The Art of the Brick {Perot Museum}

Our family is a huge fan of LEGOs.  They are a great tool for STEM education and creative expression but they are also just plain fun.  We were really excited to get the opportunity to go to the Perot Museum's new traveling exhibit, The Art of the Brick.  

The critically acclaimed exhibition touts the largest and most elaborate display of works constructed using only LEGO bricks. Created by internationally renowned contemporary artist Nathan Sawaya, The Art of the Brick is designed to inspire ingenuity and creativity with original pieces and re-imagined versions of some of history’s most famous works of art, including Van Gogh's Starry Night, Michelangelo’s David and Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. It was amazing getting to hear directly from Nathan Sawaya

Dr. Linda Silver, Eugene McDermott Chief Executive Officer of the Perot Museum. “LEGO bricks are a beloved learn-through-play staple in so many children’s lives. The exhibition elevates a classic toy into the interesting realm of art and science resulting in something meaningful, educational and awe-inspiring.”


The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai.  It was built using 2,877 LEGO bricks and it is three-dimensional like the wave is just going to flow off of the wall.

No one can mistake this LEGO creation!  It is, of course, Starry Nights by Vincent Van Gogh built with 3,493 LEGO pieces.

AAAAAHHHHHHH!  There are 3,991 LEGOs making this amazing representation of the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch.  

American Gothic by Grant Wood. 8,303 LEGOs are in this creation.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo DaVinci was made with 4,573 LEGO pieces.

This one looks a little blocky when up close but step back from the screen a little or try squinting your eyes.  It is unmistakably Rembrandt's self portrait recreated with 1,948 LEGOs.

This next creation is so unique!  It is a translucent LEGO creation of the Northern Rose Window at Chartres. It is comprised of 17,842 LEGO pieces.  Although the number of LEGO pieces used is quite astounding, what we really remarkable is the image on the floor below it.  How beautiful!

Whistler's Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1. It is made with 15,283 LEGO pieces.

Rachel was disturbed by the mostly naked LEGO statues in the next room.  I think my jaw dropped for other reasons.  Look at these amazing works of art....built from LEGO!

You can not possibly miss the looming head tucked away in the corner of the room!

Nefertiti was made with 1,675 LEGO pieces.

I didn't catch the name of this piece but I loved how the water droplets seem to pop out from the wall.

This amazingly huge piece is a self-portrait of Nathan Sawaya in LEGO!

Rachel enjoyed the entire exhibit but she was a bit entranced by the giant T-Rex made from 80,020 LEGO bricks!

We got a chance to talk to the incredible artist Nathan Sawaya.  

The next time you go to the Perot, check out the LEGO Pegasus that greets you at the door.  Guess how many LEGO were used to create this beauty and you could win a one year membership to the Perot!

If you would like to learn more about this amazing LEGO artist you can follow Nathan Sawaya on Facebook.

The Perot Museum is located at 2201 N. Field Street in Dallas, Texas. Museum general admission is $20 for adults (13-64), $13 for youth (2-12) and $18 for seniors (65+). Museum general admission is free for members. Children under 2 are always free. The Art of the Brick requires a surcharge of $10 for adults (13-64) and seniors (65+), $8 for youth (2-12) and free for children under 2. Member tickets are $7 for all age levels.   For ticket information, parking maps and other details visit perotmuseum.org.

Christmas Traditions: Gingerbread Houses

We have a few Christmas traditions in our home.  One of them is decorating gingerbread houses.  I usually buy the pre-made houses and some extra candies to go on them.  Sometimes the kids have decorated their houses at their grandparents' house in Louisiana.  This year they decorated them with friends.  I think this is their favorite way to hold the tradition.

I bought houses that were not only pre-made but also pre-assembled.  Easiest thing ever!  Just take off the cellophane wrapper and start decorating.  Several other kids had pre-made pieces but they were supposed to assemble them with icing.  Well, if you've ever done that then you know it is time consuming and tries your patience.  And then it all collapses in a mound of disappointment.  But my friends are so creative.  They took the kids' pieces and stuck them together with hot glue.  Not as edible as the traditional way but much more efficient!  You go, girls!

And these days, you don't have to just buy a gingerbread house.  No.  Now they have gingerbread barns, movie-themed gingerbread houses, gingerbread, Christmas trees, and even gingerbread trains!

They also had graham crackers and other cookies and candies in case friends wanted to just make their own crazy creations.

Nicholas assessed his house and the candy options and then decided on the best way to proceed.  He often takes his time with decorating gingerbread houses.  Last year, he enjoyed some crazy decorating for his house to make it look like a monster!

But this year he said he wasn't going to make a monster or anything crazy.  He just wanted to decorate it like a house.

While the boys were outside decorating their houses, the girls were inside decorating theirs.  

Gingerbread house decorating is serious business for these girls!

After decorating, everyone enjoyed pizza and fellowship with friends.

