Wender·Vista
Isle Royale
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMichigan · United States
an island park in Lake Superior, off Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Isle Royale

— the quiet of a place you have to want to reach.

— 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

“An island the size of a county, set in the cold middle of Lake Superior. There are no roads. The ferry from Copper Harbor takes about three and a half hours when the water is kind. Wolves and moose have been studied here, the same families, since 1958. Most visitors stay only a night, and the loons do not seem to mind.

from the studio
Isle Royale
— bring it home

Isle Royale, 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 Isle Royale

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

Isle Royale sits in the northwest corner of Lake Superior, closer to Ontario and Minnesota than to mainland Michigan. The park covers about 571,790 acres, most of it underwater, with the island itself running roughly 45 miles long. The Greenstone Ridge forms its spine. Headquarters are in Houghton; ferries also run from Copper Harbor and from Grand Portage, Minnesota. The park closes from November through mid-April when ice locks the lake and the rangers leave for the season.

— the silence

There are no cars on Isle Royale, no paved roads, and no cell coverage along most of the 165 miles of trail. The park receives roughly 25,000 visitors a year, fewer in a season than Yellowstone sees on a single July afternoon. Loons call across Tobin Harbor at dawn. The Rock Harbor Lodge is the only built lodging; everything else is a backcountry site reached on foot or by paddle, with the lake doing the heavy work of keeping the place quiet.

— informed by NPS visitor statistics
— the season

The park opens around April 16 and closes November 1, the only U.S. national park that shuts entirely for winter. June brings blackflies and the first ferries running on schedule; late August into September is the steady window, with cool nights and thinning crowds. The wolf-moose study, begun in 1958, is the longest continuous predator-prey study in the world. By October the ferries stop and the rangers come home to the mainland.

— where
United States · Keweenaw County, Michigan
— within
Isle Royale National Park
— 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.
90 km S
Houghton
ferry port
90 km S
Copper Harbor
ferry port
35 km W
Grand Portage
ferry port
250 km SE
Pictured Rocks
national lakeshore
160 km SW
Apostle Islands
national lakeshore
N
Isle Royale
Houghton
Copper Harbor
Grand Portage
Pictured Rocks
Apostle Islands
— common questions

What people ask.

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

By boat or seaplane only. Ferries run from Houghton and Copper Harbor in Michigan and from Grand Portage in Minnesota, taking three to six hours depending on the route. Seaplanes fly from Houghton and Grand Portage.

The park is open from about April 16 through October 31. It is the only U.S. national park that closes completely for winter, when Lake Superior ices in and the rangers leave the island.

Yes. A small wolf population shares the island with moose, and the two species have been studied together since 1958 in the longest continuous predator-prey study in the world. The pack has been replenished by translocation.

The park covers about 571,790 acres, with the main island roughly 45 miles long and nine miles wide. Most of the protected area is underwater, and the Greenstone Ridge runs the length of the island.

Three ports run service: Houghton and Copper Harbor on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and Grand Portage on the Minnesota north shore. Crossings take three to six hours, and weather can hold a boat in port for a day.

Around 25,000 in a typical season, among the lowest counts of any U.S. national park. The closing months and the open-water crossing keep the numbers small, and most arrivals stay only a single night.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a good fit for hikers and paddlers with ties to Lake Superior or the Boundary Waters. A Small with a handwritten note from the studio carries the feeling of a place few people reach.

The tile reads well in cabin-modern, Scandi-spare and North Woods rooms where pine, wool and slate already live. The deep blues and greens hold up against natural oak and leather without crowding either.

Yes. Cabin-modern has moved toward real-place artwork rather than generic woodland prints, and a named Lake Superior vista is exactly the kind of grounded image the look has been turning toward.

A single Large reads at five or six feet from the seat. For a wider wall the 4-tile Mural sits over a sofa, and the 9-tile Mural carries a long console behind a dining room.

Yes. Ask for the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any room with moisture or steam. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and does not lift.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water are enough. The thin glossy finish wipes down without solvents, and the colour lives in the surface, so a damp cloth is all the maintenance the tile needs.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated by Reid Wender and produced in our family studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. We do not license the imagery from anywhere else.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

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