BACK TO WORK!

Well... It has been a very busy 7 months since my last blog post! I am terribly sorry about the lack of new info but time flies! What else can I say.

Aside from not doing much blogging lately, I have been busy in the real world and fortunately, I have some new work to share and some exciting developments as well.

First and for most my proposal to be the 2015 International Artist in Residency at Montana State University was accepted! I will be living and working on the MSU campus from the end of September until the beginning of November. I will also be creating a new addition to Monetary Bondage. The new addition will be of Chinese currency, here is a little sneak peek of whats to come...    

In conjunction with the creation of a new body of work there will also be a solo exhibition of the complete Monetary Bondage collection at the Helen E. Copeland Gallery. I will also be giving a lecture and hopefully give a few workshops as well. As I will be a busy bee producing new work for the upcoming show I will be sharing as many pictures of the progress as I can.

In the mean time here are some of the new pieces I have been producing over the past 7 months.

Daniel Icaza, 2014, Sterling Silver Buckle with Sodalite and White Turquoise on a Hand Tooled and Painted Leather Belt.

Daniel Icaza, 2014, Sterling Silver Buckle with Sodalite and White Turquoise on a Hand Tooled and Painted Leather Belt.

Daniel Icaza, 2014, Sterling Silver Pill Box with Red Garnets, Red Agate and Glass Bottles (Salt, Pepper, Sugar). Video 

Daniel Icaza, 2014, Sterling Silver Pill Box with Red Garnets, Red Agate and Glass Bottles (Salt, Pepper, Sugar). Video 

Daniel Icaza, 2014, Sterling Silver Hand Fabricated Chains. 

Daniel Icaza, 2014, Sterling Silver Pill Box with Locking Mechanism, Cloisonné Vitreous Enamel Lid and Glass Bottles. Video 

Daniel Icaza, 2014, Sterling Silver Pill Box with Locking Mechanism, Cloisonné Vitreous Enamel Lid and Glass Bottles. Video 

Those are a few of my favorite pieces from 2014. If you would like to see more pictures of my work please feel free to visit my Instagram Page, Flickr or Behance, I post different pictures all over the place so you will have to visit them all to see every thing (sorry...).

I will be sharing more pictures and blog posts as things develop so stay tuned for more news. 

Until next time. 

Peace and Love  

2014 Event Update

My my, it has been a long time since I write a post... 

I apologies for the lack of new content, life has been pretty busy and I just haven't sat down to write in a long time. 

Here are some of the exciting developments so far for 2014. 

I started teaching this year! I recently finished my first work shop on acid etching and champleve enamel on the 8th of March. I really enjoyed the experience and had a great group of hard working and productive students. 

Here are a few practice/test pieces I made during the workshop. 

Some of the workshops I am planing to teach in the future include mokume-gane, cold connections, enameling, alternative casting, filigree and patination just to name a few... 

Aside from teaching I also found out that I will be the co-judge for this years World Championship Belt Buckle Competition. So for all of the fellow buckle makers out there, start making and send the pictures in to the competition. This years prize buckle and belt should be quite the treasure. This years prize buckle will be donated by last years second place winner John Winston and I will be collaborating with a hand tooled leather belt! 

For more details/information please visit the competitions web site : http://worldchampionbuckle.com

If everything goes as planned I will also be teaching a mokume-gane workshop in conjunction with my participation in the competition. 

As I will be traveling around the USA to jury and teach I am also planning to visit some friends and colleagues in Colorado and San Francisco. Hopefully some interesting things develop during that time... 

A little closer to home and in time, I am also planning to participate with some colleagues here in Costa Rica in the upcoming month. I will be sure to list more details about those events as things develop.

On top of all these exciting developments and opportunities I am also working on a few new collections of work. Some new hand made rings, a few hopeful production lines and a collection of lockets and poison rings which I have been wanting to do for years! 

Here are a few pictures of some of the new rings and other projects I am working on... 

I think that should cover most of the developments so far... 

I will do my best to write a few more posts and try to keep things up to date. 

Hope you enjoyed the pictures and news. 

I will be back with more to share as soon as possible. 

Until next time. 

Peace and Love 

KEYS!!!

Just finished making some cast bronze keys!
Many people have already interpreted them in MANY different ways, so I like to say they are the keys to your imagination... ;o) And in that spirit it is also up to you how you would like to use them.
They make great pendants, charms, decorative trinkets or whatever you like.
I also have some altered keys in the works that make excellent earrings/weights!
Those will be coming soon.

Check out the first four key designs below and feel free to CLICK HERE to buy them now!  

Key No.1, Daniel Icaza, 2013, Bronze

Key No.2, Daniel Icaza, 2013, Bronze

Key No.3, Daniel Icaza, 2013, Bronze

Key No.4, Daniel Icaza, 2013, Bronze

Hope you like these new creations.
For now its back to work, I still have a lot of projects in the work and a bunch of things to finish up as well!
Hope to be back with more progress to share soon.
Until next time.
Peace and Love 

New Necklaces For Sale

Recently completed a few hand made sterling silver chains with striped red agate pendants.They are now avalible for purchase. Click Here to buy them now.

If anybody is interested in purchasing on of these beauties please feel free to send me a message, leave a comment or contact me.

Progress is still being made with the new belt buckle production and I should have more news to share on that topic soon.

Until next time.

Peace and Love  

Narcissus

Recently I was inspired to create this sculptural pendant. I still have not decided on the chain/ necklace part of the piece, but, I will figure some thing out eventually.

Narcissus, Daniel Icaza, 2012, Sterling Silver, Mirrors, 12.5ct Yellow Corundum 

The story of "Narcissus" is from Greek mythology. As the story goes. . . Narcissus was a young hunter who was incredibly beautiful and proud. So much so that he had contempt for those who loved and admired him.

Narcissus, Daniel Icaza, 2012, Sterling Silver, Mirrors, 12.5ct Yellow Corundum 

The Greek goddess Nemesis had noticed Narcissus' behavior and beauty. Due to his hubris, Nemesis caused Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.

Narcissus, Daniel Icaza, 2012, Sterling Silver, Mirrors, 12.5ct Yellow Corundum 

Unable to remove himself from his own reflection at the pool of water, Narcissus dies at the side of the pool (from starvation or drowning depending on the version of the story).

Narcissus, Daniel Icaza, 2012, Sterling Silver, Mirrors, 12.5ct Yellow Corundum 

After his death, the gods decided to honor his beauty by turning his body into a beautiful flower which we call the Narcissus and we associate with the modern daffodil.

Narcissus, Daniel Icaza, 2012, Sterling Silver, Mirrors, 12.5ct Yellow Corundum 

This piece is supposed to provide contemplation on the idea of narcissism and beauty.
From the exterior, the closed bud of the flower provides beautiful intrigue and mystery. However, it is not until the flower is opened and its hidden inner beauty is revealed, that we begin to understand where true beauty and the essence of the individual lies.

As the Greek myth tries to teach us that obsession with exterior beauty can be a very dangerous attraction. I like to encourage people to look deeper to find the true beauty and worth contained within all of creation.

I leave you with this contemplation of beauty for now and will return soon with more to share.

Until next time.
Peace and Love