Jul 08

The Jaspers, Daniel D. Brown, 2019

I can finally reveal my “family portrait” of the Jasper family, consisting of the Copper Pig himself (Paul @copper_pig_fine_woodworking), his wife Vicky (@jasperfarms – the fact that she raises chickens and teaches yoga is all I knew about her), their daughter the talented Copper Piglet, and of course Henry, their furry son.

This whole project came about because we had a trip to Boston planned for a family reunion. I had mentioned it to Paul a while back and he essentially said “stop on by!!”. Paul has been a huge inspiration to me and has helped a number of times in my woodworking. Our message history is just rife with advice, tool recommendations, and general encouragement. He once video chatted with me on how to make my “Three Rivers Table” so that it didn’t destroy itself with seasonal wood movement, drawing out floating tenons on a napkin. Everyone in the community knows what a positive force he is, constantly supporting other makers with shout outs, collaborations, encouragement, trades, and purchases. It doesn’t hurt that he’s part of our brotherhood of PhD scientists moonlighting as artists/craftspeople. Basically he’s my #mancrushmonday.
My idea was to just make a quick little pig or something for when we visited him in Boston. As soon as I started designing it, this “family portrait” idea hit me. Once it did, I really had no choice but to make it. The design snowballed and I ended up spending a couple weeks on it. The idea demanded I finish it as envisioned. That’s just usually how it goes when I get excited about something.

Made from 14 species: African stinkwood (from an antique chair my mother-in-law @sledv_life_rocks bought in South Africa in the 1970s. This is a species that is no longer commercially available due to overharvesting and subsequent protection. It was exterminated on Table mountain, in the shadows of which my wife @tamarynart was partially raised), walnut, bocote, yew, spalted maple, bubinga, ash, cherry, ebony, bloodwood, sumac, aspen, and two unknown species from an exotic hardwood pallet. Designed in Adobe Illustrator and cut it via scrollsaw.

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I can finally reveal my “family portrait” of the Jasper family, consisting of the Copper Pig himself (Paul @copper_pig_fine_woodworking), his wife Vicky (@jasperfarms – the fact that she raises chickens and teaches yoga is all I knew about her), their daughter the talented Copper Piglet, and of course Henry, their furry son. This whole project came about because we had a trip to Boston planned for a family reunion. I had mentioned it to Paul a while back and he essentially said “stop on by!!”. Paul has been a huge inspiration to me and has helped a number of times in my woodworking. Our message history is just rife with advice, tool recommendations, and general encouragement. He once video chatted with me on how to make my “Three Rivers Table” so that it didn’t destroy itself with seasonal wood movement, drawing out floating tenons on a napkin. Everyone in the community knows what a positive force he is, constantly supporting other makers with shout outs, collaborations, encouragement, trades, and purchases. It doesn’t hurt that he’s part of our brotherhood of PhD scientists moonlighting as artists/craftspeople. Basically he’s my #mancrushmonday. My idea was to just make a quick little pig or something for when we visited him in Boston. As soon as I started designing it, this “family portrait” idea hit me. Once it did, I really had no choice but to make it. The design snowballed and I ended up spending a couple weeks on it. The idea demanded I finish it as envisioned. That’s just usually how it goes when I get excited about something. Made from 14 species: African stinkwood (from an antique chair my mother-in-law @sledv_life_rocks bought in South Africa in the 1970s. This is a species that is no longer commercially available due to overharvesting and subsequent protection. It was exterminated on Table mountain, in the shadows of which my wife @tamarynart was partially raised), walnut, bocote, yew, spalted maple, bubinga, ash, cherry, ebony, bloodwood, sumac, aspen, and two unknown species from an exotic hardwood pallet. Designed in Adobe Illustrator and cut it via scrollsaw. #pittsburghwoodworking#scrollsawart#intarsia#woodworking#woodart

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Jun 04

Flower jewelry bowl from walnut

Flower jewelry bowl from walnut

I carved this little jewelry bowl from a walnut cookie I cut from a piece of firewood (found on the side of the road in my neighborhood). I made this on a whim just to have a little something to carve on while enjoying the weather. It’s intended as a temporary bowl for when @tamarynart takes off her earrings in the living room. Which is often.
Carved with a handful of chisels, gouges, and at least 6 different @saburrtooth burrs. I also did a fair bit of pyrography on it, but you can really only see it when you look closely. Finished with @odiesoil.

