Wender·Vista
Irvine
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in Orange County, California, between Los Angeles and San Diego

Irvine

— — the city someone drew on graph paper 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

“A planned city that grew out of a 19th-century cattle ranch. The street grid was laid out by William Pereira in the 1960s around a new university campus, and the bones still show: wide boulevards, eucalyptus windbreaks, low business parks set back from the road. The hills behind town stay green for a few weeks in March, then go gold until November. From the studio.

from the studio
Irvine
— bring it home

Irvine, 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 Irvine

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

Irvine sits in central Orange County, about 65 km southeast of downtown Los Angeles and 130 km north of San Diego. The city was incorporated in 1971 on land that had been the Irvine Ranch since 1864. By 2024 the population was around 314,000, making it the third-largest city in the county. The University of California, Irvine campus opened in 1965 and anchors the city's central plan; the broader Irvine Ranch covers roughly 93,000 acres of conserved open space and developed neighborhoods.

— informed by Wikipedia, City of Irvine
— the place plan

The architect William Pereira drew the master plan in 1959 for the Irvine Company, organising villages around a central university and a system of open-space corridors. The result is unusually legible from the air: arterials curve along the contours, business parks cluster near the airport, and the foothills above Turtle Rock are stitched into the city as parkland rather than fenced off. Bommer Canyon and the Quail Hill loop preserve the coastal-sage scrub that covered the ranch before the streets arrived.

— informed by Irvine Ranch Conservancy
— the visit

John Wayne Airport (SNA) sits just north of the city limits, with Los Angeles International about an hour up the I-405. Summers run dry and warm, with highs around 27 to 30°C; winters stay mild and largely rainless. The Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks open for guided hikes on most weekends; reservations are free but required. UCI's Aldrich Park, a 20-acre circle of mature trees at the campus centre, is open daily and worth an unhurried walk.

— informed by Visit Irvine
— where
United States · Orange County, California
— elevation
17 m · 56 ft
— position
33.6846° N · 117.8265° 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.
2 km S
University of California, Irvine
university
6 km S
Bommer Canyon
open space
5 km SW
Quail Hill
trail loop
12 km SW
Newport Beach
coast
N
Irvine
University of California, Irvine
Bommer Canyon
Quail Hill
Newport Beach
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Irvine was incorporated as a city on 28 December 1971. The land had been the Irvine Ranch since 1864, when James Irvine and three partners bought several adjoining Spanish land grants totaling about 110,000 acres.

The architect William Pereira drew the original master plan in 1959 for the Irvine Company, organising villages around a central University of California campus and a connected system of open-space corridors and arterial streets.

UCI opened in 1965 on roughly 1,500 acres of the former ranch. The 20-acre Aldrich Park sits at the campus centre. Enrollment runs around 36,000 students, making it one of the larger UC campuses.

The broader Irvine Ranch includes about 50,000 acres of permanently conserved land managed by the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. Bommer Canyon, Quail Hill, and Limestone Canyon are open to the public on scheduled days.

Mediterranean. Summers run dry with highs around 27 to 30°C and cool coastal evenings. Winters stay mild, with most of the year's modest rainfall arriving between December and March. Hills go gold by late spring.

John Wayne Airport (SNA) sits at the northern edge of the city, about 6 km from the centre. Los Angeles International (LAX) is roughly 65 km up the I-405, and Long Beach (LGB) is another nearby option.

— about the piece in your home

It carries for people who lived through the ranch becoming a city: UCI alumni, long-time residents of Turtle Rock or Woodbridge, families who moved out for work. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note travels well.

The palette sits easily with California Modern, Mid-century, and Coastal-modern rooms. The piece reads cleanly against warm whites, pale oak, and the bone-and-sage finishes common across Orange County interiors.

Yes. The current pull toward indoor-outdoor palettes, warm minimalism, and sage and clay accents reads alongside this piece. It anchors a room already leaning toward natural materials and quiet wall art.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large carries the wall. Above a long console or a king bed, a 4-tile Mural reads as one composition. A 9-tile Mural suits a full feature wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splash without dulling. The Glossy finish is for dry wall display only.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water. The colour lives in the ceramic surface itself, so it will not lift with normal cleaning. Skip abrasive pads and solvent sprays.

Yes. Reid Wender creates the entire WenderVista atlas himself. No licensing, no stock art, no other studios. Every piece ships from Knoxville, hand-finished in-house.

— 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.