Wender·Vista
Spirit Lake and Mount St Helens
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWashington
north of the volcano, inside the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Spirit Lake and Mount St Helens

— — the lake the mountain rearranged in one morning.

— 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

“On the morning of May 18, 1980, the north face of Mount St. Helens collapsed and the lateral blast lifted Spirit Lake bodily out of its basin. The lake settled back about two hundred feet higher than before, with a mat of floating timber that still drifts on its surface. The mountain stands 8,363 feet now, eleven hundred feet shorter than it was that morning. The lake holds.

from the studio
Spirit Lake and Mount St Helens
— bring it home

Spirit Lake and Mount St Helens, 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 Spirit Lake and Mount St Helens

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

Spirit Lake sits five miles north of Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, inside the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Before May 18, 1980, the lake surface stood at about 3,200 feet of elevation; after the eruption it settled at roughly 3,406 feet, displaced upward by the debris avalanche that filled the basin. The volcano itself reached 9,677 feet before the eruption and now stands at 8,363 feet. The monument is administered by the U.S. Forest Service within Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

— the water

The 1980 eruption killed every fish in Spirit Lake and saturated the water with organic debris and dissolved gases. For a decade the lake was anoxic and effectively sterile. Recovery has been one of the most-studied natural experiments in modern limnology: rainbow trout returned by the early 1990s through unauthorized stocking and have since established a wild population. A floating log raft, several square miles in extent, still covers part of the lake's surface — wood blown into the basin by the lateral blast that morning.

— the visit

Spirit Lake itself is closed to general public access; the surrounding restricted zone protects ongoing scientific study. Visitors reach views of the lake and the volcano from the Johnston Ridge Observatory on the north side and from Windy Ridge Viewpoint on the east, both within the National Volcanic Monument. The Spirit Lake Memorial Highway, State Route 504, climbs from Castle Rock to Johnston Ridge. The roads typically open from May through October, weather permitting; winter access closes with the snow.

— where
United States · Skamania County, Washington
— within
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
— elevation
1,038 m · 3,406 ft
— position
46.2700° N · 122.1400° 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.
8 km S
Mount St. Helens
active stratovolcano
8 km W
Johnston Ridge Observatory
USGS observatory
5 km E
Windy Ridge Viewpoint
viewpoint
55 km E
Mount Adams
stratovolcano
N
Spirit Lake and Mount St Helens
Mount St. Helens
Johnston Ridge Observatory
Windy Ridge Viewpoint
Mount Adams
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Spirit Lake and Mount St Helens — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The May 18 lateral blast and debris avalanche from Mount St. Helens lifted the lake out of its basin. It resettled about 200 feet higher, with a floating mat of blown-down timber still visible today.

8,363 feet. Before the May 18, 1980 eruption the summit reached 9,677 feet; the lateral blast removed roughly 1,300 feet of mountain and reshaped the northern face into the present-day crater.

The lake itself sits within the restricted research zone of the National Volcanic Monument. Public viewpoints at Johnston Ridge and Windy Ridge provide views of the lake and the volcano's north face.

Yes. Rainbow trout were reintroduced by unauthorized stocking in the 1990s and have established a wild, self-sustaining population. The lake had been biologically sterile for nearly a decade after 1980.

Several square miles of timber blown into the basin by the lateral blast, still floating on the surface decades later. The mat drifts with prevailing winds across the lake.

— about the piece in your home

It often is. For many in the Pacific Northwest, May 18 is a date held the way coastal communities hold storm dates. The piece honours both the loss and the recovery.

Mountain-modern, Pacific Northwest modern, and earth-tone minimalist interiors all carry it. The greys and ash-blues read cleanly against pale wood and against deep charcoal walls alike.

A single Large carries a standard sofa wall. The 4-tile Mural lets the volcano and the lake separate visually; a 9-tile Mural reads as the whole northern view.

Yes. Choose Dura Satin or Matte for steam-prone installations. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and does not lift with moisture.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created in the Knoxville studio under Reid Wender's eye. Nothing is licensed in from outside, and no two compositions are repeated.

— 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.