The few, the proud, the LEGO Certified Professionals.

I live in a distinctly non-Zen house. I love the Japanese simplicity aesthetic, but I live amid things on the wall - paintings, prints, mirrors. Lots of things. And things on most available surfaces. Lots of things. Photos. Vases. Bowls. Tchotchkes. And a tiny Connemara marble urn that contains a bit of my husband's ashes. 

But I love the Japanese simplicity aesthetic. So calming and serene. Maybe in my next life.

Part of the aesthetic I admire is wonderful woodblock prints of cranes, and mountains, and boats, and waves. 

One of the most familiar prints is The Great Wave off Kanagawa. 

Just lovely. I have it on a tote bag. 

But Jumpei Mitsui has a sculptural version. Made out of LEGOs.

It's a bit loud. That blue! Still, as replicas go, it's quite something. 

Mitsui is a pro - a LEGO Certfied Professional.

...this means his full-time job is to create artworks with the plastic building blocks...During the course of 400 hours, Mitsui snapped together 50,000 cobalt and white LEGO into an undulating wave that mimics the original woodblock print. (Source: ThisIsColossal)

Mitsui also teaches LEGO construction via videos on YouTube. 

Quite an interesting way to make a living. 

And there are only twenty-one in the whole wide world. 

There's only one in the US - Nathan Sawaya - and there's only one woman - Wei Wei Shannon Gluckman - among the group. And, interesting, eight of the twenty-one are Asian.

They're artists. They're designers. They're educators. They're architects.

One's a doctor. One used to be a Chief Information Officer.

Some do originals, some do take-offs on works of art, and some do commissioned works for companies (e.g., your logo LEGO'd).

I don't know if I've ever seen any work by a LEGO Certified Pro in person, but I have seen a few big LEGO installs - am I just imagining that I've seen a LEGO Fenway Park? They're impressive, and they're fun.

A lot of LEGO is child's play. With LEGOs, kids and post-kids get to be creative. If they're using a kit - and you can, in fact, get a Fenway Park kit it you're so inclined - they're maybe not being so creative, but they're learning to follow a blue print/instructions and honing their small motor skills. And patience.

As far as I can tell, the worst thing about LEGOs is if you step on one barefoot.

How fun, if you choose LEGO as your medium, to make a career out of it. 

How does one get to be an LCP? There are two requirements:

You need to be a business owner or in the process of becoming a business owner working with the LEGO brick as part of your product/services. Important selection criteria are as stated above and will also be stated in the recruitment posting.

The LCP position is country-specific, and the recruited LCP must live and work in the same country as the local LEGO office looking to recruit an LCP. (Source: LEGO)

There's no training course. It's one of those things: if you need formal training, you probably don't have being an LCP in you.

I definitely don't have it in me. LEGO making is not the creative wave I surf on. But what a cool way to make a living!