Balloon sculpture vs. balloon arch!
The beginning was pretty usual: “we need an arch for the first day of classes in our school”. Somehow everybody (well, almost everybody) knows about arches and thinks this is the only way to go! Well, I came to school to see where the arch should be – the space between two buildings – not a good spot. But! There was a beautiful lawn right across. The principle was nice enough – so when I looked at the lawn and suggested to do “something else “, asked “like what?”. Usually they say: “It’s ok, can we have a nice arch here please?”
I have done quite a few arches in my life, but not a single dinosaur (actually, there are a few other things I want to do before I die), so I sad “a dinosaur”. His eyes lit up, he asked to see something like that. “Something” lived only in my head, to come to existence someone has to order it first – you need two to tango! When was the last time you needed an orange balloon dinosaur 20’ high, 30’ long? Yes, this is why I did not have the picture. I found a picture of the balloon sculpture much smaller one in my Idea book (cut outs from professional magazines). Not what I had in mind at all, but better than nothing.
And the principle said “yes”! Well, as I said, I had never done one before. First, I got a book with a good picture and measured the thing carefully. Then we went to a place with a very high ceilings (if you do not have a friend with a very large room – you are dead in this business!) and built one up completely. It took the whole day. One problem: it was inside. No wind, no kids trying to get on it and so on. A balloon sculpture of the life-size dino is like a sail on a boat. Even a little wind can bend it, as serious one can make it fly. So it took some additional work to make it hurricane-proof.
Then the big night came and in the morning the dino was born! It had as much metal in it as rubber, the neck was anchored to the tree behind, the neck pipe was hammered 4 feet deep into the ground and you could drive a tank through – it would not move! But we still call it a balloon sculpture…
Then the rewards began coming in. The first one was the principle himself. He lost his gift of speech when he was jogging by at 6 am. He said “Mikhail, it’s great!” about 20 times in a row… Then kids and parents started showing up… If anything can be a reward, that definitely was! Then, to top all of that, an 80 years old gentleman from the house behind the lawn came to see the dino close up. He lived on the second floor. When he woke up that morning and opened the window – he discovered a head of the dino up above and was slightly shocked… But he was strong and survived it.
Then the dino began to lay golden eggs: the two neighboring schools placed the orders within a week or two: the principle worked as my salesman much harder than I ever did! Than is how the balloon sculpture of Martian came to being. That story is coming…
