shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWashington

in the lower Yakima Valley, east of the Cascades

Yakima Valley hops fields

Name: Yakima Valley hops fields — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — twenty-foot vines and a green that smells like beer.

— 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

— 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 Yakima Valley grows about three-quarters of the United States hop crop. The bines climb 18 to 20 feet on coir twine strung from cable trellises that run for miles around Moxee, Toppenish, and Wapato. From late August into September the cutters and pickers run day and night; the air for ten miles around the drying floors goes resinous and green. — from the studio.

from the studio

— bring it home

Yakima Valley hops fields, 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 Yakima Valley hops fields

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

The Yakima Valley lies in south-central Washington, east of the Cascade crest, drained by the Yakima River from Cle Elum down to its confluence with the Columbia at Richland. Hop production centers on the lower valley around Moxee, Toppenish, Wapato, and Sunnyside. Washington grew more than 40,000 acres of hops in a recent year, over seventy percent of the United States crop. The Yakama Nation reservation covers much of the valley's south side. Elevation at Yakima itself is about 1,066 feet.

— informed by Wikipedia: Hop production in the U.S., USDA Hop Stocks Report

— the season

Hops are perennial; the bines die back each winter and climb again from the crown in spring. Stringing begins in March and training in May. The vines reach the top of the 18-to-20-foot trellis by July. Harvest runs from mid-August into late September, varietal by varietal (Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Cascade), with the picking machines working around the clock and the drying floors running continuously to bring the cones from about 80 percent down to 10 percent moisture.

— informed by Hop Growers of America

— the visit

The American Hop Museum sits on South B Street in Toppenish and tells the valley's hop history from the 1930s forward. Several growers run tours during harvest, including Loftus Ranches and Yakima Chief. The Fresh Hop Ale Festival in downtown Yakima, held the first Saturday in October, pours about eighty Northwest beers brewed with same-day-picked hops. Interstate 82 runs the length of the valley; Yakima Air Terminal has the closest regional service and the nearest lodging cluster.

— informed by American Hop Museum, Fresh Hop Ale Festival

— where

United States · Yakima County, Washington

— elevation

325 m · 1,066 ft

— position

46.5512° N · 120.3878° 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.

30 km S

Toppenish

town

10 km E

Moxee

town

at the lake

Yakima

city

Yakima Valley hops fields

Toppenish

Moxee

Yakima

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Yakima Valley hops fields — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

About 75 percent in a typical year. Washington's crop is concentrated almost entirely in the Yakima Valley, with the rest of U.S. production split between Oregon's Willamette Valley and southern Idaho.

Mid-August through late September. Different varietals come off the trellis on different weeks, and the picking machines and drying floors run twenty-four hours through the peak weeks of harvest.

Cable-and-pole trellises stand 18 to 20 feet high. The bines climb coir twine strung each spring from cable to ground anchor and can grow nearly a foot a day in June.

Citra, Mosaic, Simcoe, Centennial, Cascade, Amarillo, El Dorado, and Columbus together account for most of the acreage. Citra has been the largest single variety for the past several years.

The American Hop Museum sits on South B Street in Toppenish, Washington. It opens spring through fall and tells the valley's growing and brewing history from the 1930s forward.

On the first Saturday in October, in downtown Yakima. About eighty Northwest breweries pour beers made with hops picked the same day, an event possible only in this valley.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The hop yards are a touchstone for craft-beer culture and for anyone rooted in the valley. A Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads well to that recipient.

The deep greens and trellis lines work in craft-taproom, biophilic, and warm-industrial interiors. Pairs naturally with reclaimed wood, blackened steel, exposed brick, and the working bar.

It fits the agricultural-modern movement of the past five years — working-land subject, deep botanical color, no rustic kitsch. Sits cleanly in modern farmhouse and warm-industrial rooms.

Above a console, the Large holds the wall. Above a standard sofa, step up to a 4-tile Mural; for a long bar or counter, a 9-tile Mural carries the trellis line.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The Glossy finish is for dry wall display only and is not recommended for steam, splash, or the wall behind a stove.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. No chemical cleaners and no abrasives. The colour lives in the ceramic surface under a thin protective finish and will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to the studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Reid Wender curates the atlas; there is no licensing in or out.

— if this one stayed with you