North Vancouver artist one of 16 finalists in special edition Lego competition

A cargo ship and lighthouse, a futuristic skyscraper, a parrot, a castle, a steam locomotive: To the untrained eye, they might not have much in common.

They are a unifying theme in Lego artist Paul Hetherington’s creation, a piece called Imagine it! Build It! that is one of 16 finalists out of 443 submissions in a special edition Lego set contest in honour of the brick’s 60th birthday last year.

“The Lego brick is so inspirational, it’s created a subculture of people who like to build with those bricks,” Hetherington, 49, said. “Imagine it! Build it! explodes around the (red main) brick with different creations Lego has made, representing different themes Lego has done over the years.

“I tried to visually represent the creative power that is present in the Lego brick.”

The hundreds of entries were judged by Lego designers from the home base in Denmark. In their decision to make Hetherington’s piece a finalist, they noted it “interestingly puts people (instead of their creations) front and centre … this design gives the builder a taste of the limitless ideas just waiting to burst out.”

Hetherington is a master at his craft. He has won many awards at Lego-building contests, with creations such as Lady Gaga and the stage castle from the singing artist’s Born This Way tour, the Joker and Batman duelling in Gotham City, and his giant 1.4-metre Poseidon statue.

For Imagine it! Build it! to be produced, the North Vancouverite needs 200 pre-sales of his 927-brick creation at bricklink.com.

It costs US$69.99.