Art & Life with Trevor Hauan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trevor Hauan.

Trevor, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
There’s a picture on my wall of my great grandfather in the early forties, in full gear, welding under the Arizona sun. So I suppose metal working is in my blood. As a teenager working (and goofing off) in my high school metal shop I knew metalworking was going to be my future, I just wasn’t sure what form that would take. Welding and working in my parents shop every night paid off though and I was fortunate enough to get a start in my career early, building custom aluminum bodies for the off road racing industry.

I thrived on the artistic challenge and attention to detail aluminum work required, and about nine years ago began my own fabrication business, Aluma-Art, which would eventually become Benchmark Metalcraft. In the years since, I’ve had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects, including sand cars, UTV’s, and dune buggies, as well as Airstream trailers, neon signs, and a variety of custom metal art work and designs.

Recently I’ve begun exploring metal art work, seeing what works a how I can incorporate my experience into fun and unique pieces. Being an Arizona native, I try to incorporate a Southwestern feel to a lot of what I do.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
For years my art was expressed in the cars I helped create, in the flowing aluminum I customized to each individual. I’ve taken those skills and have begun experimenting with what would be done with them. Being a 4th generation Arizonian, there is often a Southwestern inspiration to my art, but like all of us, I’m always learning and growing as I move forward.

When I do custom metal work, I always want to create something beyond expectations, so folks walk away with something that’s inherently more than what they were thinking of.

Our world is changing fast, and there are many good things about that. But something which seems to be dropping away is an understanding of and connection to the things we build. With my work I try to re-establish that connection, talking to people about the creation process and how things are built. Especially with custom pieces I try to make the customer a part of the process by talking to them about their ideas and even why they want to create this custom piece, so they can share in pride of creating something.

Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
I guess the advice I might share would be to simply DO. Get out there, work, and create. It’s okay if you don’t know exactly what every step will look like, you’ll take what you know and add to it the many things you’ll learn along the way.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
The easiest way to see to my work is to visit our website at www.benchmarkmetalcraft.com. I can also be found on Etsy at www.etsy.com/shop/BenchmarkMetalcraft and I post regularly on Instagram at @benchmarkmetalcraft

Honestly though, the best way I have found to connect people to our work is to talk with them. There is a lot of inspiration to be found by talking to people about the things they love, what they’ve seen, where they’ve been, and what they want. To that end I’m at the Prescott art shows whenever I have the chance and the next show will be in Prescott at the Fair on the Square, Sept. 1-3. I will also be in Flagstaff at the Urban Flea Market that following Saturday, Sept. 8th from 9-2.

If you are more interested in off-road racing cars and fire pits, I will be at the International Off-Road & UTV Expo in Scottsdale Nov. 30-Dec. 2nd.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.benchmarkmetalcraft.com
• Phone: 480-280-3352
• Email: benchmarkmetalcraft@gmail.com
• Instagram: @benchmarkmetalcraft
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/BenchmarkMetalcraft

Image Credit:
Benchmark Metalcraft

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