mediterranean-modern, jewel-tone Maximalist, and warm Mountain-modern rooms. It reads as a single saturated note in a quieter palette.

A single Large reads from across the room. Above a long sofa, a four-tile Mural lets the lake breathe; for a feature wall, a nine-tile Mural carries the full horizon.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any wet or splash-prone install: backsplash, shower wall, powder room. The colour lives in the surface and will not lift.

A microfibre cloth with water. No abrasives, no ammonia-based sprays. The thin glossy finish wipes clean and the colour beneath does not move.

Yes. Every piece in the WenderVista atlas is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no stock imagery. Reid Wender curates and signs the work.

— 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.