Issue 235
Local News for Local Communities
Wednesday 30th July 2025
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Special Display Case Celebrates Tamariki Page 2
Winter Motoring Feature Page 8 & 9
Reports From Local Groups Page 12 & 13
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FOR THE LOVE OF BRICKS Kylie Drake and her family – husband Craig Homer and daughter Maia – love creating works of art with Lego. The family recently had a large Lego display at the Christchurch Brick Show held in the beginning of July at Wolfbrook Arena. Kylie says it all started when Lego brought out some Lego Art Mosaic sets five to six years ago. “We built a large Harry Potter Hogwarts crest together as a family using Lego instructions – it hangs in our daughter's bedroom,” she says. Because the artwork is done in small grids that are all joined together at the end, it meant the family could all work on it at the same time. “We loved that aspect of all contributing to the same project and so we bought more Art sets. It started with Harry Potter and quickly became an obsession.“ Kylie says Lego Art Mosaics is very similar to following a paintby-numbers or cross stitch pattern. However, they soon decided they would like to create their own designs. “You can take any picture and make it into a mosaic using a combination of AI and Lego software. The bricks are placed on a 16x16 plate, and several plates are joined together at the end. You are only limited by your imagination. And if it doesn't work, you can just take it apart and start again.” It can take the family anywhere from a few hours to a week or two – depending on whether they’re working to a deadline. “Often, we will put something together and look at it from a distance a few times and tweak things like the eyes and the hands.” Kylie says their creations are a labour of love. At the Brick Show, in just the mosaics they had on display, they had 67,840 bricks and that didn’t include the frames which were also made from Lego.
Family affair: Kylie Drake, daughter Maia and husband Craig Homer enjoy coming up with new Lego designs each year for the Christchurch Brick Show.
Of this year’s Brick Show, Kylie says, “It was a great show, with people of all ages and walks of life. Usually about 20,000 people come to the Christchurch Brick Show each year. It’s the largest brick show in New Zealand with over 300 exhibitors.” The family began with Harry Potter creations, moved on to build a variety of Star Wars models, and even recreated the Mona Lisa and Taylor Swift. This year, they built Wicked and Wednesday. However, Kylie says, “My husband and I are very much Gen X, so Star Wars will always be our favourite theme.”
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