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Exhibitionists·HOW TO

Learn how to make a 'dam' good beaver — out of balloons

Derek Wong took up the art of balloon twisting in 2011 — and never looked back. Let him show you how to make your very own Justin the Beaver.

Balloon artist Derek Wong shows you how to make your very own Justin the Beaver

Mercedes Grundy · CBC Arts ·

Justin the Beaver? Learn how to make a "dam" good beaver out of balloons

8 years ago
Duration 2:04
Balloon artist Derek Wong shows us how he makes his award-winning balloon sculpture, Justin the Beaver.

Artists can find their medium of expression in the most unlikely of materials. For Derek Wong, his creativity was sparked in 2011 when he saw a clown making balloon animals at a children's party. Wong — who was working in information technology at the time — took up the art of balloon twisting and never looked back. He earned the title of CBA (certified balloon artist) and now competes around the world in competitions, on his own and as part of Canada's first 5-person balloon team, Canada's Twisted Five (they brought home bronze at the 2016 World Balloon Convention).

We wanted an inside look at Wong's balloon twisting magic, so we invited him to our CBC Arts studio to give us a "how-to." While some of his larger sculptures can take twenty hours or more to complete, Wong decided to show us something a little more attainable for balloon twisting newbies — his award-winning 12-minute sculpture, "Justin the Beaver."

Watch Exhibitionists Sunday at 4:30pm (5pm NT) on CBC TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mercedes Grundy

Mercedes Grundy is a producer for CBC's Unscripted division. She has played an integral role in the creation of series like Exhibitionists, The Filmmakers and Canada's a Drag as well as special projects like Superqueeroes and The 2010s: The Decade Canadian Artists Stopped Saying Sorry. Collectively, these projects have won Grundy 5 Canadian Screen Awards. She has an educational background in photography, and produces film and theatre when not busy here at the CBC.

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