Lydia doing a balloon wall installation at a wedding
What is your primary medium?
Balloons.
How long have you been working with balloons?
Business wise I've been working with balloons for a little over two years but I've been playing around with them for four years. So two years before then before that.
What got you interested in working with balloons?
I owned an online party supply store for seven years. So I started getting into selling balloons and balloon garlands and that's what introduced me to the art of balloons.
Did you see other people doing garlands?
Yes, I did not invent this idea at all. Other people were doing it. It was mostly popular in larger cities and in Australia it was really big. So I just thought, “That's really cool, I wonder if I could add that to my party supplies.” Then I started to really like it and wanted to make bigger pieces, and you know, I just went for it.
What goes into making one of these garlands?
Well, from beginning to finish; I guess I need to visualize what I'm going to make so I know what colors I want or what colors the customer wants. Then I get to create the idea in my head. What it will look like. Then I just kind of know what to do from that. So I inflate the balloons and string them together and then add details if needed. Different sizes of balloons. So I kinda create patterns with them.
What's the most interesting balloon creation you've made?
Oh, I don't know. I'd probably have to say that I did a really big balloon installation on a coffee shop and it just kind of went all over. It was a really big piece that just kind of covered this coffee shop with all these really bright colors.
What is it about working with balloons that keeps you doing it?
That's a good question. I don't know. I just, I just really love it. I mean, some days I'm like, “I don't want to get up and do that.” But then when I get to work, I'll be like, “Gosh, I love my job.” I love most aspects of my job, you know. At first, being a business owner was hard. Like, I don't want to be a business owner. I just want to be an artist. I just want to make cool things. And now I'm embracing the business part too. So it's definitely becoming more and more fun the deeper I get into it.
What has the response been to putting your balloon creations out there?
Well, I was really scared of putting my business out there. Like I mean, I waited two years from when I really wanted to do it to finally doing it because I was afraid people would make fun of me or they wouldn't get it. There was no one else here doing it so I was like, “There must be a reason that no one else is doing it.” So it took me a lot of convincing to just jump and go for it. So when I immediately got a great public response to doing it I was surprised and shocked. And I think maybe six months in I had to quit my online party supply business because I couldn't keep up with both. And so yeah, it was really supposed to just be a sort of side gig I did and they became my full time gig. As far as how the community perceives me, I don't really know because I'm from the inside out. I've got terrible imposter syndrome. I'm just like, “No, my work is crap. No, I'm not great at all.”
Do you look at other balloon artist’s work for inspiration?
So yeah, I used to, just at the beginning, not really knowing what I'm doing. Because I mean, this job is, we're all making it up. Like, there are no rules. We're all making it up. So I looked at other people kind of for guidance, you know, like, what are you doing? How are you putting it together? What sizes are they using, you know? Now it's just like, I have a style now, and every artist has a style, and I can be looking through Instagram and see someone and know exactly who's work it is before seeing their name, because everyone has their style. So now, I can inspire myself because I just know what I like and how I like it to look and what colors I like to use, and what colors I don't like to use. Just two years of practice, practice, practice.
What do you do with the balloons once the party's over?
Unless the customer asked me to come back to dispose of their balloons for them, which is a breakdown, they can just pop the balloons when they're finished with them and throw them away and they biodegrade. I rarely use fishing line except when I need to hang something and don't want to see any sort of lines or anything like that. So the whole piece, as much as I can, is completely biodegradable and apparently compostable as well. There are mylar balloons which are not biodegradable, they can be returned to me to get shop credit and then I can reuse them.
Have you always been creative?
Yeah, I think so. I've always been really crafty and handy. I learned how to sew at a really young age. So I was making my own clothes and then that kind of taught me design ideas.
What has it been like for you to support yourself with your creativity?
