Empire LEGO Building | LEGO amusement park | nontraditional media | LEGO ski lodge

That first LEGO house you built in your parents' living room turned into a LEGO city as you worked on it over the next 12 years. Just how elaborate did it get?
It had the staples of any city, like a fire station, hotel, park, and hospital. It also had some more-unique establishments, like a LEGO lake, a LEGO ski lodge, the Empire LEGO Building, and a LEGO amusement park.

How did that childhood obsession end up turning into a profession?
I started doing large-scale LEGO sculptures in 2000. After my first few, I posted photos of them on my website, Brickartist.com. Soon, I was getting commissions from all over the world, and I realized I might have a LEGO career in my future.

In 2004, you entered - and won - LEGO's search for the nation's best builder, right?
Yes. The contest involved several rounds of timed building, in which participants were given a certain number of bricks and asked to build a themed piece within a certain amount of time. [When I won], I was offered a position with LEGO as a master builder. After about seven months, I really wanted to be able to pick and choose my projects, so I left and became an independent artist.

Do you work in any other mediums, like painting or sculpture?
I have sculpted out of more traditional media such as clay, wire, and wood, and with some nontraditional media such as bottle caps and even candy. However, building with LEGO bricks is what I'm best known for.