Canyonlands National Park
— — the country the rivers cut and left.
Not only on a wall.
“A high desert carved by two rivers. The Green and the Colorado meet in the middle of the park and divide it into four districts — Island in the Sky on the mesa above, the Needles to the southeast, the Maze to the west, and the rivers themselves. Mesa Arch catches the sun about ten minutes after dawn and the underside lights up orange against the canyon below. Most of the park is reached on foot or on four-wheel drive, and most of it stays empty. The colour the artist found here is the red the country gives back at last light. — from the studio
Canyonlands National 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.
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.
Canyonlands National Park covers about 337,598 acres of high desert in southeast Utah, established by Congress in 1964 under President Lyndon B. Johnson. The Green and Colorado Rivers meet near the centre of the park and split it into four districts that do not connect by road. Island in the Sky sits on a mesa about 6,000 feet above sea level; the Needles district to the south is the hiking heart; the Maze is one of the most remote places in the lower 48; and the Rivers district covers the canyons themselves. Moab is the nearest town.
Mesa Arch on Island in the Sky is the single most photographed sunrise in the park. The arch sits at the rim of a 1,200-foot drop, and for roughly ten minutes after first light the rising sun reflects off the cliff below and lights the underside of the arch in orange. Photographers arrive in the dark to set up. The drive from Moab to the Island in the Sky trailhead is about 40 minutes; the walk from the parking area to the arch is a level half-mile through pinyon and juniper.
The park is open year-round, with the Island in the Sky visitor centre open daily except major winter holidays. Entrance is $30 per vehicle for seven days, or covered by the America the Beautiful annual pass. Spring and autumn are the kindest seasons; summer highs at the mesa rim run past 100°F and the Maze becomes inaccessible without serious water planning. The Needles district closes its visitor centre in winter but the roads stay open. Backcountry permits are required for any overnight trip, and the Maze requires a high-clearance 4WD vehicle.