It's really rewarding. It's really satisfying. My online party supply was also a really creative thing because I didn't resell, I made custom party supplies. So customers would come to me and go, “This is my theme. These are the kind of items I want. These are the kind of colors I would use” and I would create an entire set of party items for them. So I've been supporting myself through my own creative works and working with my hands for quite a while now. It is very rewarding. Before then I was a waitress and a student. I had to rely on someone else to pay me and I had multiple jobs and was barely surviving as a single mom. So when I decided, screw this, I'm going to decide what I do, when I work, when I get paid, how much I get paid, that was really rewarding. And I'm still doing that.
What's it been like for you to expand into a bigger space?
It's been good. It's been scary. Business moves are always scary, but also very exciting. So I'm still working on the space. Being kind of the only person that works on this job, it makes everything take a little bit more time, but it's been really good. I knew that my business couldn't grow if I stayed in a small space. I was like okay, this is as big as my business can grow. Am I okay with that? So I either had to grow or take a step back, because I just didn't want to stay in the same space. And not the physical space. I loved that space. I still love that space. So I just took the leap and decided to grow.
Are you trying to get more into the party stuff again?
Yes. So I'm kind of going back to the party supplies. And I have the party room, because I just really want to see all the parties to fruition, which is always really fun when I go to customers' houses. But usually I'm the first one there so I don't really get to see the end result. Bringing the DIY balloon kits back too and kind of combining them now.
You do classes on balloon tying?
I teach classes on how to make my DIY kits. A lot of people are afraid or intimidated by making a DIY kit. So they can take a class from me where they can learn how to make one and then that's knowledge that they have forever, so they can keep making their own balloons for their family events and celebrations.
Are there any other kinds of classes you host here?
Yeah, I mean, I just announced my party space a couple days ago, I think. I've already gotten bookings for people teaching classes on cookie decorating and things like that. I think they're gonna have crafting classes and things like that, showing people how to make things.
Has it gotten busier over the last year or has it slowed down?
In the balloons and event industry we just have busy times and slow times. Because this is only my second year it's kind of hard to tell what the event trend is really. But springtime is always the busiest. May and June are always completely slammed because you have graduations and the end of school years. People love throwing baby showers in the springtime. Bachelorette parties because people are getting married in the summer. So it’s just busy. And then I think this year was even busier because the vaccines for COVID came out, so people were really excited to finally start partying. But yeah, it just depends.
Do you find it's all over the place for who wants balloons at their events?
I’d definitely say that I do more birthday parties. But that's because more people have birthday parties. Like, everyone has a birthday. It's a lot of birthdays. A lot of baby showers, people want balloons at their baby shower. So that's a really popular event to have balloons at. And then weddings are just kind of, I don't know, I feel like maybe I do two to four weddings a month. Not everyone wants balloons at their wedding and it takes some convincing to talk someone into believing that they do want balloons. A bride knows if she wants balloons at her wedding and if she doesn't know she probably doesn't.
What's it like working with fragile balloons?
They have their own personality. I do get my feelings hurt when they pop when I'm inflating them. I'm like “That was really rude. Like, okay, you don't want to be part of this. Alright.” But they don't really pop as often as people think that they do. With the summer heat that we've been getting, you know, they get a little bit angrier. But the balloons just don't pop that easily. I do buy high quality balloons, so it shouldn't happen.
Do you build displays in sections and then put them together on location?
Yeah, so in the back, you kind of saw a mountain of balloons back there and they're all kind of created into six foot sections and that's how I sell my garlands, in six foot sections. I just bring them there and I assemble them and put them together and create and design them on site. So everything's inflated, kind of ready to go, and then I just have to put it together.
Do you think artistic endeavors are something you'll ever stop pursuing?
No, I think I have to do something creative for the rest of my life. Yeah, it's another thing like, “Oh one day I’ll retire.” Will you? It'll be something else. Just like I first started with coordinating events and then I went into making party supplies and then went into balloons and then back into selling party supplies. This business or career choice I want to call it, it's going to keep changing and turning into something else.