August 26 - Rainbow Lorikeet

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

~ Samuel Beckett, Worstward Ho

I was trying to unravel the color puzzle of a rainbow lorikeet. 

I got some of the pieces in roughly the right neighborhood.

Looking at it now, I know what I'd want to change: more green in places, and maybe forest green would work better than lime...

That's the annoying thing about hindsight.  

It never seems interested in helping out on the first one...

(view other birds)

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Other balloons inspired by Isopresso Balloon:

August 25 - Pink Blush Dawg

"These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb."

~ Najwa Zebian

I love this quote.

It's strange how easily old experiences become things we carry around.

Not because we need them, necessarily.  They just became baggage somewhere along the way.

But there is a difference between remembering what happened and continuing to carry it.

You don't have to forget something to put it down.

This is a color day BONUS balloon!
Kalisan Pink Blush

August 24 - Fear of Snakes

Fears you develop as a child are often rooted in tolerable insanity.  

Thirty seconds earlier I had been crashing through the woods with the complete confidence of an eight year old idiot.

I was halfway over a fallen log when I caught sight of a coiled snake on the other side.

My body convulsed backwards like it had been yanked back with a cord, and I reversed direction to sprint towards safety.

... because NOW there were snakes everywhere.

I couldn't see any of them, obviously. That's how they work.

This is a color day BONUS balloon!
Kalisan Pink Blush

August 23 - Kalisan Pink Blush

I'm making you a coat of pink cashmere
You got to know how I feel about you
How I always want you near

~ Prince - Pink Cashmere

Kalisan Pink Blush is one in the "flesh" colors I looked into as a replacement for my beloved Qualatex Blush, but the color is actually a bit lighter for a skin tone.

The balloon texture is fantastic.  I typically associate Kalisan balloons with being fairly stiff, so perhaps I'm just enthusiastic that these were hardy without being too firm.  (I still don't think I could inflate any Kalisan by mouth.)

Overall impression of the color though?  Not the new king.

It's very light on the blushiness spectrum.  Barely embarrassed, really.

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Other color day balloons:

August 21 - Dolphin

"There's nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater, you realize that you've been missing the whole point of the ocean."

~ Dave Barry

This week I was doing my homework, watching Dave's weekly free twisting jubilee when he made a dolphin.  

He built a larger dolphin than he usually does, saying that he likes to make things bigger for the camera.  It makes sense.

I tried to build the original size.

So - for clarity, the size of a dolphin only matters if you're on camera.

 ... or if you're a hungry orca.

 ... or you're shopping for an aquarium.

 ... or if you're Jon-Eric Sullivan.

 ... or if you're choosing the mesh size for a tuna net.

 ... or if one jumped into your kayak.

You know, there are a surprising number of situations where this actually matters ...

(view other dolphin)

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Other balloons inspired by Dave Brenn:

August 20 - Rhino

I'm the mother flippin' Rhymenocerous
My beats are fat and the birds are on my back
And I'm horny (I'm horny)
If you choose to proceed you will indeed concede
'Cause I hit you with my flow
The Wild Rhino Stampede

~ The Flight of the Conchords - Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

Thinking back this time to participating in the Balloon Rhino Project - led by Guido Verhoef in 2016 to raise awareness and funds to help protect rhinos at the Plainsberg National Park in Australia.

I looked at the website (http://www.theballoonrhinoproject.co.za/) with some hope that three would be a "here's how we made a difference" and dreading to hear how many rhinocerous had been poached since then.   I don't think it has been updated since 2016.

... don't look for me in the list of participating artists - I was too shy to click the link.

 

Thinkback: April 4, 2016.

August 19 - Yellow Cockatiel

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence."

~ Robert Lynd

This is my favorite bird design.

The wings give it such a nice texture, and making them is bit of a challenge - which is exactly why I should build them again and again and again.

This is also my favorite type of photo, 'balloon animals in the wild'.   There's something about putting them in a real environment that makes it feel a little more magical.

And you really can't beat the sun for lighting.

Though yellow may not be the best color to demonstrate that particular point.

(view other birds)

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Other balloons by or inspired by Isopresso Balloons: