By Cashmere Morley
It is possible you’ve met Ann Arbor’s Carolynn Hayman before, without even realizing it. Perhaps it was at a pride festival, where she skipped down the streets with a rainbow mane, a pair of hooves, and a bright pink horn atop her head. Or maybe it was at a bookstore, where she danced in a lobster costume, complete with bright red claws and googly eyes. She may have even showed up at your birthday party, a bright bouquet of flowers in her hands. What do all these events have in common? Hayman, owner of Pop! Designs & Creations, promises one thing: she creates unique balloon experiences “for every occasion.”
Hayman began her career as a balloon artist thirteen years ago. At the time, her daughter was ten years-old and had expressed an interest in balloon animals. After recruiting a friend that did balloon art on the side, Hayman said that her and her daughter both ended up learning some balloon techniques, despite Hayman originally thinking that balloon animals were “creepy.”
“And so of course, you know how the story goes. Who was most interested about balloon animals in the end?” said Hayman. “My daughter and I both learned a couple things from him, but the takeaway from that experience was my friend telling us, ‘you’ve got to use high quality balloons. And that’s the difference. If you use high quality balloons, the things you’ll be able to create will be insane. I mean, you can put twists into a balloon that you could never do with one of those cheap ones from the dollar store.’”
After working for several years in retail as a director of stores for a small women’s clothing company that made unique designs such as hand-painted clothing, Hayman knew her passion had been sparked after experimenting with balloon art. Always a creative person, Hayman was raised by a mother who loved experimenting with crafting in all kinds of mediums, a trait Hayman later passed to her own daughter. Little did Hayman know that her balloon designs would later take her all over the world.
“I love when people ask me what I do for a living because it’s so weird. My husband likes to say that the first time I put ‘balloon artist’ on our tax return, we got a survey from the state of Michigan. But when you say ‘balloon artist,’ people automatically have an assumption of what that means. And then I say well, I specialize in balloon costumes, then I’ll have to pull out my phone and show them.”
Hayman’s creations vary from wearable balloon costume art to yard decorations. Balloon costumes can take anywhere from 150 to 200 balloons to create, while designs such as balloon bouquets only take from three to five balloons. Hayman said she used to blow up each balloon one at a time by hand but has since invested in a pump that can inflate two balloons at a time.
“One thing that I really like [about my job] is that it’s sort of temporary. The things I create are not meant to last forever,” said Hayman.
She notes that her art work is guaranteed to last for a day outside. Most people will keep them around for longer, perhaps three to five days, or even up to a week, but the intention is that they only last for the moment, whether that’s a parade or a birthday party. Hayman is best known for her wearable balloon costumes, such as Conrad the Unicorn, who is her most famous creation to date. Hayman describes him as “his own entity.”
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The inception of Conrad came after placing fourth two years in a row in a balloon costume competition. Hayman knew she had to step up her game.
“The third year, I was like, I don’t care what it takes, I gotta get at least third place. So, I was trying to come up with something completely different. And that’s when I came up with this idea of a unicorn, and a costume that had arms and legs that you were inside of,” said Hayman. People instantly fell in love with Conrad.
“I was making people laugh. And I realized that I can act like a crazy person, dance around like mad, and no one knows it’s me. It was just freeing to be inside of this thing,” said Hayman. “Conrad took me all the way to [the television show] America’s Got Talent. And I was on Harry Connick Jr.’s show Harry, so those were both really fun. Harry took my lobster costume and made a couple of videos. There’s one of him playing the piano in the costume,” said Hayman.
While those television experiences did help Hayman gain some career exposure, she said that most of her work gained popularity through balloon conventions. Often, Hayman will set up classes at conventions, where people with inquisitive minds will come to learn how to create everything from something as simple as a bouquet of flowers to a wearable leprechaun costume. Hayman said it is classes such as those, that help her continue to reinvent the creative process, and are what drives her as an artist.
“I think of a concept I’ve always wanted to do, then I can apply it to what I’m teaching. Like when I made a pot of gold in a class I taught, complete with a rainbow, for a St. Patrick’s Day workshop. Immediately, I was wondering, how can this be something that someone can climb into that we can bring to a pride parade? And so, I came home and within three days, I was thinking, I have to make this pot of gold include this cloud with a rainbow behind. I constantly think of the concepts, trying to get ideas to create the next thing, and sometimes it’ll take a long time.”
Hayman figures that she’s created “thousands” of balloon creations within her career.
“The interaction is just incredible,” said Hayman of her designs. “I mean, when I do Conrad the Unicorn in a pride parade, people become super excited. Some are screaming at the unicorn. It’s just passionate, instant energy. That’s awesome.”
Liz Romani, a fellow balloon artist, sings Hayman’s praises as a pioneer in the balloon design world.
“There’s two different worlds in the balloon world,” said Romani. “We have a twister world and a decorator world. There are people who twist like clowns and entertainers, who make things like balloon animals. As a decorator, you’re making things like flower arches. Carolynn is a twister who has turned into a decorator. She married both worlds. She uses decorator balloons and introduces this concept of costumes to the twisting world. I think she’s had a huge impact on helping to marry the balloon artist worlds.”
Having taught classes with Hayman, Romani notes how unique the balloon design process is.
“Carolynn will say, for the class, ‘we’re going to be making an elephant’ but literally, you don’t know what it’s going to look like until she actually physically makes it onstage. Before that, well, you’re just seeing reams of balloons. And you’re wondering...what’s that gonna be? Slowly, bit by bit, you can see the chest start to emerge. Then, okay, there’s the back. And there’s the face. Oh, my goodness, there’s a trunk. Before you know it, you have an elephant! And it’s right before your eyes.”
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Romani said that the balloon work Hayman creates “just naturally makes people happy. And the fact that we get to tinker with balloons to create a positive emotion in the world, and get paid to do it, that is super fulfilling.”
Romani remembers Hayman’s unicorn design at a pride parade in Chicago, calling it “such an enormous hit.”
“I mean, this thing is like, 10 feet tall. Beautiful rainbow-haired unicorn that’s just bouncing around. Carolynn is just brilliant. I look forward to working with her any opportunity that I can. So many people in our industry look up to her.”
Hayman said she has plenty of ideas brewing for her next creation but won’t share any of them quite yet. She is interested in working with artists of all kinds in the future, noting that she is looking forward to working with anyone who is willing to “try new things, keep innovating in the balloon world, and help push the limits” of her artwork.
Hayman said a dream client would be someone such as pop singer Katy Perry, since Hayman envisions Perry’s bright, bold, colorful style meshing well with her balloon art.
To see more of Hayman’s creations, visit her online at popdesignsandcreations.com or Facebook and Instagram @popdesignsandcreations.
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