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My Summer As a Balloon Artist
It started with piñatas.
I needed something to amuse my brothers in the summer, and someone taught me to make papier-mâché piñatas.
To make one, you blow up a party balloon, cover it in a newspaper dipped in flour and water, and then leave it outside to dry for a few days. Pop the balloon, cut open a hole, fill it with candy, and paint it. Then ask everyone to smash it.
Perfect for some Fourth of July excitement.
I wasn’t great at making piñatas. I asked someone I know for balloon animals, so I could make different shapes and, therefore, more exciting piñatas.
He was a clown. Not all the time, of course, but for parades, or the circus, or a charity event, he donned the makeup, the wig, and the costume.
I could not be a clown. I didn’t have the patience or the personality. Besides, taking off (or maybe putting on, I forget) the makeup requires strong-smelling baby oil. He once asked his toddler daughter, “Why won’t lions eat clowns?” Instead of the standard answer (they taste funny), she replied, “Because they smell bad.”
He gave me an instruction book, balloons, and an inflater shaped like a space rocket.
I think he expected me to make a balloon dog and call it a day. But when I returned with a balloon fruit basket…
