''Do you prefer air in your balloon, or ear in your balloon?''  :lol:

Is this what they call...  an Ear Twist?    :?

Quote from: "Roger"There has been a discussion on balloon chat regarding taking pictures of children wearing or holding balloons. I have noticed in your portfolio that you have a lot of pictures of children, holding or wearing your creations. Could you let us know what the general feeling is in the Netherlands is regarding the public photography of children and what you general experience of taking children's photos has been?

When I'm creating something on the spot, I can get very enthusiast on the outcome. In this enthusiasm I usually make a remark that I want to make a picture with the kid holding the balloon. I don't literally ask, but I add to my remark that it might end up on my portfolio if that's okay.
I tell that the photo has to be 'picture-perfect' if I decide to put it on the portfolio, so...
to get more mileage out of that photo opportunity I give the parents my business card and point them to the website so they can request the picture that I then send them by email.

I had only a few occasions where a parent found it okay to take a picture, but not to be put on the internet, just for my personal archive of ideas.

On an extra note; these three questions I also answered in the previous week, but I put them up here as well.

15, What kind of work do you do mostly - parties? Corporate? Etc
I love doing family events, having a select number of kids and having the time to come up with something unique for each child. I like the occasional corporate ones for being able to make larger creations in a specific theme. Markets and festivals are good to showcase your best works and/or improvise on the spot using the surrounding ideas and colours (t-shirt imprints etc.) your eyes meet with.

16, What is your favourite/ideal gig to do?
A performance for people who appreciate art, where I have time for big sculptures and be a part of the ambience of the party.

17, What irritates you most at a gig?
Requests from people, often while interrupting an entertaining moment, thinking you're a take-away restaurant.
People who think you owe them a balloon because they have been standing there for 25 minutes already (while you've been there for 3 hours)
The lack of patience or worse: fighting parents
Over all, the primordial behaviour that seems to come out if people find out the balloons are 'for free'.
Currently I'm using a format where I let the kids guess a number between 0 and 15. Who wins it is always random. I announce there is NO order, so no one can demand a place in line. This seems to work pretty good.

===
18, What would you say has been your proudest achievement in our wonderful world of twisted latex?
I'm very proud of my enthusiast first years where I discovered balloontwisting. I would design single-260 animals that would really look like the animal intended, not just another variation of the dog. This went pretty far.
Although I wouldn't make most of these designs as of today, I still feel they are the basis of my current style.

19, Are you a full time balloonist or do you have another job?
I do balloons ''full time'', even some designing in my sleep sometimes (just as Thelma does  ) but I was educated to be a Music Technologist where I would compose music to other media, such as cartoon, movie, clips, theatre, commercial etc.
The reason that I didn't became that music technologist is that I disliked the haisty nature of this media world. I liked composing music to go with kids television, but I never saw the reaction as I did just my part in the whole process.

Balloons enable me to be creative and see a direct response from the audience. This is the main reason I turned around hobby and work.

There is an interesting anecdote on a DVD by Jeff McBride where he explains the ''full time'' magician. He states that it's not that certain percent if income that makes you ''full time'', but merely the way you inject your entertaining skills into the world around you.
On the one hand you may have a ''professional'' balloontwister who just does his ''thing'' on stage/booked performance and lacks/refuses to do his thing while offstage/in his free time.
On the other hand you may have an enthousiast balloontwister (hobbyist or professional), that twists balloons on every occasion, not just in booked time.

20, What advice would you give to someone starting out, or wanting to increase their business?
You want to decide for yourself whether you want to go the thorough way or the quick way to becoming a balloontwister.
The quick way is taking in, like a sponge, all the info that is already out there in the form of instructional DVD's and CD's. Copying other artists and learning by osmosis.

The thorough way, the way I chose, was avoiding as much influence as possible and coming up with own techniques, colour combinations and designs. It's like re-inventing the wheel and takes much longer to see result. In my opinion this forms a much more solid base for your own style.

As for increasing your business...

I have a dutch quote written in my agenda that translates to something like
'Do your thing with obstinacy and passion, and luck automatically follows you.'

