The Finny mosaic was the first one where I really started to think that some very cool things were possible. It was sizable enough, and well defined so that the subject was very clear. I used a different diffusion technique to make the image, one that I didn’t go back to. Too “pixely” for my taste. Also, for whatever reason, the digitization added some shades of red, green and blue. I decided on a whim to leave these in. (You’ll see in future mosaics that this sort of decision making is fairly common.

Read more…

The Stampede mosaic I made this year marked the twentieth mosaic that I’ve made. Full disclosure, the very first one was lost to the ages with no photos, a mosaic of my sweet dog Molly, made on a 32×32 baseplate, mostly black, grey, and blue. There was also an album cover I began, but quickly grew bored with and abandoned. But let’s not quibble. Twenty it is. I guess the first six would be what is referred to in the literary world as my “juvenilia”, after a fashion.

Read More…

Thanks to the good folks in SALUG, I was fortunate enough to be involved in the Buzz Lightyear build for the opening of Canada’s first LEGO store, at Chinook Centre in Calgary. It was a great time, and I had a blast helping the public build bricks to be added to the statue.

Read More

This past weekend, I (along with the other members of SALUG (Southern Alberta Lego Users Group) volunteered at the LEGO booth for the Chinook Centre Stampede Breakfast. It was a great experience, and a lot of fun. There was a table filled with loose brick, as well as a “build-a-minifig” area, where people donated to the Children’s Hospital, and could build a minifig from a big box of parts.

I’m also signed up to help out with the build for the grand opening, this coming weekend, so if you’re around Chinook Centre in the afternoon or evening, come by and say hi. We’ll be in the Centre Court Area.

Lego Dave!

The new LEGO store at Chinook Centre in Calgary will be opening this Friday, though the Grand Opening won’t be until the following weekend (June 16-18). It’s going to be a lot of fun, and very busy, I suspect.

The San Mateo store is pictured above.

I’ve volunteered to help out at the opening, as well as at the Chinook Centre Stampede Breakfast. LEGO has been kind enough to involve SALUG (the Southern Alberta LEGO Users Group) in the festivities. My understanding is that, in addition to the display we’ve built, which can be seen at Centre Court in Chinook Centre, we’ll be assisting one of the LEGO Master Builders in creating a giant sculpture for the store opening. Not sure if I’m at liberty to disclose what the sculpture will be, so mum’ the word for now.

CBC Calgary was kind enough to cover the visit of Stampede Board President Dr. David Chalack to the Stampede Mosaic I built. It was a real pleasure to meet Dr. Chalack, and to show him the piece. Enjoy.

Pictures of my Stampede Poster Lego Mosaic, currently on display at Chinook Centre. Took a while to get everything set up correctly, but it’s finally up. Will be on display at Chinook Centre for about a month. Measures 7ft by 5ft, and contains 55,296 studs, or about 45,000 bricks.

The new Stampede Mosaic I made was a lot of work, and some of that work was in areas I hadn’t anticipated. There were size issues from the start. First, the mosaic was 4 Xlarge baseplates wide by 6 high. Each of those baseplates is 15×15 inches, for a total of 5 feet by 7 feet. The first problem was getting enough brick on hand to cover that much real estate. I quickly ordered what I thought I needed from bricklink.

I worked with what I had on hand, trying to hit the target date. I called in my friend Josh, who assisted nobly by filling in the solid areas for me while I moved ahead. Once the new brick arrived, I spent some time sorting it, and finished the mosaic in my basement.

Read More

Before I get around to posting pics of the newest mosaic, I realized that I have forgotten to post an article about the LAST one.

For the Odgen-Millican LEGO show in Calgary this spring, I decided to build a mosaic of my younger son Max. I’ve made 2 of Finny in the past, so it seemed only fair…

The mosaic placed 1st in its category, and another smaller work I built placed 3rd.

I didn’t have enough Red on hand when I started, so his jacket quickly become Yellow. There were some struggles with getting this one right, I had to make a number of adjustments in the upper left portion of it, but all in all, it turned out ok…

Read More…

Through my affiliation with SALUG, I have an opportunity to be involved with a display for the opening of the Calgary LEGO store. Very exciting stuff.

The tricky part is that I need to have a mosaic completed for June 1. It needs to be Western themed (something Stampede like). Added difficulty in that it’s one of the biggest I’ve every made. And I’m a little low on some needed colours. And I’m trying to no take apart the “Max” mosaic (pictures to follow when I have a chance.).

But, on the upside, it’s a chance to see if i can create something quickly and effectively, and make some new contacts in the LEGO world. And honestly, who DOESN’T want to make a 5 ft by 7ft mosaic in 12 days?

Pics and (hopefully) video as I build.