NEWPORT, Ky. -- Building Lego creations has been artist Jonathan Lopes' passion for the past 18 years.
An exhibit of Lopes' Lego designs stopped at Newport on the Levee Friday.
"I see Legos nowadays as a medium by which I make my creations, like paints would be for an artist," he said.
The exhibit includes children's book characters, architecture and traditional portraits. Lopes said his work with Lego is a chance to escape back to "the good ol' days."
"To have it harken back to the innocent days of childhood is a little warm and fuzzy and refreshing with all today's stresses as an adult," he said.
Some of Lopes' smaller creations take about 10-12 hours to design and build. Larger ones, like a 65,000-brick replica of New York's Grand Central Terminal, take more than two months to build.
Some visitors to the exhibit said they were inspired.
"It shows them they can build it out of anything," visitor Andrew Gilsdors said. "You don't need a print, you can actually just build it by using your imagination."
The exhibit will be open through December. Tickets cost $8.
