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Art inspired by biology, created by a biologist

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You can see my frequently-updated works-in-progress by following @laughingmantisstudio

laughingmantisstudio

Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D. | Woodworker/Artist
Breast Cancer Research Scientist
Pittsburgh, PA. Husband to @tamarynart. AKA: @danieldbrownphd

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I’ve been planning to shout out my IG maker buddy, Chris (and Erick) @dreaminthewoods for a while now. Being that it’s Veteran’s Day, today seemed like an appropriate day to do it. Chris is a truly awesome dude and a really good person from what I’ve seen. He and his buddy make some pretty sweet geeky things. Thanks for your continued service in making the world a better place! Go check them out and give a follow. That Han in carbonite was definitely an inspiration for my own Star Wars piece!

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Here’s the penultimate update on this wooden intarsia artwork entitled “Punch It”. In poor night-time indoor lighting. But you get the idea. I can now clearly see the finish line! In fact it’s already hanging in my man cave. I still plan to try installing some fancier programmed LEDs with an Arduino controlling it (many thanks to @hardwoodmikes for his advice and help today in planning). The current LED system is just taped in haphazardly (and why it’s dark around the edges). The rebel insignia power button has its polyurethane drying right now, so that’s not installed yet. But very soon I’ll be taking some final photographs and videos and call her done. I’m SUPER stoked with how the @adafruit soundboard worked out. And I am forever in the debt of @cyclocrosscutter for insulting me until I “went big or went home” in regards to not using a greeting card module. Thanks again to @worksbyahurst for some of the sound files. I have more people I will thank later for providing woods and tools. I plan on making a whole post dedicated to “materials and methods” on this build at some point.

#starwars #starwarsday #starwarsfan #starwarsart #starwarsgeeks #starwarsnerds #maytheforcebewithyou #igwoodworker #igwoodworkingcommunity #woodworkingcommunity #woodworks #woodart #woodworking #woodworker #scrollsawart #maker #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia
#millenniumfalcon #artistsoninstagram #artist #artstagram #solo #chewbacca #empirestrikesback #anewhope #returnofthejedi @craft_the_force

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This is a long shot, but I’m curious if any of my followers have experience coding Arduinos for controlling LED strips. This is my idea:
I have an Arduino Uno and @adafruit DotStar LEDs. I’d like to cut them into strips to make individual “star trails”. Then program them to individually animate a light that goes from blue->cyan->white. If possible, a staggered effect (where the timing of each start is staggered by a few pixels) could give a cool “movement” through hyperspace effect. I’m not clear yet exactly how to setup up the loop in the code to pull this off (I know very very little about coding, but enough to understand in principle some of what I need to figure out).
I’m thinking that having the whole thing in series like in the pic is the best way to do this? Set up a loop for pixels 1-10, for example, and another for 11-20? Or maybe have some of them in parallel, effectively duplicating the strip? I’ve read that more than 4 in parallel is “iffy” at best. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice? I’ll take anything at this point. I’m still waiting on the LEDs but I started playing with the arduino last night.

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If you follow my stories making this Star Wars piece, you may have seen me mention about how I’m not sponsored and haven’t been given equipment (except from Ben @slapstufftogether). I later mentioned I don’t have a lathe while carving the thruster handles. Well now I’ve apparently been sponsored by my buddy Tommy @tlalexan. I just got this mini-lathe in the mail in a complete and total random act of kindness. I’m utterly blown away by the generosity and consideration. It’s such an unexpected and useful addition to my shop! I don’t know yet the terms of this gift are, but I’m sure it’ll be something kinky. 😜😂
Seriously, thanks Tommy, from the bottom of my heart!
FYI Tommy is a kickass drummer, a maker (I know he’s gearing up to do more), and recently married one of my best buds and former roommate Emily (aka @emma.lee.sea aka 👉💥) in one of the most memorable weddings I’ve attended.

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Update.
So here’s my finishing plan: I want the background to be glossy, Han’s jacket and Chewie’s bandolier leather to have a satin finish, the bandolier boxes to be semi-gloss, and Han’s hair and Chewie’s fur to have a softer natural wood finish. So I’m gonna use 3 @generalfinishes polyurethanes and @odiesoil. These are my two finishing brands I use in 99% of my projects, having tried a bunch. I have no idea how this will actually look together, but I feel like it may add a bit more depth to the piece.
Some notes on finishing: I normally apply finish on intarsia pieces after putting everything together. But since I’m using 4 different finishes, pre-finishing is easier and will ensure I don’t get crossover.
For the polyurethane I build up coats with gloss (sanding lightly at 800 grit between coats).
The final coat is the desired final surface (gloss, semi, or satin).
For the hair and fur, I’m trying something I’ve never done. After rough sanding I raised the grain with water and did NOT sand again. This tends to leave the wood a little fuzzy and my hope is that it will make the hair and fur look softer and more organic. Odie’s is my go to for natural wood finish. It’s gorgeous, has high moisture protection with only 1 coat, or occasionally 2 for thirsty wood. I apply, let it sit for 30 min, then rub it off and buff.

