Wender·Vista
The Smiler
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited Kingdom
at Alton Towers, in the Staffordshire Moorlands

The Smiler

— — fourteen inversions, and a smile that won't quite come off.

— 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 yellow-and-black coaster threaded through a fenced compound at the top of the Alton Towers gardens. Fourteen inversions, a world record since the day it opened in 2013, taken at a pace that does not quite let the body catch up. The queue line reads like a corporate brainwashing advert. The ride itself reads as a long, deliberate joke about composure.

from the studio
The Smiler
— bring it home

The Smiler, 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 The Smiler

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

The Smiler is a Gerstlauer Infinity steel coaster at Alton Towers in the Staffordshire Moorlands, about 15 miles east of Stoke-on-Trent. The track is 1,170 metres long and runs through 14 inversions, a world record it has held since opening on 31 May 2013. The ride is themed around the Marmaliser, a dystopian device meant to correct the rider's expression. The compound sits in the X-Sector of the park, on the same fell-side gardens that the Talbot family laid out in the 1820s.

— informed by Wikipedia, Alton Towers
— the visit

Alton Towers runs a seasonal calendar, generally late March through early November, with the park gates opening at 10:00 and rides cycling from around 10:30. The Smiler has a minimum height of 1.4 metres and is one of the resort's three flagship coasters, alongside Nemesis and Oblivion. A standard adult day ticket runs about £39 online; the Fastrack queue-skip for The Smiler is a separate add-on. The ride was modified and re-opened in March 2016 after the 2 June 2015 collision in which sixteen riders were hurt.

— the year

The park closes for winter and re-opens to a calendar built around two big events: Scarefest in late October, which re-skins the rides under fog and red light, and Fireworks weekend in early November, which sends the season out under the displays above the Towers ruins. The Smiler runs through both. Off-peak weekdays in April and September are the quietest, with queues often under thirty minutes. Mid-August half-term holds the longest waits of the year, regularly over ninety minutes by mid-morning.

— informed by Alton Towers calendar
— where
United Kingdom · Alton, Staffordshire, England
— within
Alton Towers Resort
— position
52.9874° N · 1.8924° 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
Nemesis
inverted coaster
1 km N
Oblivion
vertical-drop coaster
1 km NW
Alton Towers (ruins)
Gothic country house
N
The Smiler
Nemesis
Oblivion
Alton Towers (ruins)
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Fourteen. The Smiler has held the Guinness world record for the most inversions on a roller coaster since it opened on 31 May 2013, ahead of Colossus at Thorpe Park, which has ten.

The German manufacturer Gerstlauer built it as a custom Infinity Coaster for Alton Towers. The themed compound and Marmaliser story were designed in-house by the park's creative team.

About 1,170 metres, with a top speed near 85 km/h and a ride time just over 2 minutes 45 seconds. The layout climbs to roughly 30 metres at its highest point.

On 2 June 2015 a loaded train struck an empty stationary one on the Cobra Roll. Sixteen guests were injured; two required leg amputations. The ride re-opened in March 2016 with revised control protocols.

Riders must be at least 1.4 metres tall. There is no separate child queue; the ride is single-rider only beyond that line.

It runs on the Alton Towers seasonal calendar, generally late March through early November, including Scarefest in late October and Fireworks weekend in early November. The park is closed through the winter.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. For a regular at the park, a Small or a Coaster carries the yellow-and-black livery into a kitchen or a home office without taking over the wall. A handwritten studio card is included.

The high-contrast yellow, black, and red suit a maximalist or pop-art room, a game room, or a teenager's bedroom. It also works as a single bright punctuation mark in an otherwise muted hallway.

Yes. The piece reads as graphic, slightly cinematic wall art, in line with the current revival of bold colour-block and amusement-park nostalgia in basement bars and converted garages.

Above a standard sofa the Large reads at the right scale. For a longer console or a tall stairwell, a 4-tile Mural carries the long, looping geometry of the track better. A 9-tile Mural is built for double-height walls.

Yes. Order it in the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any installation that meets steam or splash. The Glossy finish is reserved for framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. No abrasives, no ammonia-based sprays. The colour lives in the surface and will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every piece in the WenderVista atlas is original to the studio, curated by Reid Wender. The artwork is not licensed from any other source and is not sold through any other shop.

— 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.