News from the Brickworkz Studio

Brickfest 2009 was a great time. Over the course of two public show days, more than 7,500 people came through the ballroom of the Sheraton Premiere in Tysons Corner, Virginia. (Last year’s attendance of 10,000+ was reduced because of some fire code violations, heavy rains and a local train conference, which draws on a similar crowd.) Its proximity to the LEGO store in Tysons Corner Center mall, along with the incredible deals for conference participants at Potomac Mills’ LEGO store made the event quite popular for Adult Fans of LEGO (AFOL’s) around the entire mid-Atlantic.

Local vistors weren’t the only ones, however. Representatives from LEGO Corporate were in attendance, including LEGO’s US headquarters in Enfield, CT and the “home office’ in Billund, Denmark. AFOLs joined the conference from Canada, Taiwan, and US states as far away as Hawaii and Washington.

I was delighted this year that my wife Molly could join me, and help me introduce Brickworkz to the thousands of visitors that came through. This year, I brought a special project with me.

Funded by Dan Brown at the Toy and Plastic Brick Museum in Bellaire, Ohio, “Veni, Sancte Spiritus” was a hit. The piece was built on transparent Lego base plates. Translucent, colored Lego pieces comprised the mosaic, which meant that light could pass through the entire mosaic. Here’s a video of me putting this Lego art together:

This piece, along with my award-winning Wall-E mosaic, Baby Mia, and a new artsy project called “Brick’s Breath” came with me to Tyson’s. I met thousands of people and was delighted to share my art with them.

We came home exhausted but thrilled from the creativity boost that happens when you get that many LEGO fans in a room together.

Today, I finished setting up my Lego art for the gallery show at Crossroads. The space is perfect for highlighting some of the large mosaics I have to showcase. The lighting in the gallery is incredible.

The process of transferring my mosaics takes a while, as I had to remove them from their prominent display at 8th & Main streets downtown and borrow a vehicle (thanks, Karen!) to haul them over in a few trips to Crossroads in the West End.

On Friday, several hundred people will arrive to tour the new art on display from 25 artists. It’s a huge gallery opener, with catered food and a live band. I’m looking forward to sharing my Lego art with the Arts community of Richmond, many of whom will be present.

Pictures are coming soon!

Last summer, I was contacted by the alumni office at Collegiate School to collaborate on a LEGO-themed party. This was the school’s annual fundraiser, and because of their new construction, they aptly chose LEGO to be the year’s theme.

We net throughout the summer and Fall, and I completed my projects as early as possible, considering we were having our wedding a week before the party was to begin. In October, I finished the Cougar Lego portrait – a mosaic of the school mascot, built entirely from 20,800 Lego bricks. Video below:

In January, I pre-built a significant portion of the lettering for the school’s logo and spent a full day at school, working on the Lego mosaic with the kids from the lower school. In 20 minute waves, I would introduce myself, tell the kids a bit about the work that I’ve done building mosaic portraits, and then point them to the project. I love working with kids, since they know exactly what to do with Lego. They start building. It takes very little direction to get a large portrait completed when you’re working with great imaginations! By the end of the day, more than 400 kids came through, and we had a completed mosaic.

Once our wedding was complete in February, I got right back to work on the final preparations for the big event. I had to come up at the last minute with a creative way to temporarily suspend a flimsy Lego mosaic 15 feet in the air on a stage truss. Within a few hours. I figured it out, and was quite pleased with the engineering!

The party went off without a hitch! The cougar sold at auction for more than $5,000 and the Collegiate School mosaic, built by the kids, sold for $22,100. Both, as anticipated, were donated back to the school for permanent display.

Later in the Spring, I was asked to set up the mosaics in the school. The cougar now hangs in the cafeteria of the lower school, and the Collegiate School mosaic in their library. Here’s a video of me moving the mosaic from one wall to another, later in the summer. The hottest day of the summer. With no air conditioning.