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Laughing Mantis Studio

Art inspired by biology, created by a biologist

  • The Art of Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D.
    • Woodworking
    • 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
  • About

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

laughingmantisstudio
It’s a “garden hod.” Apparently. That was a It’s a “garden hod.” Apparently. That was a new word for me. But @tam_a_ryn asked me for a veggie caddy after seeing @gujube’s, so I looked at a few photos online and whipped this thing together from an old shelving board left in our garage by the previous homeowners. No plans. I literally just made it up as I went along. Hopefully @tamarynart will be adding some purty pyrography to it. … #gardenhod #veggiecaddy #diy
I made a lamp shade for @tam_a_ryn. It’s almost I made a lamp shade for @tam_a_ryn. It’s almost as pretty as she is. It wraps around. … #tiffanylamp #stainedglass #leadedglass #diyhomedecor
Tiffany-style lamp for @tam_a_ryn update: well, I Tiffany-style lamp for @tam_a_ryn update: well, I finally finished cutting and foiling all 4 panels (over 400 pieces of glass). And I can tell you exactly how long just the foiling took: exactly 30 minutes longer than Star Wars episodes 1 through 9 plus Solo and Rogue One! Yeah… I was a little shocked at that myself. Star Wars is of course one of my go to things to throw on the TV when I want to “watch” something but not actually pay attention. I really did not anticipate it taking that long. As the pieces get foiled, that adds thickness between the pieces, which adds up tremendously throwing the whole panel out of whack. So there was a LOT of tweaking at the grinder to get pieces to fit. As in almost every piece had to have at least 1 extra round of grinding… Whew. I’ve now soldered 1 panel! … #stainedglass #tiffanylamp
My IG friends Megan and Austin (@magicalmeg90 and My IG friends Megan and Austin (@magicalmeg90 and @rebelartdesign) were lucky enough to attend this years Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, CA. Out of the kindness of her heart, Megan asked me if I wanted a silly “I hate sand” Anakin beach towel from the convention after I commented on her story. She quickly shipped it from Cali and cemented herself in my “good people” book (swipe to end). In return, I made her a little wooden stormtrooper helmet artwork, using the first SW design I ever cut. I gave that first one away years ago to my buddy Jordan @scrapforge, so I decided to make myself one as well. Theirs is made from African padauk and purpleheart. Mine (shown in vid) is padauk and wenge. Handcut on scrollsaw. I expect the contrast on hers will pop a little more with time as the padauk darkens. What’s funny is I had already intended on making her a small stormtrooper magnet. But after her act of kindness, she got an upgrade. May the force be with y’all! … #intarsia #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #woodworking #woodsculpture #woodintarsia #starwars #starwarsfanart #stormtrooper #maytheforcebewithyou
I randomly decided to replace a dingy old lampshad I randomly decided to replace a dingy old lampshade in the living room for my wife with a Tiffany-style shade. I went with “stupidly ambitious” in my design (for a noob like me). See last slide. There are a lot of design flaws/errors. And it’s a pain with over 400 pieces of glass to cut and grind and foil and solder. But I think it will still be pretty and pretty cool. #stainedglass #tiffanylamp
Congrats to my friend and colleague in the @leeoes Congrats to my friend and colleague in the @leeoesterreichlab for successfully defending his Ph.D. dissertation to become “Dr. Kai Ding”! @kaiding568 We will hopefully be published together (on his first-author paper) soon! Placard built from purpleheart and a crab apple tree next to our workplace that was killed by ants.
