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Laughing Mantis Studio

Art inspired by biology, created by a biologist

  • The Art of Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D.
    • Woodworking
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“Old Man Carving,” Daniel D. Brown, 2006

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  • “Old Man Carving,” Daniel D. Brown, 2006

I found this little chip of wood and decided it needed a face. It’s only about 3-4 inches tall.

"Old Man Carving"
“Old Man Carving”
"Old Man Carving"
“Old Man Carving”
"Old Man Carving"
“Old Man Carving”

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May 14, 2006 LaughingMantisSculptureart, carving, face, old man, pocket knife, sculpture, wood

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This korok is hanging out beneath my happy backup This korok is hanging out beneath my happy backup pawpaw seedling. I got a bunch of pawpaw seeds from @bethanyann137 last year, which were given to her daughter from a tree at their school. Pawpaw is the largest native North American fruit, often described as banana meets mango. Deer hate it, which is a part of why I planted it (along with trying to transform our landscape to at least more native plants). Swipe for the one I planted 3 years ago, which is growing like crazy! After cold stratifying the seeds in my fridge for some months, I didn’t think they really had time to germinate in the ground and put on enough growth before winter. So I put them in pots under a grow light through the winter, they all sprouted and put on like 6-12”. I hardened them on the porch (wrapped in an old comforter 😂) for a few weeks in late winter/early spring and the leaves dropped as expected. I planted 4 in the ground and this one in a pot. I thought for sure they were never coming back to life for like a month. But amazingly they’re all putting on new growth now! The backup plant in this pot is doing the best! Also, swipe for pics of the rest of our garden. @tam_a_ryn’s poppies, and my hard-neck garlic, potato, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, peppers, peas, bush beans, poke beans, maypop, zinnias, cosmos, nasturtium, coneflower, sunflower, coreopsis, black-eyes Susan, and a bunch more. Most of it from seed.
Hey, listen! The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kin Hey, listen! The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (TotK) has finally arrived! And I’m having a blast with it. Some of you may also remember my posts about the “Sunflower Family” whom we befriended a few years back (@bethanyann137 planted sunflowers, which made me happy, so I made them a wooden one, which you can see is still hanging in the photo above). Anyway, one of their daughters is also super into all things Zelda. We may have even texted about TotK and her borrowing my amiibos (through her moms phone). 😂 As I was doing my gardening a few days ago I thought “hey, a couple koroks would look pretty cute and perfect as garden sculptures!” quickly followed by “ooh and I’d have to make some for her too” followed by “OMG I’m totally gonna make them and hide them in their yard!” If you’ve played, you understand. So that’s what I did. I made 6 koroks - 3 for me, 3 for her. When they weren’t home, I hid hers in their yard (a pot, a strawberry patch, and amidst some flowers). Made from black locust and dyed maple. I churned these out quickly over 3 days on bandsaw, scrollsaw, and a lot of Dremeling. I still have a super vivid image of being a 10 year old playing the original Legend of Zelda in 1987. I biked like 2 miles to a neighbors house in rural northeast Texas since we didn’t have a Nintendo yet. Like many others, I’ve been a fan for 26 years and have played most of them. So I find it quite satisfying to see the next generation loving something I always have as well. … #tearsofthekingdom #zelda #zeldabreathofthewild #zeldatearsofthekingdom #totk #botw #woodcarving #gardeninspiration #homedecor #korok #yardart #scrollsaw #powercarving
There is a man named Parag Chowdhury. He professes There is a man named Parag Chowdhury. He professes about hearts and viscera and other anatomical and physiological science out in California. It’s also his birthday this weekend. I met Parag back at the small liberal arts Hendrix College in Arkansas back in the 90s. The older brother of my good friend Pritam (now an archaeologist), I’d mostly see him at parties - first in the dorms, and later at the “log cabin.” Parag was and is - hands down - the smartest, coolest motherfucker I’ve ever met. Incidentally, his influence over the years as he forged his path through science and life had a major impact on the trajectory of my own career in the biomedical sciences. So when his wife Julia @juleschools asked if I’d consider making something for his big bday, I was immediately all in. I designed and built this heart over the course of two months from South American bloodwood (the heart chambers), African padauk (the oxygenated vessels), and Central American purpleheart (the deoxygenated vessels), all cut by hand on a scrollsaw. Those coronary arteries were… not easy. The background is American curly maple. Obviously some artistic liberties were taken. The padauk and purpleheart will darken dramatically with UV/oxidation over time. But the bloodwood should remain red, which is why I chose it for the heart itself. I got my PhD studying the genetics of cardiogenesis (heart development)… holy crap like 17 years ago now 😲. So the heart has additional importance to me, especially given that my own heart has… issues. For this reason I actually made 2 of them. One for Parag and one for me. … #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #intarsia #woodintarsia #woodcarving #heart #anatomy #anatomyandphysiology #scienceart #cardiacphysiology #scienceillustration #scienceisfun
