May 02

Hummer, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2020

“Hummer”, 2020, wood intarsia.
I made this little hummingbird piece as a “quick and easy” palette cleanser after my previous incredibly tedious bee project. The main reason I designed this specific piece (besides being a mental health exercise) was to compare it to a similar work I made 3 years ago when I first learned intarsia (swipe to the final pic). It’s funny because I thought my original hummingbird was pretty cool back when I designed it. Looking at it now, it seems just ridiculously amateurish. I call that progress! Hopefully in a few years, this will look equally stupid (though I’m sure I’ve reached diminishing returns).
The new piece was intentionally made of a more chaotic mix of grains and colors. I just wanted to have fun with it and make it kinda weird. It’s constructed from 16 species: canarywood, bocote, walnut, black palm, chakta viga, leopardwood, katalox, holly, cherry, redheart, yellowheart, olive, honey locust, maple, crab apple, and elm.

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“Hummer”, 2020, wood intarsia. I made this little hummingbird piece as a “quick and easy” palette cleanser after my previous incredibly tedious bee project. The main reason I designed this specific piece (besides being a mental health exercise) was to compare it to a similar work I made 3 years ago when I first learned intarsia (swipe to the final pic). It’s funny because I thought my original hummingbird was pretty cool back when I designed it. Looking at it now, it seems just ridiculously amateurish. I call that progress! Hopefully in a few years, this will look equally stupid (though I’m sure I’ve reached diminishing returns). The new piece was intentionally made of a more chaotic mix of grains and colors. I just wanted to have fun with it and make it kinda weird. It’s constructed from 16 species: canarywood, bocote, walnut, black palm, chakta viga, leopardwood, katalox, holly, cherry, redheart, yellowheart, olive, honey locust, maple, crab apple, and elm. … #pittsburghwoodworking #madeinpittsburgh #woodworking #handmade #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #intarsia #woodintarsia #woodworker #handmade #woodporn #garageworkshop #hummingbird #birdart #homedecor #custommade #maker #DoItYourself #imadethis #makersmovement #covid19

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Apr 12

Apis coronavirus, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2020

“Apis coronavirus”, Daniel D. Brown, 2020, wood and resin.
Constructed from mulberry (milled from my backyard), chakta viga, walnut, yellowheart, katalox, and epoxy resin. All natural wood colors. No paint, stains, or dyes. The resin is clear and the “honey” color derives exclusively from the underlying wood. See below for more information. The entire process was documented in Instagram stories highlighted on my profile.

This piece will be featured as a step-by-step tutorial, with templates included, in the Summer 2021 issue of Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts magazine.

I started this project at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown specifically because I knew it was going to be tedious and require hours of concentration, which I knew I’d need to distract from the stress we’re all feeling to various degrees. It ended up being even more time-consuming than anticipated and I spent almost 3 weeks on it, including at least several full workdays on the weekends. I initially designed it in Adobe Illustrator. The 12 bees were made as fully inlayed intarsia, then shaped (via @kutzall burrs), followed by scrolling and shaping of all 72 legs – shaped twice because I wasn’t happy with them after the first round. The wings ended up even more challenging than expected, requiring a couple trials to get them acceptable enough. Thin resin (slightly tinged with pigment) was poured over a crumpled acetate sheet, the wing veins hand drawn, and each wing cut out by dremel to avoid shattering. They were then sanded and shellacked.
Each leg and wing was individually attached with @starbondadhesives CA glue – also a more difficult task than expected due to the fact that I couldn’t just spray accelerator everywhere as it ruins both the epoxy and shellac finishes. The honeycomb and bee bodies were finished with @odiesoil, appendages with shellac, and frame with @generalfinishes polyurethane.

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Now a video… “Apis coronavirus”, Daniel D. Brown, 2020, wood and resin. Constructed from mulberry (milled from my backyard), chakta viga, walnut, yellowheart, katalox, and epoxy resin. All natural wood colors. No paint, stains, or dyes. The resin is clear and the “honey” color derives exclusively from the underlying wood. I started this project at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic shutdown specifically because I knew it was going to be tedious and require hours of concentration, which I knew I’d need to distract from the stress we’re all feeling to various degrees. It ended up being even more time-consuming than anticipated and I spent almost 3 weeks on it, including at least several full workdays on the weekends. I initially designed it in Adobe Illustrator. The 12 bees were made as fully inlayed intarsia, then shaped (via @kutzall burrs), followed by scrolling and shaping of all 72 legs – shaped twice because I wasn’t happy with them after the first round. The wings ended up even more challenging than expected, requiring a couple trials to get them acceptable enough. Thin resin (slightly tinged with pigment) was poured over a crumpled acetate sheet, the wing veins hand drawn, and each wing cut out by dremel to avoid shattering. They were then sanded and shellacked. Each leg and wing was individually attached with @starbondadhesives CA glue – also a more difficult task than expected due to the fact that I couldn’t just spray accelerator everywhere as it ruins both the epoxy and shellac finishes. The honeycomb and bee bodies were finished with @odiesoil, appendages with shellac, and frame with @generalfinishes polyurethane. … #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #woodworking #woodintarsia #woodart #woodsculpture #madeinpittsburgh #pittsburghwoodworking #honeybee #beeart

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You do NOT want to get stung by one of these.

