Artistic Guilty Pleasure: Crafts and LEGOs

I have a number of guilty pleasures like vampire romance novels, really crappy movies, and eating way too much chocolate. I’ve also discovered I have what some may describe as an obsession with LEGO sets.

Growing up, my brother had THOUSANDS of LEGO bricks. I had zero (but I did have hundreds of stuffed animals.) And, as he was my older brother, I also had zero chance of getting my hands on his LEGOs. Instead, I played outside with what I could find in nature: rocks, sticks, dirt, etc. It’s really no wonder I fell in love with the Redwall book series at a young age (a medieval fantasy type world in which the characters are all animals, and they create food and drink, tools and weapons out of supplies found in nature.) To this day, I have a small collection of the paperbacks, lovingly on display in my art studio – and last year I made my first successful batch of dandelion wine!

I'll never throw this card away!

My very first LEGO set was gifted to me by my husband, Jon. It was Mother’s Day 2021, and he said “Your gift is that you get to put it together without children.” How could I not love this man? The set was #5005878, the buildable Mother’s Day card. He had found the set, which was a mere 47 pieces, on EBay. It is a cherished possession now, and permanently lives on my dresser next to the stuffed Ninja Turtle I got for Christmas when I was three. Once I put that little plastic card together, I was hooked.

Jon is also the one who introduced me to the Harry Potter series (I’m a Ravenclaw, if you were wondering) after we got together. He and my stepsons would listen to the audiobooks on long drives, and the boys had a number of the Harry Potter LEGO sets. When we started dating, Jon only had a lonely Hogwarts castle and broken down Hagrid’s Hut. We set it up on display on our kitchen shelf when we moved to Denison, and since have been adding little by little to our collection.

Our lighting is still in the trial-and-error stage.

I gave Jon a few sets as gifts; the Potions class that folds up into a book, and the Knight Bus. We also have a 20”x20” framed plastic brick family portrait hanging on our wall in the basement that I put together around the same time. My gifts for Christmas 2021 were Honeyduke’s and the Three Broomsticks, and the Flying Lessons set. At age 35, I was finally able to sit down at the dining room table with my dad (he came to visit for the holiday) and put together LEGO sets. He applied the stickers to the pieces as I assembled (hands down, the building is my favorite part.)

For Mother’s Day 2022, I was given more EBay LEGO sets – a massive bundle of bricks that formed five more Harry Potter buildings (and a Ninjago mech). Our collection is becoming obsessive – I mean - impressive, and by now I’m sure you can tell there’s a bit of passion in our family behind the hobby (and for the Harry Potter series.)

No glue! Can you believe it?

It wasn’t exactly LEGOs, but when we were on vacation in Florida this spring I picked up a wooden puzzle kit that formed a 3D angelfish. My stepson Connor helped me put it together one Saturday morning. I have a few crafty, wood sets that I have put together, and I adore them all!

What exactly is it that I enjoy so much about crafting and building? I find that I get lost in the assembling, much like I get lost in the process of creating my art. I treasure the memories from working on these sets, building them with people I love. I enjoy working with my hands, creating with a new (to me) medium. 

This begs the question – is assembling Lego or craft sets an art form? I’d argue yes. The design that goes into these sets is amazing, how it all fits together just so to create something new. There’s no denying that the designers of the sets are artists (and definitely engineers.) It’s a way for everyone, even those without artistic tendencies, to create. And really, when you think about it, there isn’t much difference between following the steps in the LEGO instruction booklet and listening to the step-by-step instructions given by the great Bob Ross (who whole-heartedly believed that everyone could be an artist) in his educational painting shows.

So much potential in one little brick.

At the time I’m writing this post, we are taking a break from acquiring more LEGOs. We will probably pick it up again in the future, but realistically we have run out of space in our kitchen. When I admitted that I have “the LEGO bug,” Jon made the joke that when I die he will fill my coffin with LEGO bricks so if I try to escape I will step on them and won’t be able to get out. I’ll admit I’m impressed with his creativity sometimes, considering he isn’t an artist.