Wender·Vista
Yosemite National Park
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileCalifornia · United States
in California's Sierra Nevada

Yosemite National Park

— — the wall of granite the morning catches first.

— 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

“Yosemite Valley opens between two thousand-foot granite walls — El Capitan on the north, Half Dome at the head. The Merced River runs the floor. In May the snowmelt is loud at Bridalveil Fall and quiet by August. Coaches stop at Tunnel View; almost everyone gets out. Nobody quite leaves on time.

from the studio
Yosemite National Park
— bring it home

Yosemite National Park, 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 Yosemite National Park

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

Yosemite National Park covers 759,620 acres of the central Sierra Nevada in eastern California, ranging from 2,000 to over 13,000 feet in elevation. The valley itself is a glacier-cut gorge about seven miles long, carved through Cretaceous granite. Congress set aside the original Yosemite Grant in 1864 — the first federal land protection of its kind — and the park was formally established in 1890, largely through the advocacy of John Muir. The Tioga Pass road into the high country is closed by snow most years from November to late May.

— the stone

The valley walls are mostly El Capitan Granite and Half Dome Granodiorite, plutons that crystallized roughly 100 million years ago and were later unroofed by erosion and finally sculpted by glaciers. El Capitan rises 3,000 feet from the floor in a single sweep — the tallest exposed granite monolith in North America. Half Dome, at 8,839 feet, lost its missing face to glacial plucking rather than the rockfall the name suggests. The stone reads warm at sunrise and silver-grey by noon, which is why painters and photographers stake out Tunnel View before dawn.

— the visit

The park is open all year, though most visitors arrive between May and September. A timed-entry reservation is required for peak summer hours under the system the National Park Service rolled out in recent seasons; check nps.gov before driving. The main entrances are Arch Rock from Merced, Big Oak Flat from the west, and South Entrance from Fresno. The Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias sits near the south gate. Valley shuttles run free in season; the village has groceries, a post office, and the Ahwahnee hotel, open since 1927.

— informed by NPS — Plan Your Visit
— where
United States · Mariposa County, California
— within
Yosemite National Park
— elevation
1,209 m · 3,966 ft
— position
37.8651° N · 119.5383° 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.
5 km W
El Capitan
granite monolith
5 km E
Half Dome
granite dome
3 km W
Bridalveil Fall
waterfall
56 km S
Mariposa Grove
giant sequoia grove
N
Yosemite National Park
El Capitan
Half Dome
Bridalveil Fall
Mariposa Grove
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Yosemite National Park — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The valley floor is unusually flat and a mile wide, hemmed by sheer granite walls instead of debris slopes. El Capitan and Half Dome together give it a vertical scale almost no other valley in North America matches.

Most Yosemite waterfalls peak in May and June from Sierra snowmelt. Yosemite Falls, the tallest at 2,425 feet, often runs dry by late August and returns with autumn rain. Bridalveil and Vernal flow through most of the year.

A combination of the Merced River cutting downward and Pleistocene glaciers grinding the walls back and the floor flat. The last glacier retreated about 15,000 years ago, leaving a moraine that dammed ancient Lake Yosemite, since silted in.

Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant in 1864, ceding the valley and Mariposa Grove to California as protected land. John Muir's later advocacy led Congress to establish the surrounding national park in 1890.

Tioga Road, State Route 120, crosses the park east-to-west over Tioga Pass at 9,943 feet. It closes with the first heavy snow, usually November, and reopens late May or June depending on the year's snowpack.

— about the piece in your home

It lands well with climbers and hikers who know the valley by heart. Half Dome cables, the Mist Trail, the John Muir Trail — these are reference points for a community. A Medium with a handwritten card carries that recognition.

The granite-and-pine palette reads warm against Mountain-modern, Lodge, and earthy Mid-century rooms. The piece holds its own over a stone fireplace mantel or above a leather chair. Works less well in pure coastal or pastel settings.

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

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

A soft microfibre cloth with water is enough for normal dust. For kitchen or bath splashes use a mild soap and rinse. The thin glossy finish takes routine cleaning without dulling.

Yes. Every Yosemite piece in the catalog is original work from the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no reproductions of other artists' work. Reid curates and signs off on each one.

— 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.