Community Highlights: Meet Jay Ellwein of Jay Ellwein Design

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Ellwein.

Hi Jay, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I turned in my first and only bowl in my senior year of high school. Fast forward 30 years, I’m living in Louisville and am an elementary teacher in Jeffco when a fellow teacher invites me over to his woodworking shop one evening.

As I walk into his cramped, dimly lit, and dusty shed, I see a lathe. I look at him, and he looks at me and says, “Want to turn some bowls?” That night, I turned bowls into Christmas presents for every member of my family. The next night, I turned half a dozen more for gifts for friends. A short time later, I purchased my first lathe.

Now, 20 years on, I continue making utility and decorative bowls as well as cutting and charcuterie boards, and three-dimensional wall hangings, and have combined wood and resin to create one-of-a-kind hearts that are about the size of your palm.

This past year or two, I have been a vendor at several regional summer and holiday art markets, in addition to designing an increasing number of commissions.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest hurdle was re-teaching myself a long-dormant skill, along with learning about and purchasing the most current hand tools and power tools needed to create increasingly challenging pieces. In addition, the Marshall Fire here in Louisville and Superior 2 years ago impacted so many people and small businesses.

While my house very luckily wasn’t one of so many lost in the fire, I wasn’t able to access my workshop for 100 days until the damage from toxic smoke and ash was mitigated. Once that had been taken care of, I’ve been able to increase my production which has led to me being able to be a vendor in nearly a dozen art markets over the last 12 months.

We’ve been impressed with Jay Ellwein Design, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Even when I was a teacher, I had to work summers to bring in extra money for my young family. Along with a friend, we spent 15 summers building custom decks and doing odds-and-ends carpentry. When I retired from teaching 6 years ago, I knew I still needed to create an additional income stream.

In these past few years, as my woodworking skills continued to improve, I started to apply for and eventually became a vendor in several summer and holiday art markets as a way to expand my business and bring in more money, mostly through word-of-mouth. I also realized the need to learn more about the complexities of multi-event, city, and state taxes.

That brings me to the present: expanding my business, creating a growing inventory for upcoming markets, and responding to an increasing number of commissions.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters most to me is that people see and feel something they connect with in the things I make.

It might be the shape of a certain bowl, the beauty of the grain in a certain wood I used for a charcuterie board, the color of inlay or resin used as a special accent, and sometimes even the glassy smooth texture of one of my pieces. I like to think I’m turning wood into memories for someone.

Pricing:

• Hearts of various kinds: $5-$20
• Bowls range from $30 to $90 depending on size and type of wood.
• Cutting boards range from $40-$85
• Charcuterie boards range from $65-$110

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @jayellweindesign
• Facebook: Jay Ellwein

Image Credits
Golden Tintype