May 14

Caretta, Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D., 2019

“Caretta” – 2019, walnut and scorched maple.
This loggerhead sea turtle started as a simple experiment after I sliced up a walnut firewood log into “cookies” and had a vision of turtle shell scutes in the endgrain patterns. I then designed the shape in illustrator, basing it on a few different turtles. The shell pieces were cut on the scrollsaw, shaped with an oscillating sander, epoxied, and sanded silky smooth. The fins and head were cut from maple, which I shaped with a variety of @saburrtooth carbide bits and sanders, burned with a blowtorch, and the spaces between the scales were ground with more bits and hand-carved with gouges. A final bit of detail was burned with @tamarynart’s @colwoodwoodburning wood burner. Finished with @odiesoil specifically because I wanted to retain the super-smooth natural wood feeling of the shell. All in all, I’m pretty excited with how it turned out! The entire process took just over three weeks, taking up most of my personal free time. Most of that was sanding and shaping. I documented the entire process in stories which are now archived as a highlight in my Instagram profile for those of you curious to see how it was made.

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“Caretta” – 2019, walnut and scorched maple. This loggerhead sea turtle started as a simple experiment after I sliced up a walnut firewood log into “cookies” and had a vision of turtle shell scutes in the endgrain patterns. I then designed the shape in illustrator, basing it on a few different turtles. The shell pieces were cut on the scrollsaw, shaped with an oscillating sander, epoxied, and sanded silky smooth. The fins and head were cut from maple, which I shaped with a variety of @saburrtooth carbide bits and sanders, burned with a blowtorch, and the spaces between the scales were ground with more bits and hand-carved with gouges. A final bit of detail was burned with @tamarynart’s @colwoodwoodburning wood burner. Finished with @odiesoil specifically because I wanted to retain the super-smooth natural wood feeling of the shell. All in all, I’m pretty excited with how it turned out! The entire process took just over three weeks, taking up most of my personal free time. Most of that was sanding and shaping. I documented the entire process in stories which are now archived as a highlight in my profile for those of you curious to see how it was made. … #woodworking #scrollsawart #woodart #powercarving #woodsculpture #pittsburghwoodworking #madeinpittsburgh #turtleart #turtlelover #seaturtlelove #savetheseaturtles #loggerhead #turtle #tortuga

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Quick update on my sea turtle in progress for those of you who see 50 stories and think “nuh uh. ain’t got time for that. swipe” (like me). I’m getting closer to finished. It’s looking more or less how I envisioned. I still have to do a lot of detail cleanup and carve out notches in the appendages for attachment so the depth between them and the shell isn’t quite so dramatic. I always intended this to be flattish, with the full 3-dimensionality only hinted. Thanks to everyone who has responded with questions and comments to my stories. I really didn’t expect this much encouragement and support given that this started as just a little experiment after looking at a piece of firewood. I love this community of makers and artists, and you all remain the reason I even post this stuff. … #woodworking #intarsia #scrollsawart #powercarving #pyrography #pittsburghwoodworking #madeinpittsburgh #seaturtle #seaturtleart

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Dec 29

Mom & Jack, Daniel D. Brown, 2018

Some of you may have seen in my series on the octopus intarsia, that my step-dad Jack died rather unexpectedly in November. For Christmas, I decided to make a wooden artwork for my mom based on her favorite photo of them together in Mexico. This was a hard one for me to make, and equally hard to give. But I’m really glad I made it, as it represents a very meaningful memory. I love you mom! @pjwages.
Built from walnut, mulberry (from our back yard), cedar (reclaimed from our own roof), yellowheart (the sun) bloodwood, maple, and a cherry frame with walnut splines.