Happy May 4th, y’all!! It’s been 2 years since Happy May 4th, y’all!! It’s been 2 years since I made a “May the 4th Be With You” montage of my geeky Star Wars fan art, so I figured it was time to re-up. Be sure to stick around for the bonus clip at the end 😉 This is just for fun. I am NOT a “content creator”. I am NOT an “influencer” (unless you somehow come away feeling inspired to make your own silly crap too). I don’t sell my art. I don’t take commissions. Please don’t ask. Unless you’re George Lucas, Dave Filoni, Jon Favreau, Mark Hamill, Ashley Eckstein, etc. I’m just a dude who copes with the difficulties inherent in temporarily existing as a primate by making whatever I feel like making - mostly for myself and occasionally for friends I feel are particularly deserving of something handmade. 🎵 - a capella Star Wars medley performed on Jimmy Fallon by the Roots, Fallen, and the cast of The Force Awakens. … #maythe4thbewithyou #mtfbwy #maytheforcebewithyou #starwars #starwarsfanart #scrollsaw #woodworking #geek
Here’s a quick 2.5 day project to follow that la Here’s a quick 2.5 day project to follow that last 2 month project! It’s always nice to be able to just make something simple for instant gratification after toiling 50-80 hrs on a project. I needed to get my gaming accoutrements off my Rebel Coffee Table. I kept spilling on them or knocking them off while propping up my feet. So I grabbed the first pieces of scrap wood I saw that immediately made me think “I need to get rid of this,” slapped it all together with only a rough idea in my head, and presto. The top and bottom are scrap from three different cherry trees (one of which is a different species - black cherry), including a piece of roadside firewood. The back is spalted maple from a shipping pallet and one strip of purpleheart leftover from my Yoda frame. It’s not exactly well designed or particularly pretty, but whatever. It does it’s job. … #woodworking #videogameaddict #gamingsetup #homedecor
My family. Tamaryn and Kylo (aka “Bean” or “ My family. Tamaryn and Kylo (aka “Bean” or “the Bean” or “Biterman” or “you weenie”). I just love this video. @tam_a_ryn
“Yoda” wood intarsia. Hand cut on a scrollsaw. “Yoda” wood intarsia. Hand cut on a scrollsaw. All natural wood colors. No paints or stains. I first saw The Empire Strikes Back when it came out on vhs tape sometime between 1984-1987 when I was 7-10 yrs old. My wife @tam_a_ryn wasn’t even born yet! I wasn’t quite 3 when it came out in theaters in 1980. Actually, the original Star Wars and I were both “released” the same year (‘77). The entire concept behind Yoda - this wizened, ugly, ridiculous little frog man who is actually a powerful warrior/space wizard - was both hilarious and mind-blowing to my impressionable young brain. I learned several incredibly important lessons watching (and rewatching and rewatching) “ESB”: 1) “Size matters not!” I was a very small kid - the shortest boy in like every single class until 7th grade. So I took this to heart. I’m thankful I never developed “little man syndrome” overcompensating with aggression. Perhaps I have Yoda at least partially to thank for this? 2) Do not judge a book by its cover. Again… ugly little green weirdo = great Jedi warrior. 3) Wisdom can be expressed with both extreme silliness and deep gravitas. I doubt I was aware I was learning this lesson. But I’d wager that my personality containing a fair mix of both irreverent humor and (I hope) some existential wisdom can be traced at least to some degree to this ridiculous little puppet voiced by the great Frank Oz. I built this for myself. It is not for sale and I don’t take commissions. Built from London plane, elm, holly, white oak, ebony, walnut, purpleheart, bloodwood, padauk, wenge, and an endangered wood I’ve decided not to advertise (I don’t want to increase demand. This is from an old turning block I’ve been saving). Soundboard: @adafruit … #starwars #starwarsfanart #maytheforcebewithyou #lucasfilm #disney #yoda #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #woodworking #intarsia #woodintarsia #woodcarving
Rough shaping for the next Mandalorian’s bio dad Rough shaping for the next Mandalorian’s bio dad is almost complete. 😜 (That’s a joke. I seriously doubt they’ll make Yoda Grogu’s dad) Still gotta sand, which will remove a lot of that green tint. So I’ll have to stick all the pieces in the sun again to re-green. Haven’t even started picking out wood for the background or frame yet. … #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #woodworking #starwars #starwarsfanart #maytheforcebewithyou #lucasfilm #yoda
My favorite method of adding sound to an art proje My favorite method of adding sound to an art project: the @adafruit soundboard! This is not sponsored. I’ve just used this thing enough times that it deserves a shoutout. If any of you have considered adding sound to a project, this is one very easy method. You basically control what it does by simply uploading specifically named sound files. It has a limited number of options and memory. But that’s totally fine and in many ways preferable to having something more complex like in an Arduino. Just stick a couple batteries, speakers, and a switch or two, and it’s ready to go into your project. I think it’s often used by cosplayers. Oh and it’s cheap! (Adafruit Audio FX Sound Board + 2x2W Amp - WAV/OGG Trigger -16MB) PS it can handle 11 switches - not 10. … #customsounds #starwars #adafruit #cosplay #woodworking #starwarsfanart #maytheforcebewithyou #yoda #soundboard #woodcarving #woodintarsia #scrollsaw
New project, who dis? … #starwars #yoda #scrolls New project, who dis? … #starwars #yoda #scrollsaw #woodworking
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