What balloons?
Light setup for semi-movable gigs:  apron & toolbox
regular apron - 160's, 260's, selection of 350's & 646's, waterballoons, 5" rounds, larger rounds, hearts in White, Ivory White, Pink, Red, Blush, Mocha, chenille sticks and a few alien heads,

Toolbox – waterballoons, alienheads, more rounds, imprinted rounds, feathers, some gluedots, business cards, stickers of butterflies (that I put on balloonflowers)

Heavy setup for fixed gigs:
A suitcase I put up on a stand, combined with my toolbox (described above)

Suitcase with 3 aprons inside
regular apron: see above
2nd apron:  lots of 160's, unusual colours (like Magenta etc)
3rd apron: stuffed with 350's and 646's


How many colours?
The regular apron (see photo)
Row 1: ''Water'' and ''Girly''
Periwinkle 160/260/360, Blue, Robin's Egg, Pale Blue, Clear, 16o roll (White, Pale Blue, Blue)
160 roll (Pink, Rose, Lilac, Violet, Quartz Purple) with a few Magenta & Amethyst, Purples (Lilac, Quartz, Violet), Rose (with a few Fuchsia), Pink, White 350/646, White
Row 2: ''Technical'' and ''Fire''
Black, Grey, Silver, Black/Grey 350/646, Black/Grey 16o,
Yellow/Gold.Rod/Red 350, Red, Orange, Golden Rod, Yellow, Ivory Silk (with a few Satin Pearls)
Row 3: ''Floral'' and ''Earth''
Forest Green 160/260/360/660, Wintergreen/Tropical Teal, Green/Lime 160, Green 260/350, Lime Green 260/350, Gold/Burnt Sienna, Gold/Mocha646/Blush 646, Chocolate/Mocha/Blush 160, Chocolate Brown 260/350, Mocha 260, Blush 260, Blush/Mocha 646
[ You are not allowed to view this attachment ] apron-sm.jpg[/attachment:tdhvqq5x]

This is my recent organized apron. I feel it needs a bit of clearing out again, but you'll get the idea.
You may note that I put the paint markers upside down in the apron, and write the colour (if that isn't obviously showing) on the bottom of the pen.

What pump?
Hand pump 260;s
Hand pump 160's
Floor pump

Do you have a spare?
Yes, an extra 260 pump and a 160 pump

Do you have a balloon list of stuff you can do?
Sometimes I make a short list of things I want to make. Most of the times I let it come out of the situation itself (ie t-shirt imprints and colours kids are wearing)

What else do you pack?
A suitcase with a small portable amplifier & headset. It also contains a towell and some quick snacks, extra box of business cards.

How long to set up?
From arriving at the gig 10-20 minutes, depending on the situation.

Are you strolling or static?
Both, I prefer static though.

Whats the most useful bit'o kit?
My comfortable trust in creativity on the spot.

Velociraptor

Bunny

13, What is your favourite/ideal gig to do?
A performance for people who appreciate art, where I have time for big sculptures and be a part of the ambiance of the party. And when I come home, have a few new ideas and some cool photo's for the portfolio.

14, What irritates you most at a gig?
- Requests from people, often while interrupting an entertaining moment, thinking you're a take-away restaurant.
- People who think you owe them a balloon because they have been standing there for 25 minutes already (while you've been there for 3 hours).
- Having to work your way through a ''shopping list'' of requests, instead of staying in the moment.
- The lack of patience or worse: fighting parents  

Over all, the primordial behaviour that seems to come out if people find out the balloons are 'for free'.
Currently I'm using a format where I let the kids guess a number between 0 and 15. Who wins it is always random. I announce there is NO order, so no one can demand a place in line. This seems to work pretty good for my particular style of balloonsculpting.

Who would you most like to make a balloon model for and why ? Also what would you make them?
That's a good question; I'll come back to this one later.. have to think about it.

7, Do you have the same act but vary the presentation for all ages or do you have set acts for different ages?
My two main 'things I do at parties' are an interactive workshop with circus tricks and balloon sculpting. These are the same but can have a different form and setup, depending on the situation.

I use a collection of items for these activities that I carry with me most the time:
- a mini bike to enter the room
- various suitcases with circus tricks
- normal balloon set-up (apron)
- large balloon set-up (suitcase with more 350's, 646's)
- tattoos/face paint (occasional use as part of a program)

For birthday parties I mostly use my apron and the circus materials.
The balloons are small and quick, because of the sugar-rushed kids and because I offer it as part of a tight birthdayprogram.

At family events I usually start with a circus-workshop, so the kids can get to know me. This gives me the chance to learn all the twenty names. During the balloon entertainment I like to make more impressive designs, sometimes strolling around the tables.I use the apron, combined with the complete set of circus-tricks

At festivals, markets, fairs, malls I demand a set location and use a show/demonstration format. Here sculptures can take between 15-30 minutes a piece. I work from the large suitcase.
 
