shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileWyoming

in the Sherman Mountains, between Cheyenne and Laramie

Vedauwoo Granite (Sherman Mountains)

Name: Vedauwoo Granite (Sherman Mountains) — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — rock the prairie wore down to its bones.

— 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 Sherman Mountains are a low, rolling range that the high plains all but swallow. Where the prairie thins, pink granite breaks through in stacked, weather-rounded towers — the Vedauwoo formations. Antelope cross the meadow. Trains on the old Union Pacific grade run a few miles south. The rock is among the oldest exposed in Wyoming.

from the studio

— bring it home

Vedauwoo Granite (Sherman Mountains), 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 Vedauwoo Granite (Sherman Mountains)

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 Sherman Mountains are the southernmost extension of the Laramie Range in southeastern Wyoming, rising to roughly 8,800 feet at Sherman Summit, the highest point on Interstate 80 between New York and San Francisco. The range sits between Cheyenne and Laramie and is largely held in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. The most photographed exposures are the Vedauwoo formations, a cluster of weathered granite towers a few miles north of the highway. The Union Pacific main line crosses the range nearby on the historic Sherman grade.

— informed by Wikipedia — Laramie Mountains, Wikipedia — Sherman Summit

— the stone

Sherman Granite is a coarse-grained pink-to-grey granite that crystallised about 1.4 billion years ago, in the Mesoproterozoic. It is part of a broad belt of anorogenic granites that runs across the southern margin of Laurentia. The pluton was exhumed by long erosion of the overlying sediments and now forms the bedrock high under the Sherman Mountains. Joint sets exposed at the surface have weathered into the stacked, rounded blocks that climbers and geologists know as the Vedauwoo formations. Feldspar crystals here commonly reach several centimetres.

— informed by Wikipedia — Sherman Granite, Wyoming State Geological Survey

— the visit

Public access is easiest from Exit 329 on Interstate 80, the Vedauwoo Road exit, which serves the recreation area, picnic sites, and the trailheads onto the formations. The Forest Service charges a small day-use fee at developed sites; dispersed parking along the forest roads is free. The Ames Monument, a 60-foot granite pyramid built in 1882 to honour two Union Pacific financiers, stands a few miles to the south and is a worthwhile pairing. Laramie, 20 miles west, is the nearest town for fuel and food.

— informed by USFS — Vedauwoo Recreation Area, Wikipedia — Ames Monument

— where

United States · Albany and Laramie Counties, Wyoming

— within

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest

— elevation

2,470 m · 8,100 ft

— position

41.1539° N · 105.3736° 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.

1 km N

Vedauwoo Recreation Area

granite formations

6 km S

Ames Monument

stone pyramid

32 km W

Laramie

city

50 km E

Cheyenne

city

Vedauwoo Granite (Sherman Mountains)

Vedauwoo Recreation Area

Ames Monument

Laramie

Cheyenne

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Vedauwoo Granite (Sherman Mountains) — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

They are the southernmost arm of the Laramie Range in southeastern Wyoming, between Cheyenne and Laramie. Interstate 80 crosses the range at Sherman Summit, the highest point on I-80 between New York and San Francisco.

Sherman Granite is a coarse pink-to-grey granite that crystallised about 1.4 billion years ago. It forms the bedrock high under the Sherman Mountains and the towers of the Vedauwoo formations.

The pluton is cut by widely spaced joint sets. As overlying rock eroded away, the unloaded granite cracked along those joints, and weathering rounded the corners into the stacked blocks seen today.

About 8,640 feet on the older grade and roughly 8,800 feet at adjacent ridges, making it the highest point on Interstate 80 in the United States and a notable winter weather threshold for cross-country travel.

A 60-foot granite pyramid built in 1882 to honour the Ames brothers, financiers of the Union Pacific. It stands a few miles south of Vedauwoo, near the abandoned town of Sherman on the original transcontinental grade.

Yes. Most of the public land in the Sherman Mountains lies within the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Standard motorised, camping, and fire rules apply.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The Sherman Granite is one of the textbook Mesoproterozoic plutons of the American West, and the range is a daily landmark for anyone who drove I-80 through Laramie. A Small or Medium reads well as a desk-line piece.

The warm pink granite and quiet prairie palette sit at home in Mountain-modern, Western-modern, and earth-toned Minimalist rooms. The piece holds its own next to wood, leather, and unglazed pottery.

Yes. The current shift toward warm, grounded interiors leans on pink-and-grey stone, and Sherman Granite reads as both. The Medium hangs cleanly above a low console.

A single Large reads as a framed window above a standard sofa. For a wider wall, a four-tile Mural opens the formation; a nine-tile Mural turns the range into the room.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for vertical installations near water and steam. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and lives in the surface itself.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. No abrasives, no ammonia-based cleaners. The thin glossy finish wipes clean and the colour does not sit on top of the tile.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, curated by Reid Wender. No licensing, no third-party imagery.

— if this one stayed with you