New Brunswick teenager Faith Howe is impressing people at her local library by turning her Lego hobby into an art form.
"It's really just my passion. I just love everything about it,” Howe said. “I love the feel of the bricks in my hands, I love the sound that they make. I enjoy the satisfaction you get when you finish a piece and it’s definitely become an obsession of mine,” she said.
From elaborate 3D models to lifelike portraits, Faith makes building blocks look beautiful.
"I just like that you can build anything with them. I'm not very artistic in other mediums, like drawing or painting, but when it comes to Lego I can just picture it in my head and bring it out onto the board,” Howe said.
About a dozen of Howe's creations are on display at the public library in Oromocto, N.B., where she works.
"It's very inspiring,” said Christen Sheridan, director of the Fay Tidd Public Library. “Faith's Lego exhibit here has drawn in lots of people of all ages and it's been wonderful that she's been here as our summer reading club activity co-ordinator to be able to share her enthusiasm and her creativity.”
"It's been really encouraging ,” said Howe. “I've had a lot of exposure because I've had a lot of people coming in to the library to see them.”
For Howe, there's not an instruction manual. She simply envisions and bring the creations to life.
"None of them are sets, they're all just ones I started building out of the pieces that I had,” Howe said. “I have a huge collection of pieces and I was like, ‘I want to build this, I want to build that,’ and I started at the bottom and worked my way up.”
While some might think Legos are toys, Faith is just toying with her next big idea.
"My mom wants me to build a life-size mermaid, but I don't have enough pieces for the tail so we're working on that – that's an idea in progress,” Howe said. “I have some other builds that I'm working on, a lot that I'm working on.”
Howe guesses she has about one million Lego blocks altogether, giving her endless possibilities.
