Wender·Vista
Big Sur
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
on Highway 1 between Carmel and San Simeon

Big Sur

— — the coast that ends where the cliff drops away.

— 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

“Big Sur is ninety miles of the California coast between the Carmel River and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains meet the Pacific without a shelf in between. Highway 1 was cut through in 1937 and still slides into the sea every few winters. Redwoods grow in the canyons; the sun goes into the water without warning. Almost no one lives here, which is most of the point.

from the studio
Big Sur
— bring it home

Big Sur, 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 Big Sur

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

Big Sur runs roughly from the Carmel River south to the mouth of San Carpoforo Creek — about ninety miles of central California coast in southern Monterey County. The Santa Lucia Range rises straight out of the Pacific, with Cone Peak reaching 5,155 feet within three miles of the shore, one of the steepest coastal rises in the lower forty-eight. State Route 1, the original Roosevelt Highway through the section, was completed in 1937. Fewer than 1,800 people live here year-round; most of the land lies inside Los Padres National Forest and a chain of state parks.

— the water

The Pacific along Big Sur runs cold and deep within a mile of the shore — the California Current pulls upwelled water up from depths of two hundred metres or more, which is why the kelp forests grow thick and the gray whales pass close in their migration. McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park drops eighty feet directly onto a beach pocket — one of the few coastal waterfalls in the lower forty-eight that falls into the ocean. Sea otters work the kelp beds at Bixby and Garrapata; harbour seals haul out on Pfeiffer Beach in summer.

— the visit

There is one road through Big Sur — State Route 1 — and the drive between Carmel and San Simeon takes about three hours without stops. The Bixby Creek Bridge, opened in 1932, is the photographed landmark thirteen miles south of Carmel. Beyond that, Point Sur Lighthouse, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, McWay Falls, and Esalen line the route south. Reservations are essential for the few lodges along the road. Caltrans closures from winter slides are routine; check the live status before driving, especially between Big Creek and Ragged Point.

— where
United States · Monterey County, California
— position
36.2704° N · 121.8081° 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.
20 km N
Bixby Creek Bridge
concrete arch bridge
35 km S
McWay Falls
coastal waterfall
15 km S
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
redwood park
10 km N
Point Sur Lighthouse
lighthouse
N
Big Sur
Bixby Creek Bridge
McWay Falls
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Point Sur Lighthouse
— common questions

What people ask.

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

About ninety miles, from the Carmel River south to San Carpoforo Creek above San Simeon. There is no single town called Big Sur — the name covers a stretch of coast and a few small communities along State Route 1.

The Santa Lucia slopes are steeply unstable shale and sandstone. Winter rains routinely trigger slides, and slip-outs at Mud Creek and Rat Creek have closed the road for months at a time. Caltrans publishes a live status page.

An open-spandrel concrete arch bridge across Bixby Creek thirteen miles south of Carmel. It was finished in 1932, spans 714 feet, and rises 280 feet above the canyon floor. The most photographed structure on the Big Sur coast.

Henry Miller settled at Partington Ridge in 1944 and wrote there for nearly twenty years; the Henry Miller Memorial Library still operates near Nepenthe. Robinson Jeffers wrote his Carmel-edge poetry looking south. Esalen opened on the cliffs in 1962.

April through June and September into October. Spring brings wildflowers and clear coast; fall brings dry weather after summer fog burns off. Summer mornings fog in along the shore. Avoid January and February when slides are likeliest.

— about the piece in your home

It tends to land well. The coast holds in the memory of anyone who has driven it — Bixby Bridge, the redwoods, the cliff turnouts. A Medium with a card from the studio carries the recognition for a road trip remembered.

The cliff-and-Pacific palette reads against Coastal-modern, California Bohemian, and warm Mid-century rooms. Holds its own above a leather sofa or in a beach-house entry. Less natural in formal traditional or pure Scandinavian-pale spaces.

A single Large sits above a six-foot console or loveseat. Above a standard three-seat sofa, a 4-tile Mural reads in correct proportion; a 9-tile Mural carries a long living-room wall.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for vertical installs near steam or splash — bathroom walls, kitchen backsplash, shower surround. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and won't dull with cleaning.

A soft microfibre cloth with water handles routine dust. For kitchen or bath splashes, mild soap and a rinse. The thin glossy finish takes ordinary cleaning without losing depth.

Yes. Every Big Sur piece in the catalog is original work from the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No outside licensing, no reproductions. Reid curates the line and signs off on each piece.

— if this one stayed with you

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