For These Artists, Inflation Will Give Rise to Creation

Jeanne Cockcroft and her husband, Dave, have made balloon decorations and sculptures for 18 years. But this week was the first time she’d needed a masseuse to ease the kinks in her right hand.

Cockcroft, a Thousand Oaks resident, had spent almost 28 consecutive hours fastening green balloons to an aluminum frame to create her latest masterpiece: the “Star Wars” character Yoda.

She and dozens of other artists from around the world had assembled in a convention room in the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim on Tuesday morning to begin work on their large balloon sculptures -- one of several categories in the annual Festival of Balloons.

The competition was part of the 20th annual International Balloon Arts Convention, which has been held in the U.S. before but is in Southern California for the first time.

Teams from Long Beach, Anaheim, Scotland, Taiwan and Canada were among those who built the 14 large sculptures -- creating their own little worlds in the land of fantasia. The competition ends with a Hollywood-themed gala tonight, at which the winners will be announced. The showroom will be open to the public Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Construction began at 9 a.m. Tuesday and contestants worked through the night to finish their designs within the allotted 27 hours. Teams that needed extra time will have points deducted from their final scores.

Whatever one’s fancy, there is a balloon masterpiece to match it.

There is a pair of green and yellow strapped stilettos that even Manolo Blahnik couldn’t make. Across from the shoes stands a 17-foot-high red and white lighthouse atop a blue and white sea of turtles, fish and an octopus.

Yoda, at 16 feet high, is ready to strike with his green light saber.

“People think of balloons as latex on a string, but you wouldn’t believe what you can do with balloons,” said event spokeswoman Julie Conner.

Long Beach couple Bambi and Danny Bremgartner, who own Fantasy Eye Land Balloons, entered their lighthouse hoping to win the competition, but might leave with more than a prize: newfound friendships. “It’s like you’ve known them forever, it’s so friendly,” Danny Bremgartner said of his rivals.

Conner said the judges have been examining proportion and scale, use of color and mechanics to rank the sculptures in each category. Along with the large sculptures, there are the nonround balloon sculptures, table centerpieces and delivery bouquets, and balloon figures. The top three in each category receive trophies and up to $1,000.

Conner likened the gala to a famous Hollywood event. “It’s kind of our Academy Awards of the balloon industry.”