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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Feb 01

“Jabba’s Palace” – Daniel D. Brown, 2017, Wood Intarsia

My latest wood intarsia piece: a scene of Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine from “Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi”. I built this from a variety of domestic and exotic woods including mahogany, bubinga, bloodwood, purpleheart, walnut, lacewood, sycamore, and maple. All natural wood colors (NO stains or paints). The frame is bocote with mahogany splines. The work is finished with Tung oil and the frame with polyurethane. This work took several weeks (and many countless hours) to create, and I documented the entire process on my Instagram account. Videos can be seen in my “story highlights” on my profile. I made this for myself.

 

 

  The Making of Jabba’s Palace

from instagram:

 

 

 

Jan 18

Wooden Oval Earrings #2 – Cherry & Purpleheart

These earrings are hand-made, one-of-a-kind pieces made from cherry and purpleheart woods. The colors are the natural colors of the wood (no stains or paints). These are finished with a food-safe mineral oil/beeswax mix. 

This pair of earrings is available for purchase on the Laughing Mantis online shop.

 

 

The wood is initially cut to size and glued in the desired pattern. I then sketch out the design and cut it out with a scrollsaw. Finally comes a LOT of sanding by hand and then finishing with mineral oil/beeswax.

 

Jan 18

Wooden Oval Earrings #2 – Cherry, Padauk, & Purpleheart

These earrings are hand-made, one-of-a-kind pieces made from cherry, padauk, and purpleheart woods. The colors are the natural colors of the wood (no stains or paints). These are finished with a food-safe mineral oil/beeswax mix. 

This pair of earrings is available for purchase on the Laughing Mantis online shop.

 

The wood is initially cut to size and glued in the desired pattern. I then sketch out the design and cut it out with a scrollsaw. Finally comes a LOT of sanding by hand and then finishing with mineral oil/beeswax.

 

Jan 13

“FN-2187” – Daniel D. Brown, 2018, Wood Intarsia, Maple, Walnut, & Padauk

This was a fun wood intarsia project I did inspired by “FN-2187” (Finn) from Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. It is constructed with maple, walnut, and padauk wood – cut with a scrollsaw, shaped with a Dremel, and hand-sanded. No stains or paints were used – these are all the natural colors of the wood. Finished with gloss polyurethane. 

“FN-2187”

“FN-2187” Detail