Tag Archives: Barbara Hoel

Falling for these autumnal flowers

This bunch of autumnal LEGO flowers by Barbara Hoel is a beauty — one of those creations which at first you scroll past assuming it cannot possibly be made of bricks and has made it into your feed due to some glitch in the algorithm. But then you look again and realise the pot is brick-built, oh… and the stalks, and the flower petals, oh and EVERY LAST PIECE OF THE THING, including those wonderful puffballs to the rear. The parts use on show here are delightful, well worth a closer look, particularly the use of pearl gold crowns for the impressive puffballs. We’ve seen more LEGO flowers since the release of the official LEGO flower sets, and when they look as good as this, long may this horticultural building trend continue.

LEGO bunch of flowers

Eat your fruits and vegetables!

A major problem with the diets of many folks these days is that they do not eat enough fresh fruits and vegetables, instead deriving too many of their calories from highly processed wheat, corn, and soy. There’s nothing wrong with wheat, corn, or soy, per se, but they don’t provide many of the vitamins and minerals necessary for human health. So consider this LEGO build by Barbara Hoel to be a public service announcement: eat your fruits and veggies! Your gut will thank you. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Still Life with Fruit

This still life is awash with bright colors, with red apples, green, dark red, and purple grapes, orange oranges, yellow pears, and perhaps a dark red plum. Yummy! Organic curves are hard to do in LEGO, but Barbara has done a great job sculpting them. And then there is the tablecloth beneath them all, with every shade of blue imaginable featured. Someone must have invested in some LEGO DOTS sets! If only the background were black velvet, this would look great surrounded by a gilded frame and hanging on the wall of my dining room, reminding me to eat my fruits and vegetables.

This planter will grow on you

Realism in LEGO sculpture is a difficult thing to achieve, and when it’s done right it can be amazing. Barbara Hoel has created a tiny slice of (plant) life that feels very real indeed with Small Planter on Books. The human-scaled books each have their own unique style and size. The variations in the spines make this feel like a real pile of tomes, and not just a repeated build in different colors.

Small Planter on Books

The planter and greenery really are what really caught my eye, though. Seeing a plant that is, perhaps, not the perfect specimen of health is pretty unusual. One side of the plant looks like it’s been kept out of the sun a little too long, while other parts are thriving. Unicorn horns and transparent green ball joints represent new growth. Rare blue capes and technic gears make for some vibrant flowering bodies and buds.

There is a detail view of an alternate build of the planter in Barbara’s photostream. I recommend checking it out for even more great botanical creations.