Wender·Vista
Orient Beach State Park
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileNew York
on the eastern tip of Long Island's North Fork

Orient Beach State Park

— — a thin spit of beach the bay keeps for itself.

— 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 narrow finger of sand that closes Gardiners Bay against the Atlantic. A maritime forest of red cedar and black-jack oak runs the spine of it, and prickly-pear cactus grows wild in the dunes — the only place in New York where it does. Off-season the parking lot is mostly empty and the shorebirds outnumber the people. from the studio

from the studio
Orient Beach State Park
— bring it home

Orient Beach State 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 Orient Beach State 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

Orient Beach State Park sits at the very end of New York's North Fork, on a 357-acre peninsula that reaches into Gardiners Bay between Orient Point and Long Beach Bay. The park is reached by Route 25 from Greenport, and the road runs out where the park begins. It is a National Natural Landmark, designated in 1980 for one of the few intact maritime forests left in the Northeast, and for a coastal community that holds prickly-pear cactus, red cedar, and black-jack oak together on the same low ridge.

— the air

The peninsula is narrow enough that the wind off Gardiners Bay crosses to Long Beach Bay in a few hundred yards, and the air carries salt from both sides. The maritime forest behind the dunes is shaped by that wind — red cedar pruned low, the canopy combed eastward. Shorebirds work the wrack line: piping plover and least tern nest here in summer, and osprey ride the thermals over the bay. In autumn, hawks ride the same air south along the fork toward Montauk.

— the visit

The park is open year-round, sunrise to sunset, with a small vehicle fee in season. The bathing beach faces Gardiners Bay, which runs gentler than the ocean side of the South Fork and is well suited to families and to swimming with small children. A short interpretive trail runs through the maritime forest. The Cross Sound Ferry from Orient Point to New London leaves from the point just east of the park entrance, which means the off-season has the place almost entirely to walkers and birders.

— where
United States · Orient, Suffolk County, New York
— within
Orient Beach State Park
— position
41.1567° N · 72.2436° E
— 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 E
Orient Point
headland and ferry terminal
12 km W
Greenport
harbor village
5 km E
Plum Island
offshore island
15 km SW
Shelter Island
bayside island
N
Orient Beach State Park
Orient Point
Greenport
Plum Island
Shelter Island
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Orient Beach State Park — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

At the eastern tip of Long Island's North Fork, in the hamlet of Orient in Suffolk County, on a 357-acre peninsula between Gardiners Bay and Long Beach Bay. The entrance is on Route 25, just west of the Orient Point ferry.

It was designated in 1980 for one of the last intact maritime forests in the Northeast, where red cedar, black-jack oak, and prickly-pear cactus share a coastal community. The Park Service lists it among its New York natural landmarks.

Yes. Eastern prickly-pear, Opuntia humifusa, grows wild in the dunes at Orient Beach. It is the only state park in New York where the cactus is part of the protected natural community.

Yes. The bathing beach faces Gardiners Bay and is generally calmer than the South Shore ocean beaches, which makes it well suited to small children. A lifeguard is on duty during the summer season.

Piping plover and least tern nest on the beach in summer, both protected species. Osprey hunt the bay from platforms on the peninsula, and the area is recognized by Audubon as part of the Orient Point Important Bird Area.

Yes. The park is open year-round from sunrise to sunset. The vehicle fee is collected only in season; off-season the lot is generally open and uncrowded, which is when most birders and walkers come.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for our customers who summer in Orient, Greenport, or East Marion. The park is the end of the road for the North Fork, and a Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries the feeling of that drive.

The blues and sand tones of the artwork sit well in Coastal-modern, Hamptons-traditional, and quiet Minimalist rooms. It also reads cleanly against white shiplap or pale oak, which is how many North Fork houses are finished.

Yes. Coastal-modern has moved away from generic beach motifs toward specific, named places. A tile of a real National Natural Landmark reads as considered rather than decorative, which is where the trend has gone.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads well centered, or a 4-tile Mural for more presence. Above a long console table, a 9-tile Mural in a 3 by 3 grid gives the work the horizon it asks for.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and well suited to vertical installation in showers, backsplashes, or above a bath. The Glossy finish is reserved for framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The colour is held inside the ceramic surface beneath a thin glossy finish, so normal household dust and splashes wipe away without affecting the artwork.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to Wender Studios, painted in our distinctive stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language, with no third-party licensing. Reid Wender curates the atlas and signs off on every place we paint.

— if this one stayed with you

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