Finally, the kids had fun with an ornament exchange.  Everyone brings a wrapped Christmas ornament and they play a white elephant game to see which one each child gets to keep.

Nicholas ended up with a silly dog with a bow.  

Rachel was even less excited than Nicholas because her ornament was Superman.  And no, Nicholas did not want to trade with her.  He is a Batman fan all the way so he didn't want anything to do with Superman.  Silly kids!

What are some Christmas traditions in your family?

Log Cabin Village {Fort Worth, TX}

We had a wonderful visit to Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth.  We have been here many times but the hands-on activities and great costumed presenters make it a fun place to come back to each year.

Log Cabin Village is an interactive educational experience based in the time frame of early pioneer days of about 1840 - 1890. It is comprised of authentic log cabins from the North Texas area which were moved to this property for restoration and preservation.  

Throughout the Log Cabin Village, you will find educational presentations and hands-on activities.  I love blacksmithing so we went to this presentation first. 

We watched as a steel rod would have been forged and shaped into a needed tool of the day.

The blacksmith would have made eating utensils, farming tools, horse shoes...

and cattle brands.

We visited the old smokehouse which was used to preserve meats for long periods of time before refrigerators were invented.

I always like the one room schoolhouse.  The kids played with the bell that the teacher would ring to call all of the students at the beginning of the school day.

The teacher would have a whole room full of children of every age.  The would use slate boards and horn books to practice writing.  There was a stove in the middle of the room to provide heat to the building.  There were no bathrooms so children would have to go outside in the snow or rain to go to the outhouse.

There was no running water so at the beginning of the day, boys would take the bucket down to the pump and fill it with water to be used for drinking and washing through out the school day.

We visited the woodworking shop in the Howard Cabin and learned about all of the tools he would have made.

He showed us how to use a lathe to turn wood to make things like bowls and chair legs.

We also learned about some of the simple toys that the wood worker could have made in the time before electronic games.

The kids were excited to learn how to use a drill press.

It is a manual drill and Rachel had a little bit of trouble with it but she kept trying until she got it.

And then they even got to use the wood lathe!

Rachel would love to make wooden furniture when she grows up so she just loved this whole experience!

They also learned how to use a plane to shave and smooth the wood.

We learned how laundry would have been done in the old days using a bucket and lots of scrubbing on a washboard.

This was an example of a pioneer room.  The kids were asked to find the toaster.  It doesn't look like a toaster you would have in your kitchen today.  Can you find it?  (Hint: it is near the fireplace and already has two pieces of bread in it ready to toast!)

We took a break to have a snack and drink some water.  I love these two!

Next we visited the Seela Cabin which is the best exhibit for younger kids.  There is a pretend chicken coop and Rachel loved gathering eggs from the plush chickens!  

There is also a little wheelbarrow to push around and a garden to sew and harvest from.  Rachel had fun using the pump to gather water.

And she manually ground coffee in the grinder and wheat in the mortar and pestle.  I need to put this girl to work in the kitchen at home!

Like I said, this area is intended for the younger kids and Nicholas just hung out on a bench because he was too cool for all of that.

Inside the cabin, we looked around at some of the early tools like this punched lantern.

And we played with more wooden toys.  Nicholas loved the ball and cup and kept challenging us to try to get the ball in the cup in less tries than him.

We learned about spinning wool into yarn and then how to weave it into fabric on a loom.

We learned about candle dipping and even got the chance to dip our own candles in hot wax!  Each dip gathers a little more wax on the wick and then it has to hang until it hardens.  Then it gets dipped again and the whole process continues until the candle is large enough to use.  It was a slow process.

Next we made our way to the Shaw Cabin which houses one of the last working gristmills in Texas.  As we approached, Nicholas explained to Rachel how the water wheel worked and how the gears inside the cabin turned the mill stones.

We learned about wheat and how it was ground by hand.  Then we learned about how the gristmill works and how it made life so much easier for the pioneers.

We visited the herb drying shed which the kids just loved playing in.  Silly kids!

No creature is too small to avoid Nicholas' eye.  He found and played with this cute little guy for a while as we walked around the herb garden.

He recognized Lamb's Ear in the garden.  He loves how silky soft the leaves are.  You just have to touch them!

We saw The Three Sisters growing in the garden as well.  Native American Indians taught the early settlers to plant using The Three Sisters system whereby three plants, corn, beans, and squash, are planted together as companions.  The corn provides a stalk for the bean vines to climb on while the big prickly squash leaves shade the soil and other plants, keeping them from drying out and shielding them from some animals that may want to eat them.

Log Cabin Village is a fun excursion for all ages.  It is located at 2100 Log Cabin Village Lane in Fort Worth.  Admission is free for ages 3 and under, $5.00 for ages 4-17 and $5.50 for ages 18 and up.  For more information, please visit the Log Cabin Village website.