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Laughing Mantis Studio

Art inspired by biology, created by a biologist

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    • Woodworking
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    • 2D Digital Art
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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.
As per my now-standard practice, for those not fol As per my now-standard practice, for those not following my stories here is a roughly mid-progress post on a new wooden intarsia piece I’ve been working on. Boba Fett himself is based on the amazing artwork of @john_cassaday from Marvel Star Wars (2015-2019) #4. But it will have a slightly different background from the original art. If you’re a regular follower, you know I’m a ridiculous SW fan. But I only recently started going through the canon comics, having never been much of a comic book guy. Man there are so many panels that made me want to instantly start making wooden versions. This is one of them. My plan at the moment is to use spirit stains or watercolors after shaping each of the 150-200(?) pieces. I usually use natural wood color. But that just doesn’t work for greens... so this is a perfect excuse to use up some of my free storm-felled sycamore I milled this spring. As always, everything is cut on scrollsaw. ... #starwarsfanart #maytheforcebewithyou #bobafett #marvelstarwars #scrollsawart
Indian Elephant Baby Rattle. Walnut & cherry. Fin Indian Elephant Baby Rattle. Walnut & cherry. Finally got this little guy finished! ... #woodenbabyrattle #babytoys #babyrattle #elephantart #scrollsawart
I just gotta take a second and give it up to Harve I just gotta take a second and give it up to Harvey Guillén AKA Guillermo de la Cruz (@harveyguillen) for being an awesome human being. Seriously, he was incredibly encouraging and funny throughout the entire process of creating this piece. And I couldn’t be more satisfied seeing it now in his hands. Bring on the next season of What We Do in the Shadows! I can’t wait to see what’s next for Guillermo! ... #whatwedointheshadows #teamguillermo #harveyguillen #wwdits #wwditsfanart
It’s happened! My work is now in the hands of th It’s happened! My work is now in the hands of the actor who played the character on which one of my wooden artworks is based! This is “Guillermo” from “What We Do in the Shadows”, as played by the fabulous @harveyguillen. It actually arrived at his office a few months ago the day AFTER he left to go do film magic stuff in a far off land. But he made it safely back home to find it waiting in La La Land. My day is made!! PS everyone should watch this show. PPS special thanks to his sister (I think) for fixing a letter or two that did not survive transit intact. ... #wwdits #whatwedointheshadows #harveyguillen #fanart #scrollsawart #woodintarsia
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 Happy birthday, Victoria!!! “Momo”, 2020, wood intarsia, no paint/stain, except the eyes. My niece @dorky_artista recently convinced me to watch “Avatar: the Last Airbender”. I had already been considering it since I’m a huge Dave Filoni fan (Clone Wars, Rebels, now head of Lucasfilm animation, and was involved in Mandalorian), who got his start with Avatar. Let me just say that, despite being a show “for kids”, it really lived up to the hype in terms of superb emotional storytelling and character development. I became an instant fan. Such memorable characters! As I was watching I randomly had the thought "I have to make Momo for my niece!”. I didn't even initially intend for it to be a birthday present. It was gonna be a "just because I love you present". But I saw her bday coming up, and thought "perfect!!". Then as I designed it I thought "this is too cute. I have to make a matching one for me too." So I made two of them. 😂 Made from holly, maple, walnut, ebony, yew, elm, and a cherry background. @chestnutproducts Spirit stains for the irises. #avatarthelastairbender #lastairbender #avatarmomo #scrollsawart #woodintarsia #madeinpittsburgh #pittsburghartist
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