LUXEMBURG – The line of youngsters waiting for a twisted character from the “balloon guy’’ was as long as the roasted corn line at Corn Fest in Carlsville on Sept. 8.

The man in the balloon art shirt and matching balloon shoes with a big smile and a baseball hat was Mark Paul of Luxemburg.

“I could do this all day,’’ Paul said of the twisting and turning of long narrow balloons that he amazingly transforms into princesses, dolls, fairies, unicorns, guitars, swords and shields.

His agile hands show calluses, but it is not from the balloons. It is from farming. Mark and his wife, Judi Paul, and teenage son Joey operate a third-generation, 60-head dairy farm on Hillside Road in Luxemburg.

“Farming is rougher on my hands than twisting balloons,’’ he said with a chuckle.

It is an odd transformation from milking cows to twisting balloons, although the installment of robotic milking machines on the farm in the past three years has freed his hands and opened some spare time to develop his passion for entertaining.

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Mark Paul also wears a rubber band on his wrist. He's also a close-up hand magician and can dazzle an audience with a disappearing rubber band and card tricks. But he found out the hard way that balloons are a bigger hit.

“I was in magic for two or three years,’’ he said. He was hired for small gatherings, fundraisers and birthday parties. He slowly introduced balloons into his act.

“Everybody wanted the balloons,’’ he said.

With the help of YouTube, Mark Paul's portfolio of characters has reached 75 figures, from a tiny flower to a life-sized bride and groom. He also noted that if kept out of the sun, balloons will last for weeks, even months if kept in a freezer.

People can watch mark Paul at work and get their own balloon art when he appears this weekend at the Fall harvest Festival at Hillside Apples in Casco.

However, he is quick to say the real artist in the family is his wife.

Mar Paul said Judi Paul has spent a lifetime designing and creating whimsical, realistic soft sculptures of animals. Her big sellers are bears, lions, tigers and leopards.

Judi Paul's cuddly and detailed collectibles have sold in 24 countries through her business, named Luxembears. Her pieces have appeared on the covers of collectible magazines and been the topic of interviews. She has accumulated 32 international awards. All one-of-a-kind, the poseable mohair/alpaca fur animals sell for between $300 and $4,500.

“The bear collecting world is huge,’’ she said. “All my work is original. As soon as I make it, it is sold.’’

Judi Paul also uses an air brush on many of her creations, which along with the sculptures include wearable art, fine art, illustrations, jewelry sculpting, bead work, woodburning and needle felted wool sculptures.

A former nurse, Judi Paul said she and Mark met on a dance floor while learning ballroom dancing in Green Bay.

When time allows, Mark Paul is becoming a regular at Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay.  At the festivals, special events and occasions where he goes to work his balloon twisting skills, he brings out a “balloon book’’ with the chrome and metallic balloons from which children can pick and choose characters with their choice of colors.

“I work for tips at Bay Beach,’’ he said. “I try to stay with smaller balloons at Bay Beach and at nonprofit fundraisers. There are more people and I can produce more balloons.’’

Mark Paul said the contagious smiles are what keeps him going.

“You should see the smiles. The kids are so happy to get balloons,’’ he said. “They can’t believe their eyes as the balloons slowly takes shape and comes to life.’’

FYI

Mark Paul will create balloon art Saturday and Sunday at the Fall Harvest Festival at Hillside Apples, E2237 Highway 54, Casco. It also offers tractor and wagon rides and children's games. For more, call 920-837-7440 or visit hillsideapples.com.

For more information on Mark Paul's magic and balloon art work, email [email protected] or visit the "No Bull Magic" Facebook page. For more on Judi Paul's art business, email [email protected] or visit the "Luxembears" Facebook page.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Balloon artist from Luxemburg fills the air with smiles