Face Painting and Balloon Twisting Blog

When face painters or balloon twisters get together, they like to have a jam. A jam is an opportunity to practice, share tips and techniques, and see how others work. I highly recommend participating in jams whenever possible.

One unfortunate thing about face painting and balloon twisting is that there isn’t a central organization for the face painters and balloon twisters to belong to and as a result, there are very few chartered groups. Since the groups are not formal, they often do not have websites or other ways to find out about them without knowing someone who belongs to the group. Clowns have their local clown alley, magicians have their local magic ring, and jugglers have their local juggling clubs. There are also fewer conventions dedicated to just face painting or just balloon twisting. Since I am also a clown, most of my training comes from the face painting or balloon twisting sessions at the clown conventions.

When I was getting started, I was lucky enough to find out about a local face painting jam. The jam met once a month in a local restaurant. Going to that jam provided me with an opportunity to network with other face painters in the area and learn about other jams. Unfortunately for me, the format of the jam didn’t provide me the opportunity I needed to really practice face painting. That led me to seek out other groups.

At the end of 2009, I started to host my own jams. I went to my local Cici’s pizza and spoke to the manager and told him about the other jams I have attended and asked if I could host a monthly jam. He agreed and we have been going there ever since. Having the jam at a popular family restaurant can be a win-win solution. The restaurant gets the benefit of having entertainment for their customers with kids, and the face painters and balloon twisters have kids faces to paint or give balloons.

After finding a location, my next step is finding other face painters or balloon twisters to attend the jam. I decided to have a joint jam for both face painters and balloon twisters. I was fortunate to have a network of friends and told them to invite their friends. Like most groups, we are informal, I maintain an email list that contains people who have attended the jam in the past and a facebook group to share news, pictures, and other information.

My jams are an opportunity for us to get together each month and socialize and practice. Although, I have tried to set themes, it usually becomes a free for all with people doing whatever they want. There are usually kids at Cici’s, so we have a chance to interact and give away our extra balloons.

Not all jams are the same. Some people host jams that are more like a mini workshop with a theme and presenter. Others offer time for each person to do a show and tell session where they can share their discoveries or ask questions. Mine are a time to practice. As host, I can run the jam the way that I want and if others like it, they will continue to come.

People always want to know how long a balloon creation will last. Sometimes, it seems like they only last a few minutes. Balloons last longer indoors. The outdoors have too many sharp edges from plants and concrete. When I do balloons, I try to take into account the conditions and try to make the balloons a little softer when working outside or on very hot days. But, sometimes, the balloons just seem to pop. Usually, the kid is swinging it around or trying to prove they know how to make balloons and put a few extra twists in the balloons.

But, if a balloon happens to survive long enough to make it home safely, it can last for days or weeks. I do get a few kids who come back and tell me they still have the balloon I gave them a few weeks ago.

From time to time, I bring balloon home and deposit them in my basement where they will remain, undisturbed for weeks at a time. I found a few balloons in my basement and decided to prove that balloons can last a long time.

Monkey in a palm tree…

or how it would have looked when it was brand new.

Dragon…

or how it would have looked when it was still a new balloon.

I know that I am not the best balloon twister out there. I have a good collection of balloons that I know how to make and can usually find something to satisfy a picky child. I am lucky to live in an area with other, more experienced balloon twisters. I host a monthly jam and have the opportunity to see what the others like to make and to share some of the things that I like to make.

When I learn a new balloon, I need to practice and make it several times in order to really remember how it is done. Some balloons, I can remember the “gist” of how it is done, but forget the minor details. If I find something that I really like, I try to take a picture and then refer back to the picture to see how the balloon is supposed to look.

I learned how to make a ladybug at a convention last year. I have seen many variations of the ladybug balloon, but this one uses a red heart shaped balloon for the body/wings (black 260 for the legs, red heart for the head/wings, 5″ round white for the eyes, and a scrap for the antenna). Most of the other ladybug designs I have learned use the tail of the balloon used for the legs as a strap on a bracelet, but this balloon uses it to hold the wings in place. It is easy to remember the gist of this balloon, and I had made it several times after learning this variation. It wasn’t until I returned to the picture of the original ladybug balloon that I realized that I had been missing the ear twist on the heart balloon to make the ladybug’s head. This is am important twist as it makes the heart shape a little smaller and easier for the strap to hold the wings in place.

The same thing happened when I first learned the turtle balloon. I remembered the gist of the design (green 260 for the head and legs, 5″ round white for the eyes, and a 5″ orange round for the shell) but forgot how the head looked. The first few times I tried to make the turtle, I had to refer back to the picture to get it right.

When you learn a new balloon, take a picture or two. If you have problems remembering how it was made, you will be glad you did.

Welcome to the new Face Painting and Balloon Twisting Blog at FaceAndBalloonArt.com.  This is a website project by Mike Becvar. This website has been on the drawing board since the spring of 2010 and is finally beginning to take shape.

I hope to use the website and blog as a resource for the professional face painter and balloon twister. I plan to post articles related to industry news, new products, or upcoming events.

In 2009, I started another website project, The Clown Network, where I am creating a resource for the professional clown. One of the challenges that I faced with that website is the fact it is hand coded and not using a database to manage the content. It means it takes a little more effort on my part to maintain and update the content. I am hoping that by using a WordPress Blog template, that it will be a little easier for me to manage this website.

There is still a lot of work to do, but this project is finally off the ground.

Welcome and let’s hope for a long and successful future.