Fables from a mall balloon twister

By Kate Lockyer
Queen Street Mall’s ‘balloon man’ has found a new way of bringing joy to children with his heartwarming picture books.
“They all have a little positive message for children. ‘Splat Flat Went Bat’ is about, rather than being disabled, being alternatively-abled,” New Farm author and ballon twister Wayne Bloomfield said.
“He has clearly got ADHD and he goes too fast for his radar, so by the time his radar signal gets back he’s already hit the object.”
As you may be able to tell, he employs humour in his stories to help children relate to the message.
Mr Bloomfield has been twisting balloons into colourful animals, hats and more in the mall for 28 years now.
His creativity is overflowing, something he partially attributes to undiagnosed ADHD.
“I’ve been writing poetry since I was three years old… I’m an ADHD kid,” he said.
He made his living for a few years as a performance poet, and then wrote and performed in a series of children’s plays which toured from Melbourne to Darwin, and surprisingly, has also worked in industrial real estate and the police force.
But it was when Mr Bloomfield picked up some balloons that he found the creative pursuit he is perhaps best known for in Brisbane.
“I bought every balloon in the city and kids lined up around the block to get these balloons. So, I started doing balloons, I started designing them, and now 35 years, 600 models and 3.5 million balloons later, I’m still doing it,” he said.
Mr Bloomfield has twisted balloons for three generations of a families and has plied his trade all over the world.
But he was pulled back to his early love of writing with a nudge from his wife Liz, who was doing some writing of her own.
“It’s like a drug addict, when you have not had it for a long time you forget you’re addicted, but as soon as it comes back, suddenly your brain starts thinking in verse again, and you’re up at two o’clock in the morning writing lines,” he said.
Mr Bloomfield has now self-published two books, called ‘Notbat the Numbat!’ and ‘Splat Flat Went Bat’.
He also has 13 other completed manuscripts that he hopes to publish through a publisher.
Almost all of his books are about animals, and Mr Bloomfield describes them as fables with positive messages for children.
He gets lots of inspiration for his books from the balloon twisting.
“I’ve got so many regular clients and when you’re doing that, two things happen: you get positive interactions 600 times every weekend, and you’ll also get kids asking questions, that create thoughts, that make stories,” Mr Bloomfield said.
I’ve always been drawn to the innocence and the honesty of children – children tell you exactly what they think… and I find that refreshing.”
You can buy Wayne Bloomfield’s books at Mary Ryan’s Book Store in Merthyr Village or at his stand in Queen Street Mall– he is there almost every weekend.