Studio Session

In their hometown of Kearney, Nebraska, Jeff and Teegan Nordhues are lighting up the design industry (literally). Their secrets? Mastery, tenacity, integrity and a proprietary blend of terra-cotta.

HIGH SCHOOL SWEETHEARTS Jeff and Teegan Nordhues once zipped around the world working for home design giants like Palmer Hargrave and Kohler. When kids arrived, the couple returned to the Great Plains and opened Pax Lighting, selling stunning, high-end sconces, pendants and ceiling fi xtures. And every model name-checks a Nebraska town. Interview with Joanna Linberg

JL Most Pax fixtures pair slim, slip-cast ceramic or glass reflectors (shades) with brass tubing. Tell me about your material choices.

TN Terra-cotta and porcelain are warm. They have... organic is not quite the right word because it's very clean... but the finishes have an unexpected earthiness.

JN At Palmer Hargrave, I learned a lot about old brass lighting, and how it's made to be taken apart and refinished and have a whole other life. Mass market lighting is really disposable, so I wanted to see these old-world methods carried forward with new technologies like LED.

JL I've read that your lighting is inspired by the Nebraska landscape. Connect those dots for me.

TN Where we live, there's a lot of space. We play with that concept, the minimal earthiness of the prairie.