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Midway point post: honeybees! 🐝 If you haven’t been following my stories, I’ve started this little wooden bee artwork. I still have quite a ways to go – I’m still working on getting a wing prototype I like. And have barely considered how I’ll make the legs. The bees are going to be pseudo-3D, but obviously not realistic. I’m walking a line between both stylistic and realistic and 2D/3D, and honestly not sure how it will actually look in the end. The main reason I started this piece was because it was obvious it was going to be an incredibly tedious one. It’s turned out to be even more so 😂. But in times like these, it’s nice to be able to zone out in intense concentration on my hands while escaping into a good audiobook. #woodintarsia #scrollsawart #woodart #beeart #honeybee #pittsburghwoodworking

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Feb 28

Apprentice & Master, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2020

“Apprentice & Master”
(Ahsoka Tano & Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader)
Did you know that Anakin Skywalker had a young Padawan learner before his tragic fall to the Dark Side? If not, you probably haven’t watched “Clone Wars” or “Rebels” (spoiler warning). Thanks to a couple follower’s suggestions, I thought I’d give a little explanation of this piece below and why I chose it for the folks who haven’t watched those shows.

First off, my favorite character in the Star Wars Universe MAY just be Ahsoka Tano. Definitely top 5. She starts off as a plucky, slightly annoying, and initially unwanted 14 yr old apprentice to Anakin and ends up over the course of both TV series as a wise, badass, saber-wielding champion and rebel. Thanks to the stellar voice acting of @ashleyeckstein and the creative mastermind @dave.filoni , her story arc is incredibly well-developed (and hopefully not quite over). Her complex relationship with Anakin makes his eventual downfall all the more tragic. Anakin’s slow decent from true hero to corrupted villain and its emotional impact is made believable by the outstanding work of @mattlanter in a way that I don’t think the prequel movies ever really pulled off. I, like many, initially resisted watching because I thought it was a “cartoon for kids”. But once I got into it, I found some of the storytelling to be among the best in Star Wars. So, this artwork is based on a few stills from my second favorite scene from Rebels (guess my first?): the battle in which Ahsoka realizes that Darth Vader is none other than her beloved former Master. Noooooooooo!
Cut by hand on the scrollsaw, it was constructed from 16 species of wood (no paint or stain) in “intarsia” style over ~3 weeks. Their names in Aurebesh were burned into the frame, along with the Fulcrum, Rebel, Jedi, and Empire insignia.
Species: wenge, katalox, ebony, walnut, maple, chakte viga, crab apple, purpleheart, redheart, yellowheart, padauk, aspen, holly, yew, & basswood.

Jan 20

I Can’t Carry It For You, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2020

“I Can’t Carry It For You…”
3D Wooden light-up “Lord of the Rings” intarsia art, roughly based on the scene when Sam carries Frodo into Mt. Doom (“but I CAN carry you!”).

I’m finally ready to call this piece done! It ended up taking me 2 months to complete, despite initially planning it to be simpler and quicker than my Han/Chewie/Millenium Falcon piece. Ha!
I always thought Samwise Gamgee was the real hero of the story and I decided a scene of him carrying Frodo into Mt. Doom might be a cool artwork with LEDs. My first design had much fewer layers, with the characters much larger. But I decided to add Barad-Dur, Shelob, and the black gate, which changed the scale dramatically (and made it almost 6” thick, and 24” tall). Obviously I’ve taken some liberties as they were much closer to the entrance when he carried Frodo (and Shelob was dead by then). Plus their scale isn’t exactly accurate. But they needed to be large enough to see.
Everything was cut by hand on scroll saw and hand carved for the characters.
I built this from crab apple, walnut, and cherry I milled up myself from reclaimed urban trees, as well as katalox (thanks @rapfohl), spalted hackberry (thanks @chipdwoodworks), reclaimed mahogany, red oak, poplar, canarywood, and ebony, with a maple frame. My wife @tamarynart did her pyrography magic to burn the “One ring to rule them all…” inscription into the frame. There are 4 LEDs running off three AA batteries, colored orange with acetate film. Shelob serves as the power button. The eye is a walnut pupil embedded in multiple layers of watercolored resin.
I’m pretty stoked to have this thing shining over our “lair” across from the Millenium Falcon!
Note: the build process was documented in many stories now highlighted on my Instagram profile.

