January 3 - Doodi the Gnome

"Gnomes live ten times faster than humans. They’re harder to see than a high-speed mouse."

~ Terry Pratchett Truckers (Discworld Bromeliad)

Most gnomes take care of business in the garden—it’s why the soil is so fertile. But not Doodi. Whether it’s the bugs crawling on his butt or the feeling that the other gnomes are peeking, he just never felt comfortable outside. When nature calls, Doodi sneaks into houses to use the litter box.

Balloon art oftentimes feels like a giant game of Operator. Ideas percolate and cross-pollinate across hundreds of artists, evolving along the way.  Though I have seen gnomes that might have shared similar structure, I can say THIS particular creation was inspired by Twisty Tiffany’s incredible balloon gallery (seriously, check it out! - link).

Their design seemed to use a 321 for the hat, but each 321 used feels like a drop of my life’s blood, so I tweaked it slightly to keep sanguine.

Also, it’s hard to pose something with no arms and no face - it's essentially an ornament to place somewhere. Adding hands gave me a lot more options, and Doodi needed to wash his hands anyways.

(view other gnomes)

January 2 - Anglerfish

You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.

~ William Faulkner

Right now, I’m kind of focused on getting back to basics, practicing the essentials over and over again, getting that feel for the right size/pressure bubbles ...  It feels like I need a thousand practice reps just to warm up.  

Thankfully and rightfully so, the world of balloon art has been buzzing with creativity - there’s so much incredible work out there to emulate and learn from, it’s both inspiring and a little overwhelming as I find my footing again.

Darren Saari of SoCal Balloons (link) recently posted this Anglerfish design.   The big chompy mouth is a perfect reminder of how much fun this craft can be and leaves me excited for weirder things to come.

I ended up researching anglerfish a little bit when I realized all I know of them I learned from Finding Nemo.  Interesting fact, males only grow about an inch -- where females can grow up to 3.3 feet.  Like walking to a high rise apartment building to pick up your date that evening, the building.

(view other fish)

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Other balloons by and inspired by the Darren Saari:

January 1 - Granny Friction

The door was always open, walking through was the hard part.

Momentum is a powerful force—it’s always easier to keep something moving than to start from scratch.   I never thought 9th-grade science would stick with me, but the principle rings true in so many aspects of life. 

The past few years have been overwhelming, and somewhere along the way, I lost my mojo for creating and sharing art.   Time has passed, my hands feel rubbery, I've probably forgotten more than I ever knew to begin with --- but the story isn't over yet.

This was just a doodle that seemed appropriate.  It seems that whenever I do a generic balloon doodle, it ends up being a face ...