David Baker of Twisted Ideas Balloons: Twisting His Way to a World Record

Written by MELISSA DICKSON JACKSON | Photographs courtesy of DAVID BAKER

Crafted by balloon artist David Baker, Octavius the Octopus was created to spotlight the octopi exhibit at Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky.

Since he was a teenager struggling to focus on academics, David Baker has preferred the mechanics of anything other than books: playing cards, Yo-yo tricks, origami, magic – even juggling – but nothing captured his attention the way balloon art did.

“I’ve just always done tactile, hands-on stuff,” says David Baker. “I’m not very book smart. My eyes glaze over. Show me something, let me make something, let me build something.”

Baker, who is diagnosed with both Attention Deficit Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, explains that his mind gravitates toward acts of manual dexterity and creation. Balloon art satisfied his need for sustained stimulation, and it also challenged him to engineer and problem-solve from an early age.

In fact, Baker was so young when he discovered balloon art that his hands were too small to easily complete some of the essential maneuvers. These days, however, the balloon tasks he struggled with early on are effortless.

“It was just the size of my hands,” he says with a laugh as he deftly twists balloons into the shapes of cats, dogs, flowers and caterpillars.

How would you like to see this cicada in your front yard?

By the time he was in his mid-20s, Baker was a master balloon artist plying his trade at public events and restaurants for a fee.

Seven years ago, his commitment to his art paid off with global recognition. After six intensive days that left his fingertips bloodied, he fabricated a monumental vampire bat in an Ohio mall. By the time he was done, Baker’s bat measured nearly 50 feet and sported a head measuring 15 by 10 feet.

After surveyors completed a formal measurement, Baker sent video recordings of the entire six-day process to the Guinness Book of World Records. It was months before he heard back but, in the end, Baker received a world record for the World’s Largest Balloon Sculpture produced by a single individual. It’s a record he still holds.

The same year, Baker participated on a team that created a monstrous dragonfly measuring 60 feet long. Baker’s compulsive attention to detail made him the ideal candidate to produce the hexagonal patterned wings, a feat that required nearly 2,000balloons. The dragonfly also received a World Records acknowledgment for team building, but a larger Chinese team soon ousted it.

Baker says that’s one reason he prefers to work alone: “Someone can always add more teammates.”

These days, Baker can be found working alone in the metro-Atlanta area producing smaller-scale work for organizations, restaurants and private events. His company, Twisted Ideas Balloons, recently booked a weekly appearance at the Peachtree City Mellow Mushroom and is looking for more opportunities to serve Newnan and Coweta. NCM