CUSTOM LEGO MOSAICS BY AARON LIEPMAN
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- ANIMALS
- CHARACTERS
- NATURE
- PORTRAITS
- SPORTS
ABOUT AARON - BIOLOGY PROFESSOR & BRICK MANIAC
By day, I am a Professor at Eastern Michigan University, where I enjoy conducting research in my laboratory and teaching students about Cellular & Molecular Biology. When I am not in the lab or the classroom, I love creating art. While it may seem unusual for a scientist to moonlight as an artist, I believe that the same creativity needed for designing experiments is instrumental for making artwork.
My LEGO mosaic origin story… While visiting a LEGO store in Chicago with my family, I was mesmerized by a huge LEGO mosaic, depicting the Chicago cityscape, on the wall outside the store. I had never dreamed of using LEGO to create two-dimensional artwork. I was fascinated by the way that subtle details, invisible up close, somehow emerged when I stepped back and viewed the mosaic from a different perspective and I was inspired to explore this art medium.
I tried to start “simple” and create a small (20″ x 20″) LEGO mosaic of a cartoon character (LEGO Hulk from the LEGO Marvel Superheroes video game) as a gift for a friend. I soon realized that I had misjudged the difficulty of this art project. I needed large quantities of LEGO bricks , and I needed many in colors not represented in the LEGO palette. To unlock a greater array of colors, I decided to paint LEGO bricks. This started with commercial spray paints and has evolved into custom formulations of artist-grade acrylics that I mix myself.
Through the years (and hudreds of thousands of bricks later…) I have continually refined my techniques while increasing the size and complexity of my artworks. I really enjoy creating LEGO mosaic artwork, and I hope you enjoy the artwork I have created. I would love to hear from you if you have questions or comments!
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BRICK MADNESS eBOOK SERIES
I published the Brick Madness eBook series as a way to share this creative art form with others. Each Brick Madness title contains full-color images providing step-by-step detail for the entire mosaic building process, progressively guiding a mosaic builder from a blank 32 x 32 baseplate to a completed LEGO mosaic. These high quality instructions are created in a style similar to the instruction booklets provided with boxed sets, and show clear placement of each brick. This allows young children to follow along with minimal guidance and makes it easy to pause at any step and return later to the building project.
There are a wide variety of Brick Madness mosaics, including animals, vehicles, and holiday-themed characters. Each mosaic can be created using common LEGO brick colors and sizes. And if yon’t have all the parts, don’t worry! Guided instructions are also included to assist with purchasing any needed parts using the Bricklink online marketplace.
These simple LEGO mosaics make fun projects to build together with kids (or for kids to build independently) and they make great display pieces and gifts. I hope you enjoy them!
Click here to access a list of all the Brick Madness titles. There are about 70 different titles available with links to a few shown below.
These titles can be accessed freely with a Kindle Unlimited subscription or purchased for about $3 each. If you would like to sample a title for free, please e-mail me.
NEWS & EVENTS - click + to expand the news tab for each year
September 14 – October 1, 2023 – “Pixels of Life” a mixed-media artwork (LEGO mosaic + acrylic on canvas painting) exhibited at Brush Studio (11 Ionia Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI) for ArtPrize 2023. This installation was created in collaboration with Katie Hammond and featured on FOX17 News, click here to check out the story.
August 6, 2023 – Aaron presents “Immortal” at the 18th Annual Ann Arbor District Library LEGO contest
February 25-26, 2023 – Aaron shows a selection of his LEGO mosaics at the 2023 Brick Bash at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, MI.
February 14-17, 2023 – “Revolutionary” is shown at the LA Art Show in Los Angeles, CA.
January 28, 2023 – Aaron presents an artist talk about “Selma to Montgomery” and LEGO mosaics at the Ann Arbor District Library. Click here for more information.
January 16, 2023 – MLive features a story about “Selma to Montgomery” – click here to check it out.
January-February 24, 2023 – “Selma to Montgomery” on display at the Ann Arbor District Library (Main Lobby of Downtown Ann Arbor branch) and featured as part of the 2023 MLK Day celebration. Click here for more information.
October 2022 – Aaron and his artwork featured in Voyage Michigan magazine, click here to check out the story.
October 2022 – “Revolutionary” a mosaic depicting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on display at Art Unified (1329 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291), where it is offered for sale.
September 2022 – “Black & White?” a Zebra LEGO mosaic exhibited at Sweetwaters Cafe (601 Bond Ave. NW, Grand Rapids, MI) for ArtPrize 2022. Click here for more information.
August 2022 – Aaron presents “Revolutionary” at the 17th Annual Ann Arbor District Library LEGO contest.
July 2022 – Aaron presents a FREE 4-day community LEGO mosaic build for teens, hosted and sponsored by the Kent District Library system, as part of the Summer Wonder program. Approximately fifty teen library patrons participated in this collaborative build event that produced a “Powerful” portrait of Wonder Woman.
April 2022 – “TB10” an autographed LEGO mosaic of Tom Brady auctioned for $10,000 at the ChadTough Champions for Change Gala, with proceeds benefitting research to find a cure for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG, a form of brain cancer) and to support families impacted by DIPG. Check out video of TB10 here on YouTube.
October 2021 – “Black & White?” a Zebra LEGO mosaic displayed at the Gutman Gallery in Downtown Ann Arbor as part of the “Emerge” art exhibition. Click here for more information.
September 2021 – “Revolutionary” a LEGO mosaic depicting Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exhibited at the Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Grand Rapids (MI) for ArtPrize 2021. Click here for more information.
January 2021 – “Revolutionary” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. LEGO® mosaic spotlighted by MLive. Click here for a story and here for a photo gallery.
January 2021 – “Watchful” LEGO® mosaic selected as Best in Show at Bricks LA 2021! Click here to see all the prizewinning LEGO creations.
April 2020 – Aaron’s new “Brick Madness” eBook series about mini mosaics built with LEGO® bricks is available from the Amazon.com Kindle Store. Click here for more information.
February 2020 – Aaron’s LEGO® mosaics displayed at Ann Arbor BrickBash 2020.
September-October 2019 – Aaron’s LEGO® mosaics exhibited at the Saline District Library
September 2019 – MLive features Aaron’s LEGO mosaic artwork. Click here to read more.