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“I Can’t Carry It For You…” 3D Wooden light-up “Lord of the Rings” intarsia art, roughly based on the scene when Sam carries Frodo into Mt. Doom (“but I CAN carry you!”). … I’m finally ready to call this piece done! It ended up taking me 2 months to complete, despite initially planning it to be simpler and quicker than my Han/Chewie/Millenium Falcon piece. Ha! I always thought Samwise Gamgee was the real hero of the story and I decided a scene of him carrying Frodo into Mt. Doom might be a cool artwork with LEDs. My first design had much fewer layers, with the characters much larger. But I decided to add Barad-Dur, Shelob, and the black gate, which changed the scale dramatically (and made it almost 6” thick, and 24” tall). Obviously I’ve taken some liberties as they were much closer to the entrance when he carried Frodo (and Shelob was dead by then). Plus their scale isn’t exactly accurate. But they needed to be large enough to see. Everything was cut by hand on scroll saw and hand carved for the characters. I built this from crab apple, walnut, and cherry I milled up myself from reclaimed urban trees, as well as katalox (thanks @rapfohl), spalted hackberry (thanks @chipdwoodworks), reclaimed mahogany, red oak, poplar, canarywood, and ebony, with a maple frame. My wife @tamarynart did her pyrography magic to burn the “One ring to rule them all…” inscription into the frame. There are 4 LEDs running off three AA batteries, colored orange with acetate film. Shelob serves as the power button. The eye is a walnut pupil embedded in multiple layers of watercolored resin. I’m pretty stoked to have this thing shining over our “lair” across from the Millenium Falcon! Note: the build process was documented in many stories now highlighted on my profile. #lordoftherings “samwisegamgee #frodobaggins #gollum #scrollsawart #geekart #woodart #intarsia #oneringtorulethemall #pittsburghwoodworking #madeinpittsburgh #woodworking #handmade #scrollsaw #woodworking #woodworker #handmade #woodporn #maker #imadethis

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And here are a couple stills. … I haven’t posted on this LOTR piece entitled “I can’t carry it for you…” in a while (but tons of stories). I’m still working on it. When I designed this, I thought I was making it simpler and easier than my Star Wars project. It’s turned out only modestly so. I still have quite a bit to do, but the pieces are all cut, adjusted to depth, and finished with poly. I put resin in Mt Doom, got Sauron’s eye more or less how I envisioned (multiple resin layers with sanding and watercolor, then an acetate backing and a watercolored paper backing to hide the LED heat sink). It’s all wired up – the lights weren’t bright enough for my taste on 2xAAs, so I threw in some resistors to bump it to 3xAA (which is slightly above the voltage rating of these LEDs. Hopefully the resistors will protect them.). I still have to actually assemble everything with glue, attach Sam/Frodo, Shelob, and Sméagol. And figure out how I’m gonna frame/mount this beast. … #lotr #buticancarryyou #samwisegamgee #frodobaggins #smeagol #mountdoom #scrollsawart #woodart

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I haven’t posted on this LOTR piece entitled “I can’t carry it for you…” in a while (but tons of stories). I’m still working on it. When I designed this, I thought I was making it simpler and easier than my Star Wars project. It’s turned out only modestly so. I still have quite a bit to do, but the pieces are all cut, adjusted to depth, and finished with poly. I put resin in Mt Doom, got Sauron’s eye more or less how I envisioned (multiple resin layers with sanding and watercolor, then an acetate backing and a watercolored paper backing to hide the LED heat sink). It’s all wired up – the lights weren’t bright enough for my taste on 2xAAs, so I threw in some resistors to bump it to 3xAA (which is slightly above the voltage rating of these LEDs. Hopefully the resistors will protect them.). I still have to actually assemble everything with glue, attach Sam/Frodo, Shelob, and Sméagol. And figure out how I’m gonna frame/mount this beast. … #lotr #buticancarryyou #samwisegamgee #frodobaggins #smeagol #mountdoom #scrollsawart #woodart

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https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18070712896169820/
Sep 09

Sydney & Sylas, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2019

I can finally share this wedding gift that @tamarynart and I made for my niece Sydney @spudknee and her new hubby Sylas @schnazzysylas! They spent their honeymoon in Ireland and just got back. We spent almost two months slowly pulling this together. The oil painting shows the Cliffs of Moher – painted on curly maple. It’s the first painting I’ve done in years and it shows. Haha. But I’m happy with it, all things considered. I scroll-sawed Ireland into a walnut board, and framed it in cherry with maple splines. I also hand carved the Celtic love knot. @tamarynart designed and burned the frame details. She also included a couple of burned kitchen utensils. Hopefully this will remind you both of fun times and great stories for decades to come! We love you both!

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I can finally share this wedding gift that @tamarynart and I made for my niece Sydney @spudknee and her new hubby Sylas @schnazzysylas! They spent their honeymoon in Ireland and just got back. We spent almost two months slowly pulling this together. The oil painting shows the Cliffs of Moher – painted on curly maple. It’s the first painting I’ve done in years and it shows. Haha. But I’m happy with it, all things considered. I scroll-sawed Ireland into a walnut board, and framed it in cherry with maple splines. I also hand carved the Celtic love knot. @tamarynart designed and burned the frame details. She also included a couple of burned kitchen utensils. Hopefully this will remind you both of fun times and great stories for decades to come! We love you both! … #scrollsawart #oilpainting #irelandart #pittsburghwoodworking #madeinpittsburgh #pyrography #weddinggift

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