Balloon Art & Face Painting

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Grand Openings, Company Picnics, Private Parties, Birthdays, High School Graduation Parties & Restaurant tableside entertainment.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Pictures are worth a thousand words.... Period. (Make sure the pictures belong to the artist you're talking to... not just swiped from somewhere else)

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. It's not just someone showing up with a bag of balloons or a box of paint.... There's SO much more to being a professional.... I wouldn't know where to begin to tell you everything that goes into what I do. I promise, it's a lot! :-) (and I love it all!)

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I am a perfectionist~! and I love to have fun.... What I do isn't my "job".... It's who I am... I love every minute of it.
I consistently work on improving everything about my business.... New designs are worked on daily... New ways to make sure party guests' fun is maximized.
I have an extensive background in working with people of all ages, and love them all...

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Absolutely everything.... Working with little kids, adults, grammas & grampas... Seeing people smile when they see what I've created for them... It's all about the warm fuzzies with this endeavor.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. How did you get started? Did you go to school for this?
My answer: I did not go to school for this. I am self-taught, although I did go to clown school... THAT was a lot of fun! I've always loved balloon art, and when I had the opportunity to learn a "few things", I jumped at the chance.
I then started to play with face painting. I've always doodled... but have never taken an art class. With lots of practice, my skills have really improved. Now I'm just loving what I do, and so appreciative that my clients love it too.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I'm lucky that I have funny stories from almost every event I've ever taken care of.... Kids say the funniest things all the time and just catch me off guard with some of their comments or questions...

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. It was a steady progression from my starting to learn how to do balloon art & paintings...... A friend talked me into taking care of her son's first birthday party... It went very well... She passed my number around, and it took off from there.

Q. Tell us about a recent job you did that you are particularly proud of.

A. All of them... really! I work hard at every event to do my absolute best work... My customers deserve that.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Yes... I attend balloon conventions as well as meeting up monthly with other face painters to learn/teach new design ideas and techniques...

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Wow... where to begin? Both balloon twisting and face/body painting are artforms... They're both developing SO quickly, it's hard to stay caught up with all the new techniques people are developing. But boy, it sure is fun to try! Balloons have gone from simple one balloon, 3-twist dogs to full fashion shows and festivals featuring the most incredible balloon designs you've never imagined possible...
With face/body art, so many of the different schools of thought - face painters who paint with face paints, make-up artists, airbrush artists, temporary tattoo artists and more are coming together to collaborate on new techniques utilizing many of the group resources, enhancing and changing their colorful world daily...

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. It's not complicated... I have an hourly rate for local events, and a bit higher for ones further away. Depending on proximity, I also charge a travel fee.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. You *have* to love kids... of all ages... From 1 to 101..
If you don't mind not sleeping at night because you just can't get enough ideas from your head painted on your arm, or new balloon creations twisted on the spot from an inspiring idea... then this job's for you! Realistically, it's part artist, part super fun person... You can't have one without the other.. If you don't absolutely love both sides... this isn't the right path... Hope that helps!