Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Paul Hetherington. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Paul thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Hey, How do you become a Professional LEGO Artist? On occasion I do get asked this question. Sometimes it is a parent asking for inspiring words for their LEGO building child. Other times it is someone who is curious how one obtains these mystical LEGO building skills. My usual answer revolves around gaining knowledge of how the LEGO system works by building sets from instructions. Then fueling your creativity by building things you are passionate about. As far as I know there is no official University course on how to create highly detailed models out of LEGO. It sure would have made my path easier if that was the case.

As a child I started building with LEGO when I was 3. I enjoyed creating but there was no obvious sign that this would be my destiny. Like most kids in the 80’s I entered my dark ages at age 11 and it wasn’t until my early 20’s when I picked up a LEGO set again out a feeling of nostalgia. Once I bought my first set as an adult I quickly became addicted. I had a real passion for collecting the sets as well as creating my own vehicles and spaceships with the parts. I spent many years studying Legoland models as well as models created by my peers. I paid special attention to interesting parts usage and I used some of the techniques I saw to develop my own building style. My real jumping off point came when I transitioned from creating LEGO models of real world objects to dreaming up my own visions and bringing them to life in brick form. This was amplified when I began to publicly display my creations. The feedback that I received fueled my desire to create bigger and more elaborate displays. I have definitely spent a large amount of time keeping up with all the new LEGO elements that are produced. It is a constant challenge to find new ways to use all the parts in the LEGO building system. It is my love of this system that keeps me inspired to continue to creating and pushing my creative boundaries. I have found it is an ongoing process to stay a master of the craft.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Paul Hetherington and I am an Artist who uses LEGO as my medium. I specialize in creating large fantasy LEGO creations. I am always searching for wonderland in my work. Whether it is finding a new part combination, using new colors, or creating a new world. I am constantly striving to break new creative ground. My LEGO creations are instantly recognizable for their use of texture and color, as well as my innovative use of automation. Many of my creations tell stories. My goal is to entertain the viewer.

I have been creating with LEGO for the past 30 years and have had my creations shared around the world in books, magazines and online blogs. Many of my creations have won awards at LEGO conventions and in 2019 I was invited to share my work in the LEGO House Masterpiece Gallery in Billund, Denmark. This is my proudest moment as only 12 people are invited each year to display in the gallery.

I travel to many LEGO Conventions around North America to display my work. One of the Conventions I enjoy attending is Brick Universe. It goes to many cities in North America and has a gallery featuring 20 of my most popular creations. It is a real pleasure to get to share my work in many different cities around North America. My favorite part of travelling is getting to meet LEGO fans young and old and sharing the love of the brick.

I’m also excited to announce that in 2023 the West Vancouver Art Gallery will be featuring my first solo show. The show will feature LEGO models of West Coast Modern architecture and art. I am truly excited to share these models with the hope that they will inspire people to learn more about local art and architecture.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Giving myself the opportunity to be creative is the best part about being a freelance LEGO artist. I feel fortunate to have the freedom to create many of the visual ideas that pop into my head. The bonus part is that I get to share my work with the public. Seeing people get inspired is one of my favorite things!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

As a LEGO Artist one of my biggest challenges is getting my art supplies in the quantities that I need. In the past I used either Bricklink.com or Ebay to buy individual LEGO parts in quantity. The downside to this was that availability and stable pricing were not guaranteed. Prices could fluctuate wildly based on availability and scarcity of parts. Recently LEGO.com has launched an online Pick a Brick site where you can buy bulk parts. This has made sourcing the parts I need for my commissions a much more reliable experience. There can still be delays and times when parts are out of stock. But knowing that prices won’t wildly fluctuate gives me peace of mind. Another huge benefit is that I can order most of my parts from one source instead of having to order from multiple sellers. This has helped immensely in predicting parts cost for my commissioned builds.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.paulhetheringtonartist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulhetheringtonartist/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulhetheringtonartist
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/legobrickbaron
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LegoBrickbaron

Image Credits
All photos by Paul Hetherington or owned by Paul Hetherington