Wender·Vista
Espiritu Santo
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileVanuatu
the largest island of Vanuatu, in the South Pacific

Espiritu Santo

— — the green the war left behind.

— 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

“Espiritu Santo holds two different memories of the same coast. On the east, white sand at Champagne Beach and the freshwater blue holes that surface inland under banyan roots. On the west, the rusted relics of the American wartime base at Luganville, and the SS President Coolidge dropping off the reef. Coconut palms grew back over both. The reef forgot which decade was which.

from the studio
Espiritu Santo
— bring it home

Espiritu Santo, 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 Espiritu Santo

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

Espiritu Santo is the largest of the roughly 80 islands that make up Vanuatu, covering about 3,955 square kilometres in the northern half of the archipelago. Its main town, Luganville, sits on the Segond Channel and was the second-largest Allied base in the Pacific during the Second World War. The interior rises into the Cumberland Range, with Mount Tabwemasana at 1,879 metres the highest point in the country. Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, the Portuguese navigator sailing for Spain, made European landfall here in 1606 and gave the island its name.

— the water

The east coast around Hog Harbour holds the island's two most photographed waters. Champagne Beach gets its name from the spring bubbles that rise through the sand at low tide. A little inland, freshwater blue holes — Nanda, Riri, and Matevulu — surface in the rainforest, fed by limestone aquifers and coloured a held, almost glassy blue. Offshore, the SS President Coolidge, a 199-metre American troopship sunk in 1942, rests in 21 to 70 metres of water and is one of the largest recreational wreck dives in the world.

— the visit

Most visitors arrive at Santo-Pekoa International Airport, a short transfer from Luganville. Champagne Beach and the blue holes are about an hour north on the east-coast road, accessible by hired vehicle or organised day tour, with small village entry fees collected at the gate. The dry season runs roughly May to October; the wet season brings tropical cyclones and warmer water. Dive operators in Luganville run trips to the Coolidge year-round, with certification required for the deeper sections of the wreck.

— informed by Vanuatu Tourism Office
— where
Vanuatu · Luganville, Sanma Province
— position
-15.3700° S · 166.8300° E
— 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.
at the lake
Luganville
town
50 km N
Champagne Beach
beach
30 km N
Matevulu Blue Hole
spring
5 km E
Million Dollar Point
WWII site
N
Espiritu Santo
Luganville
Champagne Beach
Matevulu Blue Hole
Million Dollar Point
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Espiritu Santo — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Espiritu Santo is the largest island of Vanuatu, in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about 1,750 kilometres east of Cairns, Australia. The main town is Luganville, on the southern coast facing the Segond Channel.

Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, sailing under the Spanish crown, landed in 1606 and named the land Australia del Espíritu Santo, believing he had reached the great southern continent.

The United States built its second-largest Pacific base on Espiritu Santo from 1942, with airstrips, hospitals, and the harbour at Luganville. The SS President Coolidge sank here in October 1942 after striking friendly mines.

The best-known freshwater blue holes — Nanda, Riri, and Matevulu — lie inland along the east coast road north of Luganville, fed by springs surfacing through limestone and ringed by rainforest.

The dry season from May to October offers the most settled weather and clearest dive visibility. Cyclone season runs November through April, when heavy rain can close interior roads.

— about the piece in your home

Many of our customers have given this piece to family with ties to the Pacific theatre. Luganville was a defining posting for thousands of American servicemen. A Medium or Large carries the weight of the place without overstatement.

The deep greens and reef blues sit well in Coastal-modern rooms, in Tropical-Modern interiors with rattan and teak, and in Jewel-tone Maximalist spaces that welcome saturated colour against warm wood.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large reads cleanly. For a longer wall, a 4-tile Mural extends the horizon. A 9-tile Mural anchors a feature wall and lets the colour breathe at scale.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any installation that sees steam or splashes. Both are scratch-resistant and hold up to daily cleaning without losing the depth of colour.

A soft microfibre cloth and plain water. No abrasive pads, no ammonia or bleach cleaners. The glossy finish wipes clean in seconds and the colour lives in the ceramic itself, not on top of it.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created in-house under Reid Wender's eye, in a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. We don't license artwork in or out.

— if this one stayed with you

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