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

Love the way the sunlight very briefly hits my new

Love the way the sunlight very briefly hits my new table through the tiny basement glass block window.
#maytheforcebewithyou #starwarsfan
#furnituredesign

Rebel Table complete! This is a little coffee tabl

Rebel Table complete!
This is a little coffee table for our lair, which has also become my “office” when I’m working from home after lab work. My goals were 1) design it with a smaller footprint than my crappy old table. This is a little room. 2) have a slider for quick access and stowing of keyboard/mouse. 3) cover my PC tower, which I wanted more accessible from my futon. I intentionally made it asymmetrical to reduce size, though I can easily move the top to be symmetrical if I want in the future. The left overhang will double as a mount for an adjustable arm/second monitor I can swing out of the way when not working. And 4) have a touch of geek to it, which ended up being more than a touch 😂.
The top is padauk and bloodwood, inlayed by hand with African mahogany Rebel insignia. The legs are walnut firewood I milled myself. The rest of the base is cherry. The drawer fronts were scrollsawed from purpleheart, chakte viga, padauk, bloodwood, and maple.
Pardon the poor pics. It’s a dark basement. And I ain’t hauling this thing upstairs to photograph. lol
...
#starwars #starwarsfanart #maytheforcebewithyou #furnituredesign #woodworking #carpentry #scrollsawart #crafttheforce

Halfway-ish point on a new coffee table for the La

Halfway-ish point on a new coffee table for the Lair.
I built my current table in grad school... like 18 yrs ago (so old 😩). With a jigsaw. And construction lumber. It’s pretty laughable in terms of “proper” woodworking.
I decided I needed a taller one, with a slide out for keyboard/mouse, and room for my PC beneath. The legs are from these old walnut logs I got for free a few years ago. The top is from 2 boards of padauk and bloodwood I impulse bought separately a long while back. I knew I’d eventually use them for something! The rest is cherry because thats all I had that fit.
I’m happy enough with the design so far - but i’ll admit it’s pretty amateurish in terms of joinery and design (compared to so many of you amazing pros I follow). The M&Ts don’t really adhere to proper rules of thumb and there’s nothing particularly elegant about it. But whatever - it’s for my man cave. I think it will be stable? 😂 Obviously it’s gonna have a touch of geek to it, some yet to be revealed - or even decided upon. But you can swipe to see my drawer front design.
PS I tried to switch from SketchUp to Fusion360 for this build. Ugh! I partially blame that for the design. Haha (a poor craftsman blames his tools). I went to far in constraints to easily edit, being a newbie.
I much prefer the simplicity and speed of SketchUp. But being a pure hobbyist, I ain’t paying for it. Or using web only free version.
#furnituredesign #woodworking #carpenter #diyfurniture #mancave

This week we decided to set up a reading nook for

This week we decided to set up a reading nook for @tamarynart in the basement (which will eventually be curtained off). I threw together this little table to go next to her new chair. The top is a walnut log I got for free down the road a few years ago (cut for power lines) and the legs are a spalted white oak log I picked up from the in-laws yard in NC last year. I had zero designs making this and built it on the fly, guided by that gorgeous feathering after I cut the log in half. I’m pretty happy with it for having essentially started as 100% firewood!
...
#woodworking #carpenter #furnituredesign #diyfurniture

Seed storage box! I’ve been slowly accumulating

Seed storage box!
I’ve been slowly accumulating garden seeds, both leftovers from this spring, and harvested seeds (for example, I ferment a couple tomatoes every year to collect for next year). I had a large dusty ziplock of them just sitting in my shop and decided they needed to go into a dark, dry box in our basement pantry. This was a great excuse to use up some cherry logs I got from my boss @adrianvlee1, which are completely filled with bug holes and not very usable for most things. But they’re perfect for something that will be hidden for ~363 days a year and only be seen by me. So why did I waste time on that power-carved walnut leaf top? Because I’ll still see it once a year. Also, I wanted to practice cutting some dovetails. I also through some dry rice in there as a desiccant.
#woodworking #woodenbox #seedstorage

Happy birthday, Victoria!!! “Momo”, 2020, wood

“Guillermo de la Cruz”, Daniel D. Brown, PhD,

“Guillermo de la Cruz”, Daniel D. Brown, PhD, 2020, wooden intarsia art.
23 species of wood, no paint/stain.