Even when I'm booked for just balloon twisting, I carry along a suitcase with chinese spinning plates, just in case. There were a few occasions were I was happy I brought them along with me.

8, What's your favourite thing to make at the moment?
The cockatoo, part of a (still kept secret) series of birds I designed this year.

9, What is the most asked for model?
To get it out of the way: it's not a dog! The dolphin is the most asked for animal for girls. For boys it's definitely the tiger.

10, What do you tend to do more of if stuck in the 'balloon production line' model?
I sometimes fall back onto my single-260 animal collection and mostly make tiger, crocodile, dolphin, cat, seal, horse, dog.
Having said this I try to avoid being the balloon machine as much as possible. Luckily I found some good methods to do so.

11, Who is your market aimed at?
People who want an unforgettable memory of their party.

12, What kind of work do you do mostly - parties? Corporate? Etc
I love doing family events, having a select number of kids and having the time to come up with something unique for each child. I like the occasional corporate ones for being able to make larger creations in a specific theme. Markets and festivals are good to showcase your best works and/or improvise on the spot using the surrounding ideas and colours (t-shirt imprints etc.) your eyes meet with.

Colin, thanks for these more hypothetical/philosophical questions.

1)   If you were stuck in a lift who would you most like to be with (living or dead)
Eyvind Earle (http://www.gallery21.com) – he used to work at Disney studios as a background painter. Later he became an amazing landscape artist that painted the most beautiful aerial views of Californian landscapes. His work is striking and unique. For instance his use of colours: he uses red and yellow dots in a tree trunk, can you imagine that?

Steve Roach (http://www.steveroach.com) – ambient composer, creating aural landscapes so to speak. Although I'd rather be stuck with him in a studio

2) If you could be any bird or animal, what would you like to be
I think an animal in the tropical rainforest (or what's left of it). I'd be a tropical bird that would visit the peacefulness of the upper canopy and watch over the greens of the trees.

3)   How do see balloon art progressing over the next five years ??
By then the current directions within the balloon art will be more diverse and deeper. Deco-twisting (like twisted centrepieces) will have grown substantially. Balloon fashion (like woven dresses) will slowly be known to the general public. Fantasy flowers (flower corsages and decorations using uninflated balloons) will develop more. Cartoon twisting (twisters reacting to the new box-office animation) might become more challenging because of the growing and competing output in the animation world.

There will be a new direction too...

Do you intend to produce an instructional DVD or CD & if you do would you use some of your own music on it?
It seems I can't free a reasonable amount of time to focus on making an instructional medium of any kind. So, the instructions I put out are done by one at a time. Most of them are shared in the instructions section on another forum (mbd2.com).
There are also a few sets of instructions placed on a site by Magic George: http://www.balloondesigns.net/guestartist07spring.html

There is a dinosaur I shared in an edition of Balloon Magic as well.

If I'd ever do a DVD putting my own music to it would be the perfect product, but for me it would take double that much of uninterrupted time and dedication.

How do you come up with the ideas do you see bits of other sculptures in the new one?
Ideas and inspiration are all around us. It can be a colour combination someone's wearing that triggers the idea for a hat.
I like to get ideas from shopping windows (colours, shapes), decorations, illustrations, clip art, pluche toys, kids drawings, other crafts and the occasional cartoon. I recommend visits to zoos as well.

Do you ever teach and if you do would you think of coming over to the UK to take a class?
I taught at Diamond Jam 2007 (private classes), Millennium Jam 2007, Twister Club Netherlands 2007, Diamond Jam 2008, and planning to be teaching at Twist & Shout 2009.
Teaching in the UK you say... I'll have to look in my crystal ball for that.

And finally what happened to the Dutch team in the Euros I had them down to win?
I can't give you a clever answer to that one, I'm not into soccer at all.

5, What do you most enjoy about twisting & why?
Being in the moment of 'now' and completely open to the flow of ideas.
Being able to surprise both my audience and myself.
Being able to materialize something boldly unique into the world.
Having a craft that's the perfect combination of art and entertainment.
Having the power to bring positive energy to my surroundings.
Being semi-famous in the neighbourhood
Being recognised by little kids, loudly shouting my name and waving when they see me on the other end of the street.


