Wender·Vista
Latourell Falls
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileOregon
in the Columbia River Gorge, east of Portland

Latourell Falls

— — water falling straight off a wall of yellow-stained basalt.

— 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 first major waterfall on the Historic Columbia River Highway heading east. Two hundred and forty-nine feet of straight drop, no terraces. A single white line against columnar basalt streaked sulphur-yellow with lichen. The pool at the base catches mist all year. People stop on the way to Multnomah and stay longer than they planned. — from the studio

from the studio
Latourell Falls
— bring it home

Latourell Falls, 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 Latourell Falls

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

Latourell Falls sits in Guy W. Talbot State Park, about thirty miles east of Portland, the first major waterfall on the Historic Columbia River Highway. The plunge is 249 feet, dropping in one continuous column over a basalt cliff laid down by Columbia River flood basalts roughly fifteen million years ago. A paved quarter-mile path leads from the highway pullout to the base. A longer loop climbs to the Upper Falls and back. The wall behind the water is stained yellow by Trentepohlia lichen, the colour the falls are known for.

— informed by Wikipedia, Oregon State Parks
— the water

What you see at Latourell is a plunge, not a horsetail. The creek leaves the basalt rim cleanly, with no contact, and falls 249 feet into a shallow pool worked into bedrock. Volume varies with the season. Flow is fullest from late winter through May, when Coast Range snowmelt feeds the upper drainage, and thinner by August. The pool refreezes only in the coldest weeks. Mist drifts a hundred feet out from the base, which is why the ferns and moss extend well past the splash zone.

— informed by World Waterfall Database
— the visit

The lower viewpoint is reached in under five minutes from the parking pullout on the Historic Columbia River Highway, a short walk suitable for almost any visitor. The full loop trail climbs about 750 feet over 2.4 miles to the Upper Falls and back through a Douglas fir grove. No fee, open year round. Winter brings ice on the upper trail. The lower viewpoint stays accessible. The pullout fills early on summer weekends, since Latourell is the first stop on the gorge waterfall corridor heading east.

— informed by Oregon State Parks
— where
United States · Multnomah County, Oregon
— within
Guy W. Talbot State Park
— position
45.5389° N · 122.2178° 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.
3 km E
Bridal Veil Falls
waterfall
11 km E
Multnomah Falls
waterfall
6 km W
Vista House at Crown Point
observatory
N
Latourell Falls
Bridal Veil Falls
Multnomah Falls
Vista House at Crown Point
— common questions

What people ask.

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

The lower falls drops 249 feet in a single plunge over columnar basalt. The upper falls, reached by a 2.4 mile loop trail, adds another hundred feet of cascade above.

The bright sulphur-yellow streaks behind the water are colonies of Trentepohlia, a genus of orange-pigmented green algae that grows on damp basalt. It is the visual signature of the falls.

The falls sit in Guy W. Talbot State Park along the Historic Columbia River Highway, about thirty miles east of Portland and roughly seven miles west of Multnomah Falls.

No fee and no permit are required. The state park parking lot and the lower viewpoint are open from dawn to dusk, year round.

Flow peaks from late winter through May, fed by snowmelt in the upper Coast Range drainage. By late summer the column thins noticeably, though it never runs dry.

— about the piece in your home

For a regular gorge hiker the recognition lands fast. The yellow lichen and single plunge are unmistakable. A Medium or Large hung where they leave their boots tends to read as a marker of a favourite trail.

The cool basalt greys and sulphur yellow sit well in Pacific Northwest modern, biophilic, and mountain-modern rooms. The vertical composition suits a narrow wall beside a doorway or between windows.

Yes. Biophilic design has moved past leaf prints toward specific named landscapes, and waterfall artwork with real geographic anchoring is among the most-requested categories. The Medium reads well in that idiom.

Above a standard sofa we recommend a single Large, or a 4-tile Mural for more presence. Above a console table the Medium is usually the right call, with the Small reserved for a paired arrangement.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle humidity and steam, which makes them right for bathrooms, showers, and kitchen backsplashes. The Glossy finish is for dry display walls.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, so it will not lift or fade with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, painted by Reid Wender and hand-finished in-house. Nothing is licensed in from outside artists.

— 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.