I’d be lying if I said reaction vids like this a I’d be lying if I said reaction vids like this aren’t a big part of why I do what I do. “Power. I have it. They don’t. This bothers them.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All natural wood color, no paint or stain. After a brutally long work day filled with breast cancer, it’s nice to sit down and post about some fun slayage! I’ve been a massive Buffy/ @sarahmgellar fan for many years, having watched it all many times. Tori Angelini (@toricangelini) and I had a bunch of little interactions over the past few years over random woodworking/art things. But then she let it slip that she’s a massive Buffy fan too, and our conversations sorta snowballed into randomly sent Buffy/geeky things (I seem to have a lot of entertainment interests in common with her hubby @matt.angelini as well). She and @tam_a_ryn also bonded over hot sauces, and she even sent us some hot sauce along with a bunch of her wood/epoxy ornaments for Christmas. Anyway, I knew I had to do something for her in return, and I wanted to wait long enough for it to be a total surprise. I first thought about making their little one a baby rattle. And then I thought maybe a simplistic Buffy piece for her and an “Appa” for Matt. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to do Buffy and make it rad. I mean Tori is an obsessive fan. A fanatic, even! You should ask her about her experience having a “Cameo” conversation with James Marsters AKA Spike. Kudos to Matt for getting her that! 😂 So I settled on this design I roughly based on the season 1 DVD cover. Note: I’m intentionally leaving out Joss Whedon discussion in this post. It’s obviously been disappointing. But Buffy still rocks in all her campy, angsty glory. Made from Bloodwood, mahogany, purpleheart, pine, basswood, ebony, holly, elm, European cherry, and walnut. I think it turned out five by five. … #buffythevampireslayer #buffysummers #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #woodsculpture #intarsia #woodintarsia
“Power. I have it. They don’t. This bothers th “Power. I have it. They don’t. This bothers them.” Buffy the Vampire Slayer. All natural wood color, no paint or stain. After a brutally long work day filled with breast cancer, it’s nice to sit down and post about some fun slayage! I’ve been a massive Buffy/ @sarahmgellar fan for many years, having watched it all many times. Tori Angelini (@toricangelini) and I had a bunch of little interactions over the past few years over random woodworking/art things. But then she let it slip that she’s a massive Buffy fan too, and our conversations sorta snowballed into randomly sent Buffy/geeky things (I seem to have a lot of entertainment interests in common with her hubby @matt.angelini as well). She and @tam_a_ryn also bonded over hot sauces, and she even sent us some hot sauce along with a bunch of her wood/epoxy ornaments for Christmas. Anyway, I knew I had to do something for her in return, and I wanted to wait long enough for it to be a total surprise. I first thought about making their little one a baby rattle. And then I thought maybe a simplistic Buffy piece for her and an “Appa” for Matt. But the more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to do Buffy and make it rad. I mean Tori is an obsessive fan. A fanatic, even! You should ask her about her experience having a “Cameo” conversation with James Marsters AKA Spike. Kudos to Matt for getting her that! 😂 So I settled on this design I roughly based on the season 1 DVD cover. Note: I’m intentionally leaving out Joss Whedon discussion in this post. It’s obviously been disappointing. But Buffy still rocks in all her campy, angsty glory. Made from Bloodwood, mahogany, purpleheart, pine, basswood, ebony, holly, elm, European cherry, and walnut. I think it turned out five by five. … #buffythevampireslayer #buffysummers #scrollsaw #scrollsawart #woodsculpture #intarsia #woodintarsia
It’s a box. I made the “you put your weed in It’s a box. I made the “you put your weed in there” joke to @tam_a_ryn. Alas, she’s too young to have seen the classic SNL sketches. She just looked at me and said deadpan “is that a reference to something?” 😂 I made this completely from scavenged wood: crabapple near my work killed by ants, black walnut cut beneath a power line, a neighbor’s maple, and a random elm log from the side of the road. … #dovetailjoint #woodenbox #woodworking
Back before I started my R2-D2 Tiffany-style lamp, Back before I started my R2-D2 Tiffany-style lamp, I designed this little cardinal to be my first ever stained glass project (for @tam_a_ryn). After cutting like 3 pieces I was like “nah. I’m just gonna jump in and make the lamp.” The glass and template has been sitting on a shelf ever since. I finally got around to cutting the rest of it and soldering it together. The soldering is REALLY bad. Like I didn’t realize just how bad until I put patina on it. But whatever. It still looks pretty. I may go back and fix it. But more likely I’ll just move on to something else. … #stainedglass #cardinal #homedecor
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