Brick-by-brick: Raleigh man's Lego devotion reignited in retirement
Walking around Dan McAvinchey's north Raleigh home, you can't swing a guitar without hitting one of the Lego-based works of art he's crafted in the last nine months.
There are three things prominently displayed in the home: Lego, guitars and Lego guitars. It's the Lego walls that have come to be music to his ears in recent years. Brick by brick, McAvinchey's built a wide assortment of about 400 creations in total.
He's one of a dozen or so local artists who will display their work at BrickUniverse Live at the Raleigh Convention Center this weekend. The show is one of the largest Lego fan events in the world.
McAvinchey rediscovered the hobby by teaching his grandchildren how to play with Legos. Years later, he and his wife, Georgina, are routinely loading pieces into their two cars to showcase what he's done. It's not the twist he expected his life to take, but his passion for and understanding of the hobby is clear.
"I just noticed at one point that there were a bunch of bricks that never got used for anything," McAvinchey said about building with his grandchildren. "These other ones were just sort of unloved off to the side."
Making sure all the bricks get used is what the retired software developer does with a lot of his free time these days. In his basement, there's a workplace where the pieces are meticulously organized by color. Like a lot of people his age, McAvinchey enjoyed Lego sets as a kid, but other passions surfaced as he got older.
"We were fascinated with them," he said. "Once I was a teenager, I got onto other things, and I literally didn't do anything with them until I was in my 50s. I always enjoyed them, but life interfered with other passions."
McAvinchey's work is inspired by music, sports, other artists and pop culture iconography. He's made Lego model guitars and even a model of himself playing a guitar. There's work featuring famous artists like Van Gogh and Michelangelo. Legendary guitarists like Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen and Jimmy Page are depicted. There's one piece showing the old well at UNC. Some works are based off his own photography.
He built his first piece in 2017 after seeing a man on social media pose with a piece showing the Chicago Blackhawks logo. An average piece takes him anywhere from eight to 12 hours, though he doesn't usually complete them in one sitting.
"It got to the point where once I started posting this stuff on Instagram and people would start responding and saying 'hey, cool, can you do other things?'" McAvinchey said. "It really started to take off and I started taking it more seriously."
McAvinchey plans an outline of his work through the computer and goes from there. During the building process, he has to consider what it takes to keep the piece sturdy so it can be moved around. He contacted BrickUniverse in 2019 and got good feedback, receiving a welcome to show his work at the shows.
"You're there to inspire and you're there to engage," McAvinchey said of the show. "Just getting to meet people who are not going to run across you just by chance on Instagram, that's the great thing about the BrickUniverse show."
McAvinchey found his way to the Triangle from the Chicago area and worked at UNC as a web developer for several years. He's played a lot of guitar and even recorded a couple of albums, but the Lego hobby has opened new doors.
"I guess I've always liked visual arts anyway, but I couldn't participate in that world because I wasn't a painter. I couldn't sketch, I couldn't do any of that stuff. I thought that world was closed to me. So I just found this and I was like 'I'm in the visual art club now.'"
You can view more of Dan's work on Instagram (@guitarnine). Tickets for BrickUniverse are $15 and on sale via the event's website.
