November 18 - Rainer's Spider

Sometimes it looks like I'm dancing, but it's just that I walked into a spider web.

~ Demetri Martin

This spider is a design shared by Rainer Fürstenfeld on his YouTube channel (link).  So many spider designs end up being limited by chubby legs even using the thinnest balloons, so Rainer hit on something fantastic with this one.

I made a couple to give out at various locations and they were in love with the realistic and creepy look.  I really enjoy the "whoa!!" response when I give someone a balloon.

I believe balloon artists can be caught in a cycle of thinking they can only use balloons.  The addition of some different bits of media like a simple pipe cleaner or feathers or tulle or ???? used in the right way could add an amazing depth to a creation.

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Other balloon designs by Rainer Fürstenfeld:

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March 14 - Tractor

I bought an ant farm. I don't know where I am going to get a tractor that small.

~ Steven Wright

Rainer Fürstenfeld is one of those rare gems you stumble across when you devour the internet for balloon resources. He is a German balloon artist and an on-and-off active YouTube poster for a couple years, but never with a great deal of advertising that I've seen.

This tractor is one of his designs (link). Rainer does a great job showing with his fingers the proper sizes to make things but once again it warrants a quick watch through before you start, because things are done with efficiency and you might miss something. For example, he shows how to build one wheel, then shows how to attach the wheels. I speak from experience, I started to build this last week as a request from one of the folks at my office, but ended up with a good portion of it upside down before I realized my mistake.