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Still a ways to go...
A few answers, random thoughts, and things I wanted to say about this piece and my art:
1) The idea for this first came to me about a year and a half ago when I saw a huge decal of this scene on the back of a pickup truck window. It’s been percolating ever since, but I’d been too nervous to start it because I knew it was gonna be a long and challenging project. And I honestly wasn’t sure if I could pull it off or if it would even look cool. Hopefully it will!
2) Ive had a lot of people message asking if it’s a commission or for sale. For me it’s the best kind of project - I’m the client, no deadline, no pressure, and no real goal other than making something this silly geek will consider epic hanging in our “Lair”. It’s not really for sale. That being said, I’d let go of almost anything I make for a price. But for this piece it’d have to be a ”Harrison Ford Star Wars money” price. Do any of you know Harrison Ford? 😂🤣😂
3) I’ve only been making wood art pieces like this for ~3 years and I started with just a cheap big box store jigsaw (and almost zero knowledge or skill). Most of my tools are Craigslist, hand me downs, and a precious few were big ticket items I saved up for. Most of my wood is reclaimed - scavenged here and there, with some exotic exceptions. I’m almost 42 years old now (yikes!). The point being: if you really want to learn to make or do cool things, regardless of the field, you almost certainly can do it. I started by reading a couple books and watching countless YouTube videos. Now when I need help or advice (which is often), I seek out others here in the IG community I’ve met. I don’t believe I have any special skill or talent. I’ve just practiced a bit. I do have patience (that part is required, but can also be learned).
That’s all for now.
...
#starwars #starwarsday #starwarsfan #starwarsart #starwarsgeeks #starwarsnerds #maytheforcebewithyou #igwoodworkingcommunity #woodworks #woodart #woodworking #woodworker #scrollsawart #maker #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia
#millenniumfalcon #artistsoninstagram #artist #artstagram #solo #chewbacca #empirestrikesback #anewhope #returnofthejedi
#pittsburghwoodworking

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Han & Chewie progress update: I’m slowly building up the layers, an hour or two per day, shaping pieces here and there. I’ve started at least a first attempt at the hyperspace background by ebonizing a walnut panel with some old vinegar/steel wool mix I made 2 years ago. I’m still doing some other small tests before I decide how exactly to attempt the star trails. Still many many hours to go on this thing. But I’m pretty excited about it so far!
... #starwars #starwarsday #starwarsfan #starwarsart #starwarsgeeks #starwarsnerds #maytheforcebewithyou #igwoodworker #igwoodworkingcommunity #woodworkingcommunity #woodworks #woodart #woodworking #woodworker #scrollsawart #maker #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia

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Quick little tip for those interested in the intarsia process (I know there are several from DMs). Any time you end up with thin slivers of scrap wood (from like 1/16” to 1/2”), save ‘em! This is what I use to shim up my pieces to the correct depth. For example, I really wanted to use this spalted maple for Chewie’s bandolier boxes/pouches (do those have a name??). But it is much too thin. So I shimmed it. And you can see the bloodwood “leather” strap needs to be slightly higher than the maple, so in this picture I’m testing an 1/8” strip of ash scrap from my collection, which will work perfectly. Now I’ll just cut a piece slightly smaller than the piece it will shim, a quick dab of CA glue/accelerator, and I’m good to go for shaping.
...
#intarsia #intarsiaart #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #intarsiatips #woodintarsia #intarsiawood

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I have some new followers only here for the Star Wars (see my most recent post for Han & Chewie in progress). So I thought I’d repost my previous geeky SW pieces: Jabba’s Palace, FN-2187, Stormtrooper, Han’s dice, and the Star Wars magazine in which my pieces (and my wife @tamarynart‘s Tatooine watercolor) were published.
These all adorn my SW-themed “shop” bathroom.
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#scrollsaw #scrollsawart #intarsia #woodintarsia #intarsiawood #starwars #starwarsart #starwarsfanart

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Newest geek project has begun in earnest. This will be the hyperspace Millennium Falcon scene from Star Wars. I managed to get Chewie’s fur cut today from pieces of the antique stinkwood chair from South Africa I’ve mentioned in two previous projects now. It’s such gorgeous wood and I’m gonna be sad when it’s gone (still have a little left though). The actual hyperspace background is gonna be a complete surprise... to me. Still not sure how I’m gonna make it, though I have a couple ideas to try. Also, maybe backlit?
...
#scrollsawart #scrollsaw #intarsia #woodintarsia #starwarsart #starwarsfanart

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