6, What's your favourite age to entertain?
While I do entertain for adults, I'm most comfortable entertaining kids.
I love kids of all ages. Small kids can tell you their entire day and what stupid thing mom or dad did today, with the parents standing by secretly wishing their kid wasn't so open and honest.
Older kids are just cool. They want to wear an obnoxious hat you make them, or they have a great challenge for you.

The most creatively challenging kids however are the ones that carry a pluche toy or have an imprinted t-shirt that I want to copy in balloons.

3, What's your best twisting experience?
On a street busking day a cute little girl with ponytails and freckles came up to me, gently motivated by her mom whispering 'Yes, go on.. you can ask 'the clown'.
She hesitated and handed me over a notepad. Then she asked 'May I have your hand-signature clown?'  
I drew her a picture of my hand and also my real autograph. When I returned her the notepad her face just turned so happy. Her eyes got this glistening while she showed the drawing to her mom. I'll always remember that moment. It made me realise that we, as entertainers, are in a position to bring happiness in lives of others; to create memorable moments.

In terms of twisting, my most enjoyable experience is always creating something on the spot and having the time and inspiration to do so.

4, What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you during a ballooning/entertaining session?
Can I rant freely here?  
There was once, while doing my robot-act (the mime-period), that the atmosphere got grumpy and people started pushing me out of balance, taking off my hat and running away with it.
That wasn't fun.

Being referred to as a 'balloon clown' no matter what you tell them, how you dress or how you impress them with balloon art.

Greedy parents in a hurry
Greedy parents in a hurry and getting angry at you.

The worst: having to devide yourself into balloonmachine/balloonentertainer/traffic agent/kindergarten teacher with no room for you to express your creativity, wishing you had 8 sets of eyes and hands. Combine this with greedy parents who are in a hurry and think you're a balloon clown.

Luckely these are the exceptions. Most of my experiences were very enjoying... as you'll see in the next answer.

1, What road led you into balloon modelling?
2, when did you get started with balloons?

To answer both questions, there are actually two roads here: one path of entertainment, the other one of creativity and artistry.
Started in 1988, I've been performing for 20 years now. The first 10 years I was a mime, doing a successful robot-act and I would occasionally perform as a doll in a shopping window; literally doing nothing
I got in contact with a juggling course to assist with some local events, which lead me to another direction, entertainment-wise.
By that time everyone was doing the 'living statue' thing and I gladly moved on to something else: circus skills; something also everyone did, but refreshing to me.
Trying to make it unique I offered it as an interactive workshop in a package for birthdays, family events, sport clubs and schools; something I still enjoy doing today.
Next to the circus activities I developed a clown character in which I would combine circus and mime elements. We're around the turn of the century now.
While doing the clown character I would gradually stop the face paint and perform as my self.
Around this time I was always open to new things that I could add to my performance.
In a toy store I noticed a bag of 15 modelling balloons with a few instructions on the back.
I brought a few bags with me to the very next gig and opened it there on the spot, unprepared, and just tried the instructions. It didn't matter if it would fail, because that would've been fun too.

What happened surprised me...

Creativity and artistry is the other path that led to that pivotal moment. During those same 20 years I was also busy as a multi-instrumentalist/composer and occasionally painter/illustrator/text writer.
In my endless strive to bring something unique and pure into the world, I composed music that I wanted to hear; that didn't exist yet. Something with more thought, dedication and weight to it and of an ambient quality, a little similar to instrumental film music that sets a certain mood.
This would go as far as spending 6 months on sculpting a single piece of music.
For those who are interested:  http://www.ocaixote.com.br/musica/patrick_01.html

I also liked designing collages out of magazines, because I could play with abstract shapes and colours. I also enjoyed doing illustrations and abstract painting to express myself visually.

Back to that pivotal moment halfway 2002 where I got requested a dolphin, just after I made my very first balloon dog.
Because I had nothing to loose, I actually tried a dolphin. The end result was more like a pigeon, but the girl was very happy with it.
It was at that precise moment that I had this vision of being able to create everything out of balloons. This was the new thing I would bring 'pure' into the world. It would be the perfect combination: expressing myself creatively during an entertainment gig.
The first two years I would examine every animal in zoos and petting zoos to design a single-260 animal with it, since I only had assortment 260 jewel tone bags. This meant that a wolf would look like a wolf, and not a dog.
Slowly I started adding a round balloon to all my designs. The next step was opaque colours and different sizes.
From there on everything would just expand and my addiction was a fact.

Donkey