Master balloon artist Tony Twist held his first ever UK-based stand-alone twisting workshop earlier this week (on Wednesday 18 April 2018), offering 25 delegates the opportunity to take their balloon twisting to the next level.
Delegates were a mix of seasoned twisting professionals and decor artists looking to add a new string to their balloon bow.
The hands-on course – which was sponsored by Qualatex – was split into two parts, with the morning focusing on character modelling with larger and the afternoon embracing Tony’s most recent creation, the Balloon Conga (which has to be seen to be believed!).
“This has been a great class so far,” said Miss Ballooniverse (aka Natalie Haverstock), who works closely with Tony and was on hand to help out at the workshop. “We’ve been concentrating on new ways of using the larger 646Q balloons. They can be tricky to work with but Tony has some great techniques which allow people to get fantastic results, even the decor artists who have never twisted before.”
“It’s always worth coming to these classes and workshops,” said entertainer ‘Auntie JoJo’, who has been twisting professionally for the last 14 years. “It’s nice to come along and catch up with industry friends as well, but it’s also so important to keep learning; you never know when you’re going to hear that one piece of advice which changes everything!”
“I’m really pleased with how today has gone so far,” said Tony. “It was about time that I did a dedicated class close to home – although I’ve taught in the UK before, it’s always been as part of a larger event. We’ve really focused on a lot of new techniques today and everyone here has done really well. It’s been a great class!”
As one of the world’s leading balloon artists, Tony has travelled throughout Europe, Dubai, Kuwait, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Abu Dhabi and the USA, bringing his balloon-based magic to the masses.
He will be teaching his current class in the north of England in early May and in Ireland on 13 June. Moving further afield, Tony will be embarking upon an East-to-West tour of America this September.
