Spokane
— — a river that runs straight through the city's centre.
Not only on a wall.
“Eastern Washington, where the Spokane River drops through the middle of downtown. The lower falls turn white in spring runoff and slow to a clear green by late summer. Riverfront Park holds the old World's Fair pavilion and the gondola that crosses above the falls. The basalt the river cut through reads almost black against the water, and the pines climb the bluffs north and south. Snow holds on the Selkirks in the distance well into May. from the studio
Spokane, 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.
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.
The place, in three passes.
Spokane is the largest city in eastern Washington, with a metro population over half a million, sitting at about 573 metres elevation on the Spokane River. It anchors the Inland Northwest, roughly halfway between Seattle and Missoula along Interstate 90, and is the regional hub for a region that stretches into northern Idaho and western Montana. The city grew up around the falls at its centre, which powered the early flour and lumber mills and now form the heart of Riverfront Park, redeveloped from the 1974 World's Fair site.
The Spokane River drops about 50 metres through a series of cascades in the centre of the city, the lower falls being the most dramatic. The flow swells with snowmelt from the Selkirks and the Coeur d'Alene mountains, peaking in late spring before settling into a clear lower flow by August. The basalt bedrock is volcanic, part of the Columbia River flood basalts that paved much of the Inland Northwest. The Centennial Trail follows the river 60 miles east into Idaho along the old rail grade.
Spokane runs through a full four-season cycle. Winters are colder than Seattle, with average January lows near minus 5°C and reliable snow on the surrounding peaks; Mount Spokane State Park opens its alpine runs from December into March. Summer is dry and warm, with July highs near 30°C and the river at its clearest. Autumn is the postcard season, with the larches turning gold through the Selkirks from late September into mid-October. Spring is short and runoff-driven.