Meet Steven Nance | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steven Nance and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steven, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think there are two important factors that contribute to our achievements: one, our desire to create functional art, not just beautiful art, and two, creating from items that people thought had lost their value (i.e., metal scrap and discarded items). Building from a young age, I have always enjoyed adding functionality to my creations. Whether it be movement, light, or sound, I want the extra “WOW” factor beyond the first glance, and my wife appreciates utility, for examples, a coin holder, a bedside jewelry holder, or something that collects the keys and sunglasses right when you walk in the door (so you know exactly where they are when it’s time to go back out). When you combine art with an aspect of function, it allows you to interact with the art on a regular basis. Whether it’s a statue that wirelessly charges your phone, a table with a wireless speaker, or a lamp that’s also a clock, they become a part of your daily routine, and not just a tchotchke (not that there is anything wrong with a good tchotchke). In addition, an awesome aspect (to us) of scrap metal art, is taking these scraps and discarded items and giving them new life. Most of the parts that make up our art are collected from various transmission and automotive repair shop scrap metal bins, military aircraft maintenance trash bins, metal scrap yards, and sometimes a person’s backyard junk pile or a rusted can thrown out in the desert. These unique pieces, with their specific scratches, cuts, and mottled rusty spots, have a personality all their own, allowing for the creation of unique builds – even if I build more than one piece of a kind, it is still unique based on whatever scrap parts I have on hand and what those parts look like. Taking a thought to a sketch, from the workbench to the art gallery, is an awesome and challenging process, made rewarding for us when the final result is a function someone appreciates, and made beautiful from the marred parts that would have ended up in a landfill. These I think are the factors that impress a person enough to want to take one of our pieces home for use and `display.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
After having our third child, my wife and I decided to alter our career plans to allow more time together as a family. I left law enforcement after 15 years to be the “Lead Coordinator for Domestic Operations” (as we like to describe it), or how others typically describe it, a stay-at-home dad, and my wife worked full-time, remotely from home. The choices were a little nerve-wracking at first but ultimately resulted in the successes we were hoping for. First and foremost, we can spend much more time together as a family. Secondly, I was able to spend more time on my passion for creating. Building and creating is something that I have always enjoyed, however it always took a backseat to other responsibilities, e.g., a traditional job with steady income. With the support of my wife, we decided to start a business selling my metal “creations.” Beginning at a few small outdoor craft fairs and then moving to kiosks at a military base exchange, every sale reinforced the idea that people liked what we were making. Through this process, our children were along for the ride, sitting with us at the outdoor fairs and sometimes tagging along at the base exchange to provide their expert demonstrations and explanations of our art. But the days I had to sit and sell my work by myself, were days that once again, we were spending time apart and I was not able to create. I finally took a big leap and submitted my art to be juried into an art gallery, the Southern Arizona Arts Guild, in Tucson. This would turn out to be the best way to display and sell our art. Now our art is on display 7 days a week, and I can be running kids to their events, spending time with the family, and still have the time to be able to work on my art – the ultimate work life balance achieved!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We always take our visitors on adventures when they come to Tucson, especially outdoors because the weather is typically so great! A hike up Picacho Peak followed by sushi at OBON sushi bar is a great afternoon. Another great outdoor venue is the Barnyard restaurant where the kids can play on a great outside area while you enjoy great food and local craft beer. It’s always fun to take a stroll at La Encantada, a beautiful outdoor mall, grabbing early dinner and gelato, and stopping to admire the amazing art in the Southern Arizona Art Guild gallery! In Tucson there is always a great hiking trail to explore and a great restaurant near by where you can recover with great food and beverages!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would say the skills I use for my art were first cultivated by my mother (an art teacher who can make anything into art) and father (carpenter, electrician and general fix or build anything guy). Those skills enabled me to build and create cool things but it would never have become a business without the encouragement and support of my wife of 13 years.

Website: ccintuitions.com

Instagram: @ccintuitions

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ccintuitions

Other: ccintuitions@gmail.com