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Laughing Mantis Studio

Art inspired by biology, created by a biologist

  • The Art of Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D.
    • Woodworking
    • Stained Glass
    • Pastel Pencil
    • Graphite Pencil
    • 3D Digital Art
    • 2D Digital Art
    • Paintings
    • Sculptures
    • Pet Portraits
    • Jewelry & Hangers
    • 3D Animation
    • Ocean Invasion Series
    • Science Art
  • Shop
  • Exhibitions
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Mulberry Pen – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

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  • Mulberry Pen – Daniel D. Brown, 2018

I made this pen from a mulberry log that came down in my neighbors backyard.

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June 26, 2018September 25, 2018 LaughingMantisPens & Wands, Woodworkingcarving, diy, drill press, handmade, lathe, mulberry, pen-turning, wood, woodworking

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

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A little #asmr. Wait for it 😂 Yes. This was han A little #asmr. Wait for it 😂 Yes. This was hand cut on a scrollsaw. Covering with tape as I go is the only way to prevent tears. … #scrollsaw #spiderman
Canyon Wren, 2023 I like birds. I like nature. Ove Canyon Wren, 2023 I like birds. I like nature. Over the past year or two I’ve greatly enjoyed all the posts about our local native (and non-native) wildlife by the Pittsburgh Park Rangers (@pghparkrangers) account. So when Ranger Stevie (@steviewanderphotography), who had been handling a lot of those posts, asked if I’d make a wooden Canyon Wren (her children are named “Canyon” and “Wren”), I couldn’t say no. I very rarely take commissions like this. But being a born and raised southern country boy & biologist (transplanted to Pittsburgh for 14 years now), I find community engagement with and about nature to be incredibly important, especially in urban areas like Pittsburgh that actually has an amazing amount of green space and wildlife. So her role in that provided me an extra incentive to do it. More than anything though, it was just a fun idea. The design is roughly based on a photograph by Ken Chamberlain, used with permission. This piece took just over 3 weeks and ~30-40 hrs (I always lose track) from design to finish. All ~280 pieces were hand cut on a scrollsaw, it was made from 13 species: mahogany, canarywood, koa, rosewood, chakta viga, maple, black walnut, claro walnut, wenge, ebony, holly, black limba, and yellowheart. Being a relatively small piece, I managed to cut almost all of it from leftover offcuts from other projects. … #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #intarsia #woodintarsia #woodworking #woodcarving #canyonwren #birdart #birdsofinstagram #makersgonnamake
Oiling up the body of this Canyon Wren for @stevie Oiling up the body of this Canyon Wren for @steviewanderphotography of the @pghparkrangers. The Pittsburgh park ranger account just made a nice post about the American Holly tree. I mentioned in the comments that it’s prized for its whiteness amongst woodworkers, but if not harvested and dried properly it becomes darker (“spalted” by fungi). The throat of this bird showcases that nicely. The whitest 2 pieces are holly dried correctly in winter (from @cyclocrosscutter). The other throat pieces are holly I milled and dried myself in summer (given to me by @afonticiella and @pghchocolatier from a neighborhood tree that had to be cut), which obviously aren’t very white. But it’s great to have some different holly tones for gradients like this. … #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #intarsia #woodintarsia #birdart #canyonwren #woodworking #woodcarving
Dorkiest crossroads signpost ever. Mostly made to Dorkiest crossroads signpost ever. Mostly made to find all the other geeks in my neighborhood. These are some of my favorite fictional locales/references. Obviously these are mostly “the big ones” that walkers-by may recognize. There were literally dozens of more esoteric places I wanted to include from books, tv, comics, and video games, but it was quickly snowballing. Hell, I could have done an entire piece just for Star Wars. Honestly, my favorite is the one dedicated to a city in my wife @tam_a_ryn ’s favorite movie: Aspen, where the beer flows like wine (thanks to the multiple people who responded to my stories with that quote 😂). I also intended to include her second fave (and one of mine): Spaceballs. But I just stopped once I hit 20. That was a LOT of cutting for all those letters. But it was a fun not-so-little project! All hand cut on scrollsaw from mostly fencepost cedar and a bit of curly maple for the graphical elements. Colors achieved with spirit stains to see some grain. … #scrollsawart #scrollsaw #geekart #geek #woodworking #starwars #backtothefuture #lordoftherings #gameofthrones #harrypotter #batman #dumbanddumber #hitchhikersguidetothegalaxy #legendofzelda #supermariobros #spiderman #daredevil #thor #marvel #disney #transformers #avatar #startrek #skyrim #buffy #batman
