While we wait for And He Puffed to come back from the printer so we can ship out Kickstarter rewards, we figured we could have a little fun and add another piece to our Masterworks series. Kelly had been wanting to recreate a Frida Kahlo self portrait for quite awhile. The photo shows our photo setup in the studio with Frida's head completed. We just have to finish the flowered frame now.

Twist & Shout

Last week was a busy one. Right after completing And He Puffed, I jumped on a plane to take part in Twist & Shout, the annual balloon twister and entertainer convention. Three hundred artists and entertainers, ranging from balloon twisting hobbyists and enthusiasts to professional artists that use balloons in their work, gathered in St. Louis, MO to learn, teach and show off. I've been a part of the convention since its inception in 1999. As always, I spent the convention mostly behind the scenes, providing photo documentation of the event on BalloonHQ.com, but occasionally surfacing to hang out with other artists. 

An old friend, Lanna Lee Maheux, was at the convention. She has been doing a weekly podcast, Lounging with LannaLee, for a while now where she chats with interesting people from different fields. I guess she decided I was interesting enough to talk to on the air, so we spent some time doing that. It'll be a couple weeks before our conversation goes live. She had conversations with a few of the artists attending before we found time to talk, so she's airing those first. If you're interested in finding out what makes someone twist balloons for a living, here's your chance to hear from a few of us.