Connect
To Top

Art & Life with Joshua Clark

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Clark.

Joshua, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I have always loved building things. It started very early for me with a love of Legos. I actually won a national LEGO contest when I was in middle school.

I started doing balloon art when I was just a kid. I taught myself. I didn’t take classes. YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram didn’t exist yet. So, I just played around with balloons and figured it out on my own. I approached making balloon art the same way I approached making LEGO sculptures. So, I am all self-taught and have been doing balloon art for over 27 years.

For most of my life, Balloon Art was just a hobby. It was a fun way to make some extra cash on the side. I have had many different jobs over the years. I was a high school history teacher. I was an elementary PE teacher. I was also a professional musical theatre actor for a few years at several theatres in Houston. Then I taught children’s musical theatre for several years and directed several large theatrical productions.

In 2014 I moved to NYC to pursue a career on Broadway. I was making balloons on the side to make some money until I got my big break. While I was there, I met my wife. I was making balloons at Dave & Busters in Times Square, and she was on a date. I fell in love instantly. I also found out that she was an amazing artist. So, I asked her if she would like to go to events with me as a face painter. I was still hoping to make it on Broadway. But, the more I got to see what life on Broadway was really like, the less I wanted that to be my life. Also, I was really loving doing balloon art. And for the first time in my life, that was my full time job. I realized that I was really good at it. And my wife was just as good at face painting. We make a great team. We have now been happily married for two years. We moved to Houston in 2018 to be closer to family and decided to continue doing Neverland Balloons and Facepainting Full time.

All of the balloons that I use are 100% natural latex, completely biodegradable, and environmentally friendly.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Balloon art has some interesting roots. It starts all the way back in the 15th century when court jesters and troubadours would take the intestines of whatever animal was killed for the feast, and clean it out, fill it with air, and twist it into shapes for the entertainment of the royal court. There is also some evidence that the Mayans would do something similar as early as the 12th century, and rather than sacrificing the whole animal, They would take the internal organs of the animal, and create an effigy of that animal and sacrifice that instead.

I was always fascinated by balloon animals. I love the fact that balloons are temporary, just like life. You have to enjoy them at the moment. It is my mission to make the world a better place, one smile at a time. To me, there are no such things as strangers; there are just friends that I haven’t met yet.

There are a few things that make me different from other balloon artists. First, I try to come up with something brand new every single day. I’m always playing around with new ideas and new designs. I try to be an innovator, coming up with things that nobody has ever made before. Second, I am constantly trying to become better and faster. I want to be continuously improving. So, every time someone sees me making balloons, it will be better than the last time they saw me. I think every balloon artist tries to find that fine line between speed and quality. You don’t want to be so fast, that your balloons aren’t any good, but you also don’t want your balloons to be so detailed that it takes too long to make them. And finally, I can make absolutely anything. I don’t limit myself or my clients to just a small menu of options to pick from. I love a challenge. I can make absolutely any request on the spot. Also, all of the balloons that I use are 100% natural latex, completely biodegradable, and environmentally friendly.

I love that I get to make people happy for a living. I especially love the reaction I get from adults. I find that many adults have become very skeptical and cynical. They think they’ve seen it all. They think that nothing is going to surprise them anymore. I love the look on their face when I am able to prove them wrong and show them something that they’ve never seen before, and that they never imagined possible. I really believe that I have the best job in the world. I get to spread joy wherever I go. I get to fill people with awe and wonder. I get to make the world a magical place.

What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
Collaborate! That is what I try to do at least once a month. I try to find other artists from different fields that I can team up with to create some amazing unique artwork. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to partner with photographers, models, body painters, and professional cosplayers. I love being able to network and partner with other artists. I try to surround myself with creative people. I find that when I surround myself with other artists who are the best at what they do, that it pushes me to be the best at what I do.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
We are all over the Internet. People can follow us on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, twitch, Pinterest, Google, and even on Yelp.

People can also come out and see us at any of the large festivals that we do. I will be doing the Texas Renaissance Festival every year. We will be doing the Pasadena strawberry festival this year. We will also be doing Balloons at Comicpalooza. We do a variety of other public events throughout the year as well. We do balloons and face painting at the outback steakhouse in Copperfield every Monday, and we do balloons and face painting at the rain Forest Café in Katy Mills mall every Thursday. And anytime that we are doing an event that is open to the public, we always make sure to share that event on our social media pages. So people can follow us on social media to find out where they can come see us in person.

The best way the people can support us is to hire us for their events. We do private birthday parties; we do church and school events, we do large community celebrations, we do business events. No event is too big or too small. We’ve done small private parties for five people, and we’ve done large rock concerts and sporting events with thousands of people. Quality balloons and face painting make every event better.
Another way that people can support us is by following us on social media, and by leaving us reviews on websites like Yelp, Google, and Facebook.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
I took all of the photos myself except for one.
The 10th photo was take by Juan Ocanas from Ocanas photography

Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in