New project progress. Geek crossroads. Not even ha New project progress. Geek crossroads. Not even half done. Also nothing is actually attached yet (also shop lighting shadows suck). Still have some playing around to do. I think I have like 17 designed, with maybe 2 more still to design, and another couple dozen I would love to add if it wouldn’t end up like 15 feet tall. I’ll probably have to cull some as it is. 😂 But I still need Druidia (for @tam_a_ryn. She’s a huge Spaceballs fan, which she saw before Star Wars. The “Aspen” is for her too 😂). And Hill Valley (Back to the Future) for sure. What would you add for your own dorky crossroads signs? … #geekart #scrollsawart #woodworking
Congratulations to Dr. Osama Shiraz Shah @osamashi Congratulations to Dr. Osama Shiraz Shah @osamashiraz for successfully defending his PhD “Multi-omic profiling of E-cadherin deficient breast cancers and their in-vitro models towards enabling precision medicine”! I have zero doubt you’re gonna be one successful scientist. I’ve now made like a dozen of these plaques for students graduating from the @leeoesterreichlab. This one was cut on scrollsaw from sapele, yellowheart, crabapple (from next to our old work building), and curly maple. … #woodworker #scrollsaw #graduationgift #diysigns
We have a little patio table that I literally pick We have a little patio table that I literally picked up off the side of the road years ago. A few weeks ago I looked at it and thought “I should replace that with a handmade table.” So here we are. Designed in consult with @tam_a_ryn. The top and shelf are walnut scavenged from a tree someone cut beneath a power line in our hood years ago. Legs are scrollsawed and hand-carved sapele. The top is inlayed with a scrollsawed sunflower intarsia made of walnut, mahogany, bloodwood, and yellowheart, and inlayed with router and chisels. Finished with @odiesoil … #woodworking #instarsia #scrollsaw #patiofurniture #diyfurniture #homedecor
If you haven’t been following my stories, I’m If you haven’t been following my stories, I’m making a porch table from mahogany, firewood black walnut top, and a bunch of species to make in inlayed sunflower. This is just some super boring asmr from carving on the legs. … #woodworking #woodcarving #diyfurniture
I’m just zis guy, you know? I’m just zis guy, you know?
Over a decade ago I was into CGI (computer art usi Over a decade ago I was into CGI (computer art using Blender), making a series of artworks depicting ocean creatures in absurd land habitats (you can see them if you scroll down for like an hour). At the time I decided I should have an absurd studio name. “Laughing Mantis Studio” just popped into my head. For some reason I thought imagining what an amused mantid would look like (how would you even tell?!) was funny. It stuck. I redesigned my logo years ago after picking up woodworking and it also just sort of stuck and become part of me. I thought I wanted to be an artist in my young life. But I was immersed in biology and nature likely within months of being born, having grown up in rural Texas and then the Ozarks of Arkansas. I’ve felt a connection with nature and a desire to understand how it works for as long as I have memories. Thanks to some great teachers (and a dislike of making art that other people ask me to make), I ended up followed this calling in biology - through many different disciplines from rattlesnake radio-tracking to cardiogenesis, evo-devo, and now breast cancer biology. But I never really stopped making things. I’ve gone through many artistic phases - graphite, watercolor, sculpture, CGI, music (very bad), novel-writing (very very bad), pastels, oil painting, and now woodworking. This is the longest I’ve stuck with 1 medium (like 6-7 years now?), which has also been the most rewarding - probably because of the sheer physicality and tangibility of the end result. It’s a necessary outlet after thinking about and working with cancer cells all day every day for a decade. Anyway, I’ve made a lot of plaques and signs for people. But never for myself. So here it is. Kinda pointless since I don’t sell or take commissions. I don’t want a business. Maybe in retirement. But as an admitted vanity project, it makes me happy to have it now. Made from hickory, curly maple, wormy walnut, holly, wenge, yellowheart, padauk, sapele, bloodwood, and some green spirit dye. … #woodworking
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