Wender·Vista
Maracaibo
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileVenezuela
on the western shore of Lake Maracaibo, in Zulia

Maracaibo

— — the lightning that returns to the same sky.

— 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

“Venezuela's second city, set where the lake narrows toward the gulf. The heat sits on the rooftops most of the year. To the south, over the Catatumbo's mouth, lightning runs almost every night of the wet season, silent from this far away. The old town keeps its yellow walls around the Basílica de Chiquinquirá. The bridge crosses the water in a single long line. — from the studio

from the studio
Maracaibo
— bring it home

Maracaibo, 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 Maracaibo

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

Maracaibo is the capital of Zulia state and Venezuela's second-largest city, sitting on the northwestern shore of Lake Maracaibo near where the lake meets the Gulf of Venezuela. The lake itself covers roughly 13,210 square kilometres, one of the largest in South America. The city is linked to the eastern shore by the Puente General Rafael Urdaneta, a concrete cable bridge of about 8.7 kilometres opened in 1962. Founded in the sixteenth century, the city grew through cattle, then through the oil discoveries around the lake in the 1910s.

— the light

South of the city, above the mouth of the Catatumbo River, lightning forms on most nights of the year. The Catatumbo lightning runs for roughly nine hours at a time and can fire as many as 28 strikes per minute during the peak of the wet season, from May to November. Warm air off the lake meets cooler air spilling down from the Andes and the Perijá range, and the collision sets off storms that stay almost stationary. From Maracaibo the flashes read as a quiet pulse on the southern horizon.

— the year

The civic year turns around the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Chiquinquirá, La Chinita, on the eighteenth of November. The feast pulls gaitas, processions and bull runs through the centro. Average highs sit near 33°C through most of the calendar, with the wet season carrying the heaviest rain from August into October. The Feria de la Chinita closes the year culturally, and the gaita music written for it travels far past Zulia into the rest of Venezuela.

— where
Venezuela · Maracaibo, Zulia
— elevation
6 m · 20 ft
— position
10.6427° N · 71.6125° 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 E
Lake Maracaibo
brackish lake
8 km SE
Puente General Rafael Urdaneta
cable bridge
2 km N
Basílica de Chiquinquirá
basilica
N
Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo
Puente General Rafael Urdaneta
Basílica de Chiquinquirá
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Maracaibo sits in northwestern Venezuela, on the western shore of Lake Maracaibo near the lake's outlet into the Gulf of Venezuela. It is the capital of Zulia state and the country's second-largest city.

South of the city, the Catatumbo lightning fires above the river's mouth for around nine hours a night through much of the year, driven by warm lake air colliding with cooler air off the Andes and the Perijá range.

The Puente General Rafael Urdaneta, opened in 1962, crosses the narrow neck of Lake Maracaibo for roughly 8.7 kilometres of cable-stayed and concrete spans, linking Maracaibo with the eastern Zulian shore.

Hot and humid through the year, with highs near 33°C. The wet season runs roughly May through November, with heaviest rain from August to October. Storms over the lake are common.

La Chinita is the popular name for Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, patron of Zulia. Her basilica in Maracaibo is the centre of the Feria de la Chinita each November, the city's largest religious and cultural festival.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well for marabinos abroad and for people whose families came north out of Zulia. The lake, the bridge and the southern lightning all sit in this image. A Small or Medium with a written note travels especially well.

The deep blues and warm yellows sit naturally in Latin-modern, jewel-tone maximalist, and warm coastal-modern rooms. It also reads well against terracotta tile and dark wood.

A single Large carries a console or a reading nook. Above a standard sofa, a 4-tile Mural holds the wall; for a longer wall, a 9-tile Mural lets the lake and the bridge breathe.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splashes. Use the glossy finish for framed wall pieces in dry rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth with water is enough for routine cleaning. For the bath or kitchen, a mild non-abrasive cleaner is safe on Dura Satin and Matte.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted by Reid Wender in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink language, then finished in-house. No licensed art and no third-party imagery.

— if this one stayed with you

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