Wender·Vista
Common loon on an Adirondack pond
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNew York
on a black-water pond inside the six-million-acre Adirondack Park

Common loon on an Adirondack pond

— — the call that carries across a pond at first light.

— 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

“The common loon nests on quiet ponds across the Adirondacks from late April through August, a black-and-white bird with red eyes and a tremolo call that carries half a mile over still water. The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation counts roughly 1,500 breeding pairs across the park. They winter on the Atlantic, then return to the same pond, year after year. — from the studio

from the studio
Common loon on an Adirondack pond
— bring it home

Common loon on an Adirondack pond, 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 Common loon on an Adirondack pond

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

Adirondack Park covers roughly six million acres of northern New York — about the size of Vermont — and is a patchwork of state Forest Preserve and private land. The park holds more than 3,000 lakes and ponds, most of them small, cold, and oligotrophic, with the dark tannic water and quiet shorelines that loons favor for nesting. Saranac Lake, Long Lake, and the smaller ponds of the High Peaks region are core breeding habitat.

— the silence

The common loon (*Gavia immer*) is a heavy-bodied diving bird that needs a long stretch of open water to take off, which is why it favors larger ponds and quiet lake bays. The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation, based in Saranac Lake, counts about 1,500 breeding pairs across the park each summer. The four loon calls — wail, tremolo, yodel, hoot — carry across still water; a single tremolo can travel half a mile on a calm dawn.

— the season

Adult loons arrive on Adirondack ponds in late April as the ice goes out, lay one or two eggs by early June, and raise chicks through July and August. By October they molt to a gray winter plumage and head for the Atlantic coast, wintering from Maine down to the Carolinas. The same pair returns to the same pond the following spring, often the same nesting island, for fifteen or twenty years.

— where
United States · Adirondack Park, New York
— within
Adirondack Park
— position
44.1126° N · 74.2659° 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.
10 km N
Saranac Lake
Adirondack village
15 km E
Lake Placid
High Peaks village
20 km E
High Peaks Wilderness
wilderness area
N
Common loon on an Adirondack pond
Saranac Lake
Lake Placid
High Peaks Wilderness
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Common loon on an Adirondack pond — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Common loons nest on quiet ponds and small lakes across Adirondack Park, favoring oligotrophic water with islands or sheltered shoreline. The Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation estimates about 1,500 breeding pairs across the park.

The common loon has four calls: the long wail used for contact, the tremolo or 'laugh' used in alarm, the yodel given only by territorial males, and the soft hoot used between family members. A tremolo can carry half a mile.

Adults arrive on Adirondack ponds in late April when the ice goes out, breed and raise chicks through summer, and migrate to the Atlantic coast by October. They winter from Maine south to the Carolinas.

Yes. A breeding pair typically returns to the same pond, and often the same nest island, for fifteen or twenty years. Both adults defend the territory through the breeding season.

Common loons are listed as a species of special concern in New York. Lead fishing tackle, shoreline development, and acid deposition in some headwater ponds remain the primary risks tracked by state biologists and the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation.

The red iris develops in adult breeding plumage and is thought to help underwater vision in tannic Adirondack water. Juvenile birds have brown eyes, which shift to red as the loon matures over two to three years.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The piece travels well with anyone whose summers turn on a lake in the park. A Medium suits a camp wall; a Coaster Set lands well as a smaller gift for guests at the camp.

Adirondack rustic, classic Camp interiors, and Mountain-modern rooms all hold the dark-water palette well. The piece sits cleanly against unpainted log walls, raw wood beams, and warm wool textiles.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large or a 4-tile Mural carries the wall. Above a console, a Medium centered between two reading lamps is the configuration most camp customers ask for.

Yes. For a screened porch or a camp kitchen, choose Dura Satin or Matte. Both are scratch-resistant and read cleanly under indirect light from a porch ceiling.

A dry microfibre cloth handles dust. For anything more, a damp microfibre with water only; no glass cleaner, no abrasive pads. The color is infused into the surface, not on top of it.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no stock. Reid Wender curates each place and each species into the atlas himself.

— if this one stayed with you

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