Im happy to finally post the final shots of this piece devoted to everyone’s favorite Vampire familiar/slayer!

After watching “What We Do in the Shadows” (@theshadowsfx) on @fxnetworks, this idea randomly hit me one day and it was one of those “well I guess I have no choice but to make this now” deals. I felt compelled. After I began, I must admit that a big motivation came from the Guillermo actor himself, Mr. Harvey Guillén (@harveyguillen). It turns out, Harvey is a pretty rad guy in real (virtual) life and gave me tons of private encouragement and funny little quips he’d rather I not share for reasons that would be obvious 😜. Needless to say, my inner geek was pretty stoked to be chatting about an artwork with the actor who inspired it! Harvey is easily 1 of the 4 funniest characters on the show and everyone should watch it. 😜

This piece is is roughly based on a promo from FX marketing. I wanted to add a little more detail to highlight the duality behind Guillermo’s loyalty as a familiar/desire to become a vampire and his apparently inherent penchant for slayage. The sun, fire, and door represent his first hilarious kill. Of course I added the stake bandolier and a crossbow. But astute fans will note that the bandolier also contains his trusty “Tide to go” pen for clean-up duties. The promo had the bat wings as sort of a looming presence. But I see them here more as Guillermo’s desire to become a Vamp and “BAT!” away with Nandor (@kayvan_novak). The font is based on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.

Constructed from maple, zebra wood, Brazilian rosewood, bocote, wenge, katalox, ebony, holly, sapele, mahogany, walnut, chakte viga, redheart, purpleheart, yellowheart, mesquite, bloodwood, honey locust, elm, ash, yellow pine, Douglas fir, luaun ply.
***
#whatwedointheshadows #teamguillermo #scrollsawart #woodintarsia #geekart #woodcarving #woodsculpture

“Guillermo de la Cruz”, Daniel D. Brown, PhD,

“Guillermo de la Cruz”, Daniel D. Brown, PhD, 2020, wooden intarsia art.
23 species of wood, no paint/stain.

Im happy to finally post the final shots of this piece devoted to everyone’s favorite Vampire familiar/slayer!

After watching “What We Do in the Shadows” (@theshadowsfx) on @fxnetworks, this idea randomly hit me one day and it was one of those “well I guess I have no choice but to make this now” deals. I felt compelled. After I began, I must admit that a big motivation came from the Guillermo actor himself, Mr. Harvey Guillén (@harveyguillen). It turns out, Harvey is a pretty rad guy in real (virtual) life and gave me tons of private encouragement and funny little quips he’d rather I not share for reasons that would be obvious 😜. Needless to say, my inner geek was pretty stoked to be chatting about an artwork with the actor who inspired it! Harvey is easily 1 of the 4 funniest characters on the show and everyone should watch it. 😜

This piece is is roughly based on a promo from FX marketing. I wanted to add a little more detail to highlight the duality behind Guillermo’s loyalty as a familiar/desire to become a vampire and his apparently inherent penchant for slayage. The sun, fire, and door represent his first hilarious kill. Of course I added the stake bandolier and a crossbow. But astute fans will note that the bandolier also contains his trusty “Tide to go” pen for clean-up duties. The promo had the bat wings as sort of a looming presence. But I see them here more as Guillermo’s desire to become a Vamp and “BAT!” away with Nandor (@kayvan_novak). The font is based on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.

Constructed from maple, zebra wood, Brazilian rosewood, bocote, wenge, katalox, ebony, holly, sapele, mahogany, walnut, chakte viga, redheart, purpleheart, yellowheart, mesquite, bloodwood, honey locust, elm, ash, yellow pine, Douglas fir, luaun ply.
***
#whatwedointheshadows #teamguillermo #scrollsawart #woodintarsia #geekart #woodcarving #woodsculpture

Step 11: Finishing! Finally! There are many books

Step 11: Finishing! Finally!
There are many books on wood finishing. Needless to say, my knowledge is limited.

I have tried many different finish types and brands and settled on a few out of my own comfort, confidence in getting the look I desire, ease of use, and personal taste. Many of my artworks use multiple finishes to achieve different looks.

For example, Guillermo here has a natural wood oil finish for his skin, satin clothes, and glossy eyes.

My finishes:
1. For organic, natural wood looks and feel I use hard-curing oils. I often use these on soft creatures, skin, etc. I’ve used many curing oils (tung, walnut, SimpleFinish, etc) - and there is a world of options out there. But hands down my personal favorite is @odiesoil. It cures fast, is super water resistant, cures inside the wood, incredibly easy to apply, and smells great (I swear I’m not sponsored). Rub on, let sit for ~20-30 minutes, buff it off. 1 coat is usually sufficient, but sometimes 2 is better. It does not create a top coat. So prep/sand your surface well. Con: it’s a pain in the ass if you have a lot of crevices (between intarsia pieces). Globs will harden white if you don’t wipe them away. So I often finish with oils before glue up.
2. For shine, I use polyurethanes. I like @generalfinishes for wipe/brush-on and @minwax for sprays. I choose satin, semi-gloss, or gloss, depending on desired look. I sand at 400 grit after the the first coat and 800 after subsequent coats (almost always 3 coats). Use water-based poly for less “yellowing” of the color. Oil-based is easier to get a nice surface, but also yellows the color.
3. I’ll occasionally use shellac for gloss as well. But I find it to be a little less predictable and more difficult to work with on small pieces. I’m also inexperienced with it. Some people swear by it (shellac master Paul @copper_pig_fine_woodworking). I’m more confident with poly, but shellac absolutely has its place in my shop, especially for organic, wet looking things.

That’s pretty much it. Don’t rush the finishing! It took forever to get here. So don’t screw it all up trying to speed up this crucial step.
My art is 90% patience.

***
#scrollsawart #woodintarsia

Step 10: Glueing. Pretty much all of my intarsia p

Step 10: Glueing.
Pretty much all of my intarsia pieces are glued up using two products: cyanoacrylate (CA glue. AKA superglue) and polyvinyl acetate (PVA. AKA wood glue). I tend to use both in each artwork. The CA glue (I use @starbondadhesives) is primarily used to quickly adhere small pieces. Wood glue is often not feasible for these tiny pieces. With accelerator spray, CA glue cures to holdfast in about 2-3 seconds. I apply glue to one piece and spray to the other for a more or less instant bond. Every artwork is a little different, but I typically CA glue individual pieces together, and then glue the combined pieces onto a backer with @titebondproducts PVA glue. PVA is stronger than CA. But in artworks like this with little force or pressure (aside from natural wood movement), both generally have more than enough strength and longevity. But I use PVA whenever I can. I use Titebond II for most typical applications. If I need a longer time before it cures (“open time”) or if I need good water resistance, I go with Titebond III (my go to for cutting boards, outdoor furniture, etc).
Another little trick I use quite often is to glue with Titebond, but use a drop or two of CA glue to “clamp” the piece down while the wood glue cures. This comes in incredibly handy - it’s rare that I can get an actual clamp on these pieces.

Sometimes I glue up my whole artwork AFTER I apply finish. Especially in pieces like this where I’m using different finishes on different parts, so I can’t just glue it all up first. This means I have to be careful not to mar the finish during glue up. But when I can get away with it, it’s often much easier to glue everything together and then apply finish.

An important point: if you are going to finish first, be sure to score or sand the surfaces you want to adhere. As I have personally seen, CA glue doesn’t bond to finished surfaces very well (like polyurethane) and it’s quite easy for these pieces to pop off.
***
#scrollsawart #woodintarsia #howtowoodworking

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