In the lobby of the newly renovated Seasons Hotel.
Egenolf has tweaked his glaze recipes over the years through experimentation, by exposing the glazes to different temperatures and temperature combinations. A couple of degrees difference can change everything, he said.
His six kilns, which cost about $ 4,000 each, can be programmed to change temperatures during the firing process. Some products get exposed to two dozen temperatures. The first firing process, at temperatures of 1,850 degrees, turns the clay into stone, the second, with temps of about 2,350, comes after he applies the glaze. No two products are the same, Egenolf said. Except for the clay, Egenolf buys every component raw. He has seen significant price increases, especially for rare earth metals. Lithium, for example, cost about $ 400 for a 50-pound bag about five years ago. Now it costs about $ 2,400.
Egenolf used to go to about 20 trade shows a year, but the pandemic has forced him to change his business model a bit. While shows still account for about 50 % of revenue, sales through Etsy now make up 35 %, with business through galleries, from Michigan to North Carolina, accounting for the rest.
Egenolf makes about 3,500 pieces per year. A typical week includes seven workdays.
“ I can’ t tell you what day of the week it is half the time,” he said.
However, he said, as independent business owners, the Egenolfs can take time off when they want. They might take a few days off for fall break, for example, to take their children Archer, 10, and Violet, 8, hunting and fishing. And, he said, even after crafting thousands of items per year for more than a decade, sitting down on a stool, placing his foot on the pedal and his hands on a soft piece of clay still serves as a kind of therapy.
Prices for the works are based on size. Vases get a price based on height, trays on length, platters on diameter. A 19-inch platter, for example, goes for $ 225.
His customers include Hollywood and rock royalty, such as singer John Mellencamp, actress Meg Ryan, and former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello. Some of his fans have bought his works for more than a decade.
“ There’ s people who own more of my work than I do,” he said.
One of his repeat customers is Bloomington-based interior designer Diana Paxton, who commissioned Egenolf to create a wall-hung sculpture for The Seasons Hotel in Nashville.
The piece consists of four rows of four squares depicting trees in each of the four seasons. Egenolf has created similar works, though usually consisting of just four squares,
Paxton, who conceived of the hotel’ s new look, asked Egenolf and other local and regional artists to create pieces.
Paxton began collecting Egenolf’ s work about a decade ago, a mug at a
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Nov./ Dec. 2021 • Our Brown County 25