VLC Builder Showcase – Paul Hetherington

Paul Hetherington is an award winning LEGO artist. His building style is known around the world for it’s fun storytelling, building techniques and masterful use of colors. Paul’s work has been featured in books, magazines, online blogs and news stories. He was recently featured in The LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery in Billund Denmark. Paul also has a large gallery of his creations that travel to Brick Universe LEGO fan events. Paul is available for commissions and continues to create original pieces for his travelling show.

BrickUniverse

BrickUniverse is a LEGO Fan Event that travels to various US cities throughout the year. They invited me to have a gallery of my creations at their shows starting in 2017. At most shows I have at least 20 large creations on display.  To date I have attended over 30 shows in 20 different US cities.

At each BrickUniverse show I fly in a day early to set up all the models in my gallery.  This usually takes about 8 hours. The owners of BrickUniverse store and transport my creations in large wooden crates. Many of my creations have lighting effects and automation which take additional time to set up. Seeing the enjoyment the families get from seeing the models makes all the work worthwhile. During public hours I am onsite to answer questions about my creations. Talking to the public about my passion for LEGO is my favorite part of attending BrickUniverse.

BrickUniverse features 6 LEGO artist’s galleries as well as a fan zone that gives local LUGs space to display their creations. The artists include; Jonathan Lopes, Rocco Buttliere, Lia Chan, Martin Harris, Ej. and Abby Bocan, and myself. In addition to the displays, BrickUniverse has had 4 building zone areas, a challenge zone, a Duplo zone for younger builders as well  as a great selection of vendors selling all types of LEGO related items. BrickUniverse provides a fun family event that inspires builders young and old to build their dreams.

Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grille

Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grille approached me in 2018 about building some large LEGO displays for their restaurant. They offer train delivered food and they wanted to fill in the spaces between the train track with engaging LEGO displays. The owners want their restaurant to be a destination. The one place that kids of all ages have to visit when in the Wisconsin Dells.

In 2019 I created a large BrickCity that took over 6 months to design and build. I enjoyed designing a large food themed city that was inspired by downtown Disney. The models were created in my studio and then shipped down to Wisconsin in sections in large wooden crates. The displays were then reassembled and lighting and automation were added. The automation can be triggered by putting coins into a coin mechanism. This ensures the LEGO train motors don’t get worn out too quickly by running non stop.

In 2022 Buffalo Phil’s requested an addition to the BrickCity focusing on space themed creations for their main dining room. I created 9 large scenes over a 6 month period which are now on display. These displays feature even more automation including custom lighting, motorized features, smoke and even a real laser battle! In addition to the 9 custom scenes there are many official LEGO sets on display as well. If you visit Wisconsin Dells these LEGO displays are a must see and are free to view when you visit Buffalo Phil’s Pizza & Grille.

If you wish to see more of Pauls work check him out at his